Evidence of meeting #18 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was carney.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Thank you, Mr. Thériault.
Mr. Gourde, the floor is yours for five minutes.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Beber, Brookfield has investment projects more or less everywhere in the world, including in Canada.
Do you have any projects relating to rare minerals such as lithium?
Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation
No, we do not have direct investments in lithium, to my knowledge.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
Do you have investment projects relating to housing?
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
Do you have investment projects in the railway sector in Canada, such as high-speed rail?
Might that interest Brookfield?
Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation
We don't necessarily target passenger rail, but we do have cargo rail.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
Do you have interests or investments in clean energy?
Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation
Yes, we do. We have a large renewable—
Conservative
Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation
Yes, we do, through our investment in Westinghouse.
Conservative
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
Do you have projects in the artificial intelligence field?
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
A lot of projects in these various fields are also found in the federal budget.
In order to go ahead, will some of these projects require permits or exemptions from environmental requirements?
Will negotiations with indigenous communities have to be undertaken for some of these projects?
Would it help the Brookfield fund if the government gave it assistance to carry out these projects?
Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation
We would have to apply for whatever permits are required. We don't expect to be treated any differently than any other business in doing that.
We do it through our portfolio companies, which I'm happy to explain.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
Given that the Prime Minister left Brookfield on January 16, which is what you said in your statement, would it be reasonable to think he was aware of Brookfield's broad investment strategies for the next five to ten years?
Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation
Our investments tend to be very chunky investments in large-scale companies.
Our pipeline of opportunities tends to shift over time. The pipeline of opportunities one month may be very different from another month. He wouldn't know what—
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
My question is simple. When Mark Carney left Brookfield on January 16, 2025, to become leader of the Liberal Party and then prime minister, was he aware of the Brookfield fund's strategies?
Since he was the vice-president, he must have been aware of something.
Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation
Certainly. I thought you were asking about specific investment opportunities.
He was certainly aware of the strategies that we were pursuing in our funds. We're actually very public about it. Anybody who reads our disclosure would understand what our strategy is.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
Can the federal budget help certain parts of the investment fund to materialize, given the fact that the federal government will be facilitating projects?
Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation
I'm not close to every single portfolio company we have. We have over 2,000 businesses that we own as part of all of our funds and our investment strategies.
What I can say is that Brookfield, like any other business, and our portfolio companies, like any other businesses, will assess policy. They're informed of policy at the same time as everybody else. They will react in the manner that is in their best interests.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
If all of Brookfield's investment sectors that I listed are similar to the sectors that appear in the federal budget, is that purely by chance or is it because maybe that is something that has to be done?
Is it a matter of convergence?
Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation
I can't speak to what the Prime Minister has in mind. We don't speak with the Prime Minister about policy or any other matters that would impact Brookfield's business.
In reviewing the policies that the Prime Minister has espoused, I would say they're good for a host of different industries. How it plays out for any particular company is very uncertain.