Carney says he resigned from ‘all’ his roles. Turns out he hasn’t

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OTTAWA — Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney has not yet resigned from his multiple international board positions, despite claiming this week that he had stepped down from all his roles to be “all in” on his bid to become Canada’s next prime minister.  

National Post contacted nearly two dozen organizations that Carney had public links to until recently. While he resigned from most of them around the time he launched his leadership bid in January, he remains connected to at least five.

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“We can indeed confirm that Mr. Carney is a current president at Chatham House,” Kirsten Rousseau, press officer at The Royal Institute of International Affairs, said on Wednesday. Chatham House, a registered charity in England, aims “to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world.” 

When asked about these conflicting statements, Carney’s campaign first told the National Post that he resigned “from all other professional or advisory roles.”

However, as of Friday, Carney is still listed as a board member of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), an “independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy.” 

“To be frank with you, we simply haven’t been in contact with Mark Carney in the last few months to discuss his role as member of the Peterson Institute’s Board,” Maggie Chai, PIIE’s vice president, executive office and board liaison, told the Post in an email. 

“The Peterson Institute’s usual practice is when a Board member runs for a political office, they resign. If they win for public service, they can also choose to go on leave,” she added.  

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A spokesperson from the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford also confirmed that Carney remains a member of their international advisory board and that it is not a paid position.

On Friday, a spokesman for the Group of Thirty, an international non-profit of economists, bankers and other influential policy makers, confirmed Carney remains the chair, which is also a voluntary role.

After National Post reached out for comment, Carney’s national campaign director Braeden Caley clarified that Carney “stepped away from all of his former paid roles” and “moved to wind down other volunteer roles with non-profits or universities.”

Carney’s campaign also said it is aware that there are “several out-of-date biographies and representations online,” and that they are “working to see those addressed.”

Carney, the former head of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, was asked when he launched his leadership campaign in Edmonton on Jan. 16 how he would navigate any potential conflicts of interest.  

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Flanked by caucus and other supporters, Carney said the answer was “very simple.”  

Not only had he resigned his positions at Brookfield Asset Management, Bloomberg and Stripe, “today,” he added: “I am no longer on the board of any of my commercial activities.”  

“I have resigned all of my positions. I have resigned all of my positions, full stop,” he said on Jan. 16.  

The Opposition Conservatives have since pressed Carney to disclose more of his connections before the Liberal leadership race ends on March 9.
Conflict of interest rules only apply to public office holders, meaning Carney would only have to disclose any potential conflicts and his assets, if he is selected to lead the Liberal party and is sworn in as prime minister.  

Carney has promised to comply with all rules, should he be successful in his bid.  

Speaking after this week’s English debate, Carney repeated to reporters that he “ceased to be a number of other things,” including United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change, before he announced his leadership candidacy.  

“I resigned all of my positions because I’m all in for Canada, all in for this leadership, all in during this time of crisis to build our great country,” said Carney.  

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However, further examination reveals that Carney resigned from some of his high-profile positions around the time he announced he was running for Liberal leader — not necessarily before.

Carney resigned as senior counsellor at global counsel firm Macro Advisory Partners on Jan. 15, the day before his leadership launch, but only stepped down from the volunteer board of directors of the Rideau Hall Foundation on Jan. 19, three days after his campaign announcement.  

On Jan. 17, the investment management firm PIMCO sent an internal note to its employees informing them that Carney would be stepping down from its global advisory board. The company stated that Carney would no longer be involved in any activity or consulting role related to PIMCO. 

“Please join us in sincerely thanking Mark for his many contributions to PIMCO and our clients and wishing him well in this new chapter of his career,” the note read.  

As for Carney’s role at the United Nations — which Carney said he resigned from upon launching his bid — Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said Carney’s contract “ended at the end of 2024.” He did not resign.  

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Other organizations have not yet confirmed whether Carney severed ties with them. That is the case for the Bilderberg Meetings, an annual off-the-record meeting attended by 120 to 150 global elites — political leaders, government officials and CEOs of the world’s biggest companies — which Carney has regularly attended in years past.  

Carney also remains a member of Harvard University’s Board of Overseers. 

According to the school, Carney informed them he intends to step down as of March 9, which is when the next Liberal leader will be announced. 

The university says the Board of Overseers is one of the school’s two governing boards. It is comprised of volunteer alumni who meet roughly five times a year and assess various academic departments. 

Carney was elected in 2021, with his term set to expire in 2027. 

He told Harvard Magazine in 2021 that his decision to run for the Harvard board was motivated by his move out of the public-service sector. This eliminated any possible conflicts of interest.  

“I am standing now because I have the time to devote myself to the role and am now free from perceived conflicts that might have arisen in my prior public service roles,” Carney told the magazine. 

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