Information & Ethics Committee on Nov. 24th, 2025

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

Good morning, everyone. I'm going to call the meeting to order.

I want to welcome everyone to meeting number 18 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(h), the motion adopted by the committee on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, and the order of reference of October 28, 2025, the committee is resuming its review of the Conflict of Interest Act.

I'd like to welcome our witness for today. From Brookfield Corporation, we have Mr. Justin Beber, chief operating officer.

Mr. Beber, you have up to five minutes for your opening statement.

Sir, the floor is yours. Go ahead, please.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Just before—

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

Do you wish to speak now?

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Yes, if it's possible.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

Is this a point of order?

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

It probably is.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

I'm not going to give you the floor unless you indicate to me what you want the floor for.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

It's about the letter that was put on social media, on X. It was in English. We don't have that letter.

Do you have that letter?

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

Do we have that letter, Nancy?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Nancy Vohl]

It's not the work of the committee.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I think it's from Mr. Barrett and the team.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes, ON]

I am not obliged to make sure that the private messages I inform the other committee members of are in both official languages. A member from our party has a copy in French.

For our purposes, it's private correspondence that we chose to share. It's not the work of the committee.

If the member opposite, Mr. Chair, would like a copy in French, I'm happy to furnish her with it.

It doesn't speak to the privileges of members of this committee, and I would say it's certainly not a question of privilege.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

Thank you.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I have another question.

Did you receive an answer to that letter and to what you were asking?

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

Madame Lapointe, before we begin, you raised your hand. I'm going to take this as a point of order, which I expect it is. Mr. Barrett answered the question.

Let me say, from my standpoint, that letter was not done by the chair on behalf of the committee. It was sent to Mr. Beber and Brookfield on the part of committee members from the Conservative Party. There was certainly, from my standpoint, no obligation for the letter to be in both official languages. It wasn't on behalf of the committee, Madame Lapointe.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Did they receive an answer?

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

I believe that an answer was distributed this morning. Let me check with the clerk.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

As I suspected, the response from Brookfield to the Conservative member's letter was sent to every member's P9 this morning directly from Brookfield. It wasn't sent to the clerk or through the clerk. It was sent in both official languages as well.

I've asked the clerk to send that response to all members of the committee.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

Thank you.

Mr. Beber, you have up to five minutes to address the committee. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you.

[Justin Beber, Chief Operating Officer, Brookfield Corporation]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Chair and members of the committee, I am pleased to appear before you today in order to assist the committee, in whatever extent and to whatever extent I can, in your study of the Conflict of Interest Act.

My name is Justin Beber, and I serve as chief operating officer and a member of the executive committee at Brookfield.

Let me begin by repeating Brookfield's respect for this committee and its important work. As an international company with roots in Canada, we recognize the significance of transparent and robust frameworks in maintaining public trust in our institutions.

By way of background, Brookfield is one of the largest investors in Canada. We are owners and operators of critical infrastructure and other assets and businesses across the country. We have over 600 direct employees in Canada, and our operating businesses employ more than 15,000 people from coast to coast to coast. In 2024 alone, we, together with our consolidated businesses, remitted over $750 million in federal tax. This does not even include other types of tax paid in Canada, including provincial, municipal and school taxes where they apply.

We have grown to become a global company, but our heritage is in Canada. We are proud to be invested in so many critical sectors of the Canadian economy, including midstream energy infrastructure, renewable power, financial services and real estate, to name only a few.

When Mark Carney made his decision to run for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, even before he became Prime Minister, we sought expert advice to review our policies and procedures to ensure we remain on the right side of the rules at all times. Mr. Carney departed Brookfield on January 16 of this year, the same day on which he formally announced his candidacy for the party leadership. Since then, at no point has anyone at Brookfield spoken with the Prime Minister about Brookfield business.

We understand the increased interest in the management of potential conflicts, and I am pleased to be here to talk about Brookfield's approach to compliance and the priority we place on ensuring integrity across our business. As chief operating officer, I have primary oversight of Brookfield's corporate operations, including legal and compliance activities and human resources, which include our compensation programs. I am fully prepared to assist in any way that might help advance the committee's work.

In particular, I am happy to discuss the items raised in the correspondence received from certain committee members on Saturday night, including the composition and management of our funds. I'm also happy to discuss our general approach to executive compensation, subject to the restrictions related to personal privacy that I outlined in my response letter.

The committee members' letter also expressed interest in lobbying activities that may be conducted by companies we work with. As I noted in my response, as a general matter Brookfield does not direct or manage government engagement or advocacy efforts by our portfolio companies. However, I am happy to discuss our approach to compliance in this area, which is something we take very seriously.

In closing, Brookfield is committed to supporting the committee's important work in a manner that is reflective of our company's role as an international investor and business owner. While our company and personnel are not subject to the Conflict of Interest Act and we do not administer blind trusts for public office holders or act as trustees for such arrangements, we are prepared to share whatever perspective we can.

I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

Thank you, Mr. Beber. I appreciate your being under time so that we can get to questions.

We're going to start with Mr. Barrett for six minutes.

Go ahead, Mr. Barrett.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes, ON]

At Brookfield, when Brookfield's value increases, the value of stock options and deferred share units also increases. That's how these instruments work. Is that correct?

[Justin Beber]

Yes. When our share price increases, the value of those instruments does increase, yes.