WARMINGTON: Company Carney formerly chaired lists apartment on Isle of Man as HQ

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First Bermuda, then the Cayman Islands, and now the Isle of Man.

Brookfield, the company that Liberal Leader Mark Carney chaired from 2020 until January of 2025, has corporate offices set up in these countries which are known for their favourable tax avoidance loopholes.

No. 4 Belgravia Rd., Unit 5, in the village of Onchan on the Isle of Man, may look like a regular residential apartment dwelling. It’s a small apartment on a tiny island known as an international tax haven that’s listed as the headquarters for Brookfield IOM.

But it has multiple uses.

In addition to it being registered as the headquarters of Brookfield IOM, it’s also on the United Kingdom’s business registry as the home of a man named Leslie Commins who the British government indicates was born in 1937. On Linkedin, it lists Commins as “managing director at Brookfield IOM Ltd.”

Attempts to reach Commins have been unsuccessful, but Brookfield did respond to questions about this address to The Toronto Sun.

“Brookfield and its affiliates are committed to adhering to all applicable tax rules in Canada and all other jurisdictions in which we do business,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Our asset management business, like all of our peers, offers customized investment vehicles to our clients, who are based all over the world, to help meet their legitimate objective of ensuring there is no double taxation.”

The statement added “our global portfolio of investee companies pay all applicable taxes in their local jurisdictions, and the after-tax distributions that our clients receive are subject to applicable taxes in their home jurisdictions.”

Rebel News’s Ezra Levant and Lincoln Jay travelled Friday to the address on the island that sits between England and Ireland in the Irish sea and rang the doorbell where they could see both Commins name listed on the directory and the name “Brookfield.” A neighbour in a different unit told Levant that Commins was her landlord.

But the trillion-dollar asset management company, Brookfield — which Carney led until vying successfully to replace Justin Trudeau — says these locations are “adhering to all applicable tax rules.”

The Liberal leader — a favourite in polls to win Monday’s election — said, after a similar address for Brookfield was found to be a bike shop in Bermuda and one called Ugland House in George Town on the Cayman Islands — an address for 18,000 corporate registered titles — “their arrangements follow the rules” of Canada and the countries they are registered in.

Carney’s campaign responded to questions about the Isle of Man apartment, saying “Mr. Carney has always followed the rules and adhered to the highest standards of integrity in his career in business and finance.”

The Liberal Party added “it’s not surprising that Rebel News, a registered third-party advocacy group, is bringing forward baseless allegations to malign this experience and make up for Pierre Poilievre’s absence of any experience outside of partisan politics. While Pierre Poilievre and his mentor continue to focus on divisive attacks, we’re bringing forward a positive vision to fight back against President Trump, protect workers and businesses, and build Canada strong.”

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However, Levant merely reported what is registered with the U.K government as an office for Brookfield onthe Isle of Man. That followed reporting by CTV News journalist Judy Trinh about tax havens as well as extensive coverage by the Toronto Sun’s Brian Lilley focusing on the hypocrisy of the strategy and how Carney was chair of Brookfield when it moved it’s headquarters from Toronto to New York.

Carney during the campaign, however, said it is a “priority” if re-elected “to ensure our companies are paying their fair share of taxes” but also said places with lower tax rates ensure maximum benefit for pensioners on their retirement funds.

In a release this month, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said these off-shore set ups helped Brookfield avoid billions of tax responsibility.

“For years, the ultra-rich have exploited offshore tax loopholes to avoid paying their fair share — leaving working families to cover the shortfall,” Singh said on April 4. “New Democrats will close these loopholes.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also said on the campaign “we will close these tax havens” and create a “name and shame publication to expose all the wealthy multinational corporations that are dodging taxes and are refusing to pay their fair share.”

It’s not the only tax controversy Carney faces as voters head to the polls on Monday.

The Journal de Montreal reported Saturday Brookfield is “in litigation against the Canada Revenue Agency” in a tax avoidance allegation of $183-milion” that dated back to 2012 before Carney was chair. But even though the PM was chair during the legal dispute, he is no longer connected with Brookfield and has been reported to have renounced his English and Irish citizenships.

There is also much interest in what Carney will replace the dropped consumer tax on gas with if he forms a government. It seems while Canadians are expected to pay income and carbon taxes, there are corporations who have found ways to avoid paying their share.

The NDP in a news release said “under Mark Carney’s leadership, Brookfield Asset Management avoided $5.3 billion in taxes between 2021 and 2024.”

Said Singh: “Mark Carney helped run one of Canada’s top tax dodgers.”

If he wins Monday, Carney will head a government which is in the business of catching tax dodgers.