Prime Minister Mark Carney and other Canadian prime ministers should be required to divest their investment portfolios when they assume office, not just put them in a blind trust, the House of Commons ethics committee recommends in a new report.
In its report made public Thursday morning, the committee said putting assets in a blind trust isn’t good enough, recommending instead “that the Government of Canada amend the Conflict of Interest Act that, for the application of subsection 27(1) the prime minister, as a reporting public office holder, is fully divested from their controlled assets through sale, since placement in a blind trust does not constitute true divestment.”
The committee also wants the law amended to require public disclosure of “high-level holdings categories placed in a blind trust by reporting public office holders (sector/asset class, and whether the holdings are Canadian-market concentrated),” a recommendation that could shed new light on the financial interests of a number of top officials and cabinet ministers.
While amending the law might be a good idea, doing it by firing baseless attacks in the back of the very people at the front line is IMHO despicable. The Conservatives are playing political games while the country needs serious leadership to face a global trade war. They always used “Potential” conflict of interest in their official communication because there is no actual fraud committed, a fact that allot of people in the comments seem to ignore. Get this, PP claims “Mark Carney is doing nothing and has signed no deals since in office” and in the same breath, he’s in conflict of interest… hum. Speaking with both sides of their mouth.