A citizen accountability initiative
No Prime Minister should govern with this many conflicts of interest.
Mark Carney entered office with deep financial ties to Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world's largest alternative investment firms. He chairs funds worth $35 billion. He holds disclosed conflicts covering 103 entities. His ethics screen is administered by his own staff. And he refuses to fully divest.
The Carney Rule is simple: If you have nothing to hide, divest your financial conflicts of interest. The refusal to do so says more than any case that could be built around proving corruption.
Why this matters
This is not normal.
Canada has had prime ministers with business backgrounds before. But no prime minister in Canadian history has entered office with financial entanglements of this scale, this complexity, and this much overlap with the policy decisions they are making every day.
Mark Carney was Vice Chair and then Chair of Brookfield Asset Management's board. He led Brookfield's transition investing arm, overseeing the creation of funds worth $35 billion that invest in exactly the sectors — clean energy, infrastructure, carbon capture — where his government is now spending hundreds of billions and fast-tracking approvals.
He didn't sell his interests. He put them in a blind trust — administered under an ethics screen that is run by his own PMO staff. The public cannot independently verify when or how that screen is applied.
We are not alleging criminal corruption. We are stating a fact: this level of unresolved financial conflict is untenable for any prime minister, and the refusal to fully divest is itself the answer to the question everyone is asking.
The pattern
What does the evidence show?
103 conflicts screened — but 95% of the portfolio isn't
Parliament's own ethics committee (ETHI Report No. 4) found that 95% of Brookfield's portfolio companies fall outside the PM's screen. The screen checks named companies — but the PM's compensation moves with the entire fund. The committee characterised his future payout as "potentially tens of millions of dollars." The screen administrators didn't even know what was inside the fund.
$35 billion in fund exposure — with personal upside
Brookfield's Global Transition Fund I closed at $15B. Fund II closed at $20B. Carney led transition investing at Brookfield and reporting indicates he held stock options and eligibility for a long-term incentive structure tied to these funds. Government policy in clean energy, carbon capture, and infrastructure directly affects fund returns.
International travel that mirrors Brookfield investment announcements
A pattern of PM travel to countries and regions where Brookfield subsequently announced major investments or where existing Brookfield portfolio companies operate. Coincidence requires documentation — so does the absence of explanation.
Former Goldman Sachs colleague appointed to run new Defence Investment Agency
Carney appointed Doug Guzman — a former Goldman Sachs colleague and recently Deputy Chair of RBC — as CEO of the newly created Defence Investment Agency, at a salary defended at half a million dollars. A brand-new agency, created by the PM, run by a former colleague from his Goldman Sachs days.
A Major Projects Office run by a Brookfield-sector insider — that excludes pipelines
The MPO, created to fast-track major projects, is led by Dawn Farrell (former TransAlta CEO, former Trans Mountain chair). Its project list includes nuclear, LNG, and critical minerals — all Brookfield sectors — but distinctly excludes new crude oil pipelines, protecting Brookfield's existing midstream infrastructure from competition.
$94 billion in reclassified spending — the PBO calls it out
The Parliamentary Budget Officer found that Budget 2025 overstates capital investment by $94 billion over five years — 30% more than actual capital spending. The government reclassified operational spending (including tax credits, subsidies, and corporate welfare) as "capital investment" to manufacture the appearance of fiscal responsibility. The PBO found the government's definition "expands beyond the current treatment in the Public Accounts and international practice." The claimed operational surplus in 2028 depends entirely on this reclassification.
The demand
Divest. That's it.
We are asking for one thing: full divestment of all financial interests that create conflicts with the duties of the Prime Minister of Canada.
Not a blind trust administered by your own staff. Not an ethics screen that the public cannot audit. Not a promise that investment decisions are made "independently." Actual divestment.
If the Prime Minister's interests are truly compatible with the public interest, divestment costs nothing. If they are not, the refusal to divest tells Canadians everything they need to know.
Our standards
Everything on this site is sourced.
Every factual claim links to an official record, company filing, parliamentary transcript, or established news report. We distinguish facts from questions. We do not allege criminal intent. We do not publish speculation.
Where sources are still needed, we say so — and we don't publish the claim until we have them. If we get something wrong and you can show us a better source, we'll correct it.
Corrections and primary documents: tips@thecarneyrule.ca