Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney has said he should have been more “precise” in his answer about whether he played a role in the decision to move Brookfield headquarters from Canada to New York.
Carney came under scrutiny by the Conservative Party following his claim that the decision to move Brookfield headquarters was made after he had no role with the company.
The former central banker held multiple roles before running for Liberal leader, including chair of the board of investment of Brookfield Asset Management. He said he resigned from all of the roles in January after entering the leadership race.
Carney told reporters on Feb. 25, following a Liberal leadership debate, that the formal decision to move Brookfield headquarters from Toronto happened after he ceased to be a part of the board.
However, the Conservatives have pointed to an October 2024 press release from Brookfield that indicates it had moved its head office from Toronto to New York while Carney was still serving as chair.
Carney also authored a letter to shareholders dated Dec. 1, 2024, telling them of the move. The letter was posted to social media by the Conservatives.
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At a leadership event in Oakville, Ont., on Feb. 28, Carney told The Globe and Mail that there were several elements to the transaction and it was complicated.
“I should have been more precise in my answer,” he said.
“I think the core, though, is, what are we actually talking about? We’re talking about the technical change to where the head office is. No difference to any employment.”
Carney also said that he sometimes answers questions that go into details when he “should keep it at a higher level,” and that Brookfield is still a great Canadian company.
The Epoch Times contacted Carney’s campaign office but did not hear back by publication time.
The Carney campaign previously told The Epoch Times that the Conservatives were using this issue because they are “scared of running” against Carney.
Carney’s spokesperson Liam Roche said the corporate changes made by Brookfield were “technical in nature.”
Roche also said that Brookfield stated Canadian operations were not impacted. He added that the company remained a top investor in Canada, and noted it’s parent company Brookfield Corp.’s headquarters are still in Toronto.
Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett told reporters during a news conference on Feb. 28 that Carney needed to respond publicly about the issue, not his campaign staff.
“If he thinks that this was such a good idea and such a good business decision for Brookfield, does he think that all Canadian companies should move their headquarters from Canada to New York City?” Barrett said.
He said it also raised questions about other claims by Carney.
“One of them is that he helped finance minister Paul Martin balance the budget in the 90s. Now I don’t know the answer, but it’s been pointed out to me that the budget was balanced in 1998 and Mark Carney wasn’t in the country at the time. He became a federal bureaucrat in 2004 several years later,” Barrett said.
Carney made the statement about working with Martin to balance the books and keep them balanced during the debate. He also posted it to social media.
Voting in the Liberal leadership race opened on Feb. 26 with a new leader expected to be announced on March 9.
Noe Chartier contributed to this article.
