Buried on page 300 of the government’s omnibus budget implementation bill is an extremely troubling clause regarding corporate power in Canada—one that allows all cabinet ministers to exempt any individual or corporation from any federal Canadian law they are responsible for (with the exception of the Criminal Code). These exemptions just have to be justified as being “in the public interest” and “encourag[ing] innovation, competitiveness or economic growth,” concepts so vague that they could be invoked for virtually any law.
In theory, this new provision applies equally to all individuals and corporations, but history tells us that large corporations have disproportionate access to government officials and are able to get their way. The broad nature of this new provision means that corporations could be able to avoid everything from environmental regulations to conflict of interest laws, so long as they have a single minister on board.
So, why is Prime Minister Carney’s government trying to push through such a policy in an omnibus bill? It is worth noting the direct financial interest he holds in the corporate sector’s profitability, through the shares he holds in 567 (mostly American) corporations, as revealed by his ethics disclosure. At the end of 2024, he owned about $9 million in Brookfield Asset Management stock options alone.
We can further understand Carney’s interests by examining his career and his connections. Although his experience at Brookfield Asset Management and as Governor of the Bank of Canada (and Bank of England) is well known, the true scope of his connections in the business world is less widely understood.
As Canadian members of the World Elite Database, a network of researchers that studies elite populations across the globe, we can document Mark Carney’s centrality in corporate networks. The image below visualizes the career network of the Canadian corporate elite (CEOs and Board Chairs of the corporations listed on the TSX60 during the last five years). Two people are related if they held a position at the same organization during the same period at any point in the past. It is first worth noting that the corporate network in Canada is closely knit: most corporate leaders are part of one large connected group. As we look closely, we can see that Mark Carney takes a central place in this network, having more connections than over two thirds of the corporate elite.
During Carney’s career, he’s had roles at several hubs of corporate power, including Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and Bloomberg. He crossed paths with eight other corporate elites, through which he is connected to 59 people who have become heads of Canada’s largest corporations. His integration in corporate networks has surely shaped who has Carney’s ear. Today, he is deeply connected with people who have a direct interest in stripping regulations that protect the public against the unconstrained power of big business.
These connections have been reflected in his actions since becoming Prime Minister. Lobbying disclosures show that Carney held 83 lobbying meetings with corporations or business associations during his first nine months as Prime Minister, over twice as many as Trudeau did over the same period (31). Under Carney’s tenure, government officials have met 109 times with the Business Council of Canada, which largely represents CEOs of large Canadian corporations, more than three times as much as during Trudeau’s first nine months.
Carney’s policies have consistently benefitted big business. This new provision is in many ways an extension of the powers he granted to the President of the Privy Council under the Building Canada Act to fast-track certain “national interest projects” through federal authorizations, something the oil and gas industry had long lobbied for. This new provision has gotten far less media attention yet it goes far beyond fast-tracking specific projects, extending federal exemptions to any corporation who can get a minister on their side.
In his short time in office, Carney has also repealed the Digital Services Tax, a policy that would have ensured largely American digital multinationals paid their fair share of taxes in Canada, and reached a Memorandum of Understanding that exempted Alberta from clean electricity regulations, and rescinded the planned oil and gas emissions cap.
In this context, this new provision that opens the door to exempting corporations from nearly any federal law is not such a surprise. Carney is deeply integrated in corporate networks that have been calling for policies like this for years and has already implemented several policies that have undermined our democratic laws in favour of large corporations.
We must see this clause for what it is: a brazen anti-democratic power grab by big business that has Prime Minister Carney’s full support. The omnibus bill will be before committees in the House and Senate when parliament returns at the end of January. Opposition parties must use their full power to stop this anti-democratic provision.
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