The Canada Strong Fund Needs a Brookfield Firewall

Ottawa is putting $25 billion into a new national investment fund. Because the Prime Minister's former employer is active in many of the same sectors, Canadians need written guardrails before the money moves.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced the Canada Strong Fund, described by the government as Canada's first national sovereign wealth fund. The official release says the fund will begin with a $25-billion federal contribution and invest beside private capital in projects and companies tied to clean and conventional energy, critical minerals, agriculture and infrastructure. It also says more details on mandate, structure and governance will come later.

That last sentence is the problem. When a government asks taxpayers to seed a $25-billion investment vehicle before the rules are fully public, the first question should not be partisan. It should be basic stewardship: who chooses the investments, who is barred from the room, and how will Canadians know no former employer, donor, lobbyist or insider received a quiet advantage?

In Carney's case, the question is unavoidable. He previously held senior roles at Brookfield. Brookfield itself describes its business as spanning infrastructure, renewable power and transition, real estate, private equity, credit, energy, data and other hard-asset sectors. Those are not fringe sectors beside the Canada Strong Fund. They are central to the fund's stated purpose.

The House of Commons ethics committee has already examined weaknesses in the Conflict of Interest Act around senior office holders, blind trusts, disclosure and screens. Its report recommends that future prime ministers be required to divest controlled assets within 60 days of taking office and that prime ministers be obliged to sell controlled assets rather than rely on blind-trust arrangements. The report also notes testimony and debate about Brookfield, including the scope of the Prime Minister's screen and the company's own evidence before the committee.

None of this proves wrongdoing. It does prove that the appearance risk is serious. A conservative accountability standard should be higher than “trust us.” It should require a published conflict screen for the Canada Strong Fund, full recusals from any file touching Brookfield or related entities, a public list of approved investments, published lobbying contacts, and independent review before retail Canadians are invited to buy into the vehicle.

If the fund is truly about building Canada, the government should welcome that sunlight. If Ottawa will not build a glass wall between public money and private finance, Canadians are entitled to ask whose strength this fund is really designed to build.