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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's what the blind trust is for.

This is actively forcing people to take a loss by liquidating assets. It's a weird idea to begin with. It won't do much of anything but repel people who are independently successful by their own means.

And you think that people relying on a salary of a couple hundred thousand dollars as members of Parliament can mount campaigns on their own steam?

They cannot. So you won't sit still for someone who is financially independent holding office without charging them to make sure they "care enough" but you're okay with people who will need financial backing to get the job and then owe those people once they are in power?

And your original question is flawed to begin with. Do you not care enough about Canada to want the best person for the job, or is your anti-success prejudice more important to you than finding the best person for the job instead of the person who fits your narrow criteria?

[–] patatas@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

you do realize that he would still be rich, this isn't a vow of poverty, it's just selling off stocks and stock options etc so that he doesn't stand to directly gain (he's been installing friends to high-paying positions BTW)

anti-success prejudice

lol

[–] OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Source on him installing friends to high paying positions?

He'd be "rich" is a funny way of putting it. Do you know what his holdings are? I have seen estimates that his net worth is something like $5 mil. If that's true, it's a good chunk but it's hardly Scrooge McDuck territory. So we're paying him something like $400K a year but if he has to sell $4M in stocks, say, and half of that is a capital gain that's somewhere over a half million in income tax. So we're asking him to fork over about two and a half years of net salary as PM up front for the privilege of being our Prime Minister.

Good plan!

[–] patatas@sh.itjust.works 1 points 22 hours ago

His stock options alone are worth around $6 million, IIRC, so i'm not sure where you're getting your numbers from.

Anyway, he would only pay tax on the gains from the sale of his stocks (that's why it's called, get this, a "capital gains tax") and those gains are only taxed at around 50% of the rate people pay when they earn the same amount of money from a real job. But surely you knew all that already.

Source on him installing friends to high paying positions?

Here you go:

https://rabble.ca/politics/canadian-politics/on-a-wartime-footing-carneys-new-defence-initiatives-risks-corruption-and-global-conflict/

From the piece:

The DIA is a special operating agency (SOA) within Public Services and Procurement Canada. Carney appointed Doug Guzman, his close friend and donor to his election campaign, as the Chief Executive Officer of the new agency. Guzman was previously a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs where Carney worked and then became Deputy Chair of the Royal Bank of Canada from which he has stepped down to head DIA.

As revealed at the hearing of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) on November 6, 2025, Guzman has been appointed for a three-year term despite having no experience in government procurement, the military, or the defence sector. He will receive one of the highest salaries in the federal government over $670,000/year plus performance bonuses. Guzman’s salary is more than double the Chief of Defence Staff General Jennie Carignan who commands the military at $329,000 and more than the Minister of National Defence David McGuinty at $309,000.