OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged to amend the Conflict of Interest Act, mandating that party leadership candidates disclose their financial holdings within a month of announcing their candidacy.
This move follows accusations from opposition parties that Liberal leadership frontrunner Mark Carney is exploiting a loophole that could allow him to become prime minister without revealing his financial interests or potential conflicts.
“You have to ask yourself, for whose benefit is the prime minister of Canada actually working?” Poilievre stated at a press conference in Toronto. “Mr. Carney could win the Liberal leadership and become prime minister without ever revealing his multi-million dollar foreign holdings.”
Under Poilievre’s proposed changes, leadership candidates would be required to submit financial disclosures to the ethics commissioner within 30 days and make them public within 60 days. Additionally, future prime ministers and cabinet ministers would be compelled to sell any assets that create conflicts of interest.
Currently, elected officials have 60 days to disclose their holdings to the ethics commissioner, followed by another 60 days before the information becomes public. Poilievre warned that under existing rules, Carney could legally place his investments in a blind trust while retaining ownership. He urged Carney to voluntarily disclose his holdings immediately.
“Within four days, we will have a new prime minister negotiating with President Trump, and that incoming leader refuses to tell Canadians where his millions of dollars are invested—and where his real interests lie,” Poilievre asserted.
Concerns over Canada’s ethics laws have intensified in recent months. A parliamentary inquiry last year into Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault exposed additional regulatory gaps. The investigation, sparked by reports of Boissonnault’s ties to a federal lobbying firm and an Edmonton PPE company facing legal troubles, revealed a loophole allowing MPs to disclose business numbers without revealing the operating names of companies in which they hold financial interests.
Poilievre’s proposed reforms aim to tighten financial transparency for those seeking the country’s highest office, ensuring Canadians have full disclosure of their leaders’ financial stakes.
