Poilievre Says He’ll Tighten Ethics Rules, Singh Pledges More Doctors, Better Roads

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre holds a press conference in Ottawa on April 13, 2025. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre says a Conservative government would strengthen ethics and conflict-of-interest rules for politicians, while NDP’s Jagmeet Singh promised to train more local doctors and build better roads while campaigning in Northern Ontario. Liberal Leader Mark Carney didn’t have any scheduled campaign events on April 13.

During a campaign stop in Ottawa on Sunday, Poilievre announced he would introduce an “Accountability Act 2.0” to end conflicts of interest, shadow lobbying, and politicians using tax loopholes should his party form government in the upcoming federal election on April 28.

The Tories’ plan includes six proposals, the first of which is to ban shadow lobbying—a practice where individuals perform advocacy to influence public policies but without registering as lobbyists.

“We will eliminate the lobbying loophole and require anyone who’s acting as an adviser to government officials to declare themselves and register as a lobbyist whenever they are advising on matters that touch upon their financial interests or that of their company,” Poilievre said.

The Conservative leader said “high-priced corporate insiders” have been able to “get around lobbying rules,” saying Liberal Leader Mark Carney was one of them. He pointed to Carney’s appointment by the Liberal Party last September as chief economic adviser to then-Liberal Leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. At the time, the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor was still on the boards of several financial corporations—including Brookfield Asset Management, payment processor Stripe, and PIMCO—and held chair positions at some of them.

“Mark Carney never had to register as a lobbyist, disclose his conflicts of interest or answer to Canadians,” Poilievre said in a statement on April 13. “As an advisor to the UK government, he lobbied for expanded heat pump subsidies that would have benefited a heat pump company that Brookfield owned.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Carney’s campaign for comment but did not hear back by publication time.

Carney told reporters in January, upon announcing that he was entering the Liberal leadership race, that he had resigned from all of his executive and corporate board roles.

In a previous email to The Epoch Times, in February, Carney’s campaign spokesperson Emily Williams said Carney has “always adhered to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism” in his various roles in the public and private sector.

By late March, Carney said he had set up two conflict-of-interest screens with the ethics commissioner related to his past roles with Brookfield and Stripe.

‘No More Slaps on the Wrist’

The second element of the Conservatives’ plan, said Poilievre, aims to ban politicians from making decisions that benefit themselves or their families “above and beyond the public interest.” Under this proposal, politicians would be required to seek the ethics commissioner’s approval before making such decisions and to publicly disclose any related personal interests.

Poilievre also announced a “no more slaps on the wrist” approach to ethics violations, proposing to raise the penalty to $10,000 for public office holders who breach the rules.

In addition, he sought to roll out a “tax transparency” measure should he become prime minister. “Anyone running for office will have to disclose where they pay taxes for the last seven years, in which country,” he said, while accusing Carney of avoiding taxes.

Poilievre was referring to a March 26 CBC article that reported the Liberal leader had two investment funds registered in the tax haven of Bermuda while he was on the board of directors for both.

The CBC reported Brookfield Global Transition Fund and Brookfield Global Transition Fund II, valued at $15 billion and $10 billion respectively, were registered in Bermuda.

Carney responded to the CBC report on that same day, defending his decision as benefiting Canadian pension funds.

“The structure of these funds is designed to benefit the pension funds. … They pay the taxes on their pension. That’s the design,” Carney said in Windsor, Ont.

“I understand how the world works and how these structures work, and have the ability to put in place all of the necessary rules to ensure that the appropriate taxes are paid here in Canada.”

‘No More So-called Blind Trusts’

Poilievre told reporters on April 13 that the fifth element of his plan would require cabinet ministers to divest fully from tax havens and disclose assets to the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, with penalties for non-compliance. “No more so-called blind trusts that only blind the public,” he said.

Poilievre criticized Carney, saying the Liberal leader should have sold and liquidated his assets before putting them into a blind trust.

Carney, on the other hand, said on March 26 that all he has now is “cash” and “personal real estate” and that all his assets had been “divested into a blind trust, which is managed by a trustee, and it literally means exactly what it says: I don’t know what’s in it.”

Poilievre’s plan also requires party leaders to disclose their assets within 30 days of becoming leader and requires the prime minister to divest their assets within 30 days of assuming office.

Doctors, Better Roads

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh promises to train more local doctors, lower grocery prices, and build better roads in Northern Ontario.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh gives remarks at a press conference during a campaign stop in Timmins, Ont., on April 13, 2025. The Canadian Press/Christopher Katsarov

Family doctors are in short supply in the North, and residents there face a health-care system that they feel increasingly inaccessible, Singh said during an April 13 campaign stop in Timmins, a city in northeastern Ontario.

“Our commitment is, we’re going to train Northerners [to] become physicians,” the NDP leader told reporters.

To make it happen, Singh said that if elected, his party would invest in regional medical schools in rural and remote communities, so that people not only have the support to be trained, but also be incentivized to stay.

Part of the NDP’s Northern Ontario Platform also includes plans to lower grocery prices and build better roads in Northern communities.

“We’re going to twin across Canada, Trans Canada, we’re also going to twin Highways 7 and 11,” Singh said.

“That’s going to make those highways safer, it’s going to make it easier for people to get around the communities in the North.”

The NDP’s platform also commits to supporting the Francophone communities in the North. It includes expanding bilingual services in particular in health, education, and federal programs.

Matthew Horwood, Noé Chartier, and Omid Ghoreishi contributed to this report.