Mark Carney has set his sights on becoming the next prime minister of Canada. But he's been dogged by a controversy regarding the relocation of the headquarters of Brookfield Asset Management, where he recently served as chair.
Liberal Party member Carney has put his hat in the ring to become leader of the political party, succeeding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has announced his resignation. The party will choose its next leader in a vote on March 9, and a national election will take place to select the next prime minister no later than Oct 20.
But Carney, whose resume includes serving as the former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, has come under fire from the Conservative Party in Canada over Brookfield's decision in October to relocate its headquarters to New York from Toronto. The move was formally approved by BAM shareholders at a meeting on Jan. 27.
With more than $1 trillion in assets, Brookfield was one of Canada's largest asset managers. The firm specializes in renewable power and transition, infrastructure, private equity, real estate, and credit investments.
Neither BAM nor Carney’s campaign could be reached for comment.
The issue is especially sensitive to Canadians in light of the tariffs that President Donald Trump has threatened against Canada.
Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada took effect on March 4, with an additional 10% tariffs on Canadian energy products. But on March 6, he exempted Mexican and Canadian goods covered by the North American trade agreement known as USMCA until April 2.
Given the tariff turmoil, the move of a Canadian-based firm to the U.S. has caused consternation among Carney’s political opponents due to questions surrounding the timing of the move and his denials that he supported the relocation.
On Oct. 31, when Carney was still serving as its chairman, Brookfield announced in a news release that it would move its corporate headquarters to New York from Toronto as a means of “enhancing BAM’s corporate structure and positioning BAM for broader equity index inclusion, particularly those in the U.S.”
Broader index inclusion, BAM noted in the release, is “expected to drive increased ownership of the class A shares by passive institutional investors” and that “inclusion in the most widely followed indices is expected to increase BAM’s visibility among a much broader universe of active public investors who benchmark against these indices.”
Then, in a Dec. 1 letter signed by Carney, he encouraged BAM shareholders to support the corporate relocation, where he wrote “feedback that we hear from investors encourages us to position BAM for inclusion in some of the most widely followed global large cap stock indices, including in the U.S.”
However, on Feb. 25, Carney denied he had anything to do with Brookfield’s relocation to New York, saying at a press conference that “the formal decision of the board happened after I ceased to be on the board,” adding that “I do not have a connection with Brookfield Asset Management.”
Canadian Conservatives pointed out that Carney did not step down as BAM chair until Jan. 16, when he announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Conservatives jumped on Carney for that discrepancy.
Michael Barrett, Conservative shadow minister for ethics and accountable government, and Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative member of parliament, said in a statement: “Brookfield’s board, of which Mark Carney was chair, unanimously determined the move, taking jobs away from Canadians. On top of this, Carney’s recommendation to move jobs out of Canada occurred just five days after Donald Trump first threatened Canada with unfair and unjustified tariffs.”
Bloomberg reported that BAM said its Canadian operations were not impacted by the move of its headquarters to New York.
Still, Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said BAM’s move to New York is a “particularly sensitive” issue in Canada because of the economic nationalism that Trump’s rhetoric and threats against Canada have fostered.
In fact, Carney himself has criticized Trump’s tariffs.
On Feb. 1, Carney said in a statement that the tariffs “are a clear violation of our trade agreements and require the most serious trade and economic responses in our history.” Carney added that “we won’t stand by as illegal U.S. tariffs hurt our workers and their families. … I support dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs aimed where they will be felt the hardest in the United States but will have the least impact in Canada.”
Stéphanie Chouinard, associate professor of political studies at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, noted that Carney is “by far the favorite in the race at this time.”
While Carney has never held political office before, Chouinard points out that as the former governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, “particularly during the pre-Brexit period, which was very intense and drew exacerbated scrutiny ... he does have some political experience.”
But the Liberals still may face a tough road to winning the bigger race in the federal election.
Before Mark Carney announced he was running, the Liberal Party was trailing by roughly 20 percentage points behind the Conservatives, Chouinard noted. If an election had been held in December 2024, there is no doubt the Conservatives would have likely won, she noted.
“However, Trump's threats toward Canada, as well as Carney's decision to jump in the race to replace Trudeau, are two factors that appear to have dramatically changed the political landscape,” Chouinard said.
Indeed, Trump’s tariffs have created a large backlash among Canadians, Chouinard indicated, “not only because Canadians understand how large a part of our economy depends on free trade and the impact it could have on their livelihoods, but also because the reasons given by the Trump administration for the imposition of those tariffs just ring hollow,” referring to Trump’s claims that Canada is a major source of the drug fentanyl and illegal immigration.
“Canadians don't understand why the administration is going after one of its most steadfast allies,” she added. “At the same time, these threats have triggered a wave of patriotism and solidarity the likes of which most of us have never seen in our lifetime.”
