Mark Carney invokes conflict screen after company run by friend got $2.3B contract - Toronto Star

Prime Minister Mark Carney will create a formal conflict of interest 'screen' because of his friendship with the head of Telesat, the Star has learned.

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives for the European Political Community summit in Dublin, Ireland, on Nov. 12, 2026.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney will create a formal conflict of interest “screen” because of his friendship with the head of Telesat, the Star has learned, following pressure from opposition Conservatives over the Canadian company’s $2.3-billion contract with the federal government. 

It’s the latest example of the prime minister juggling how to govern while facing scrutiny over his extensive corporate ties and private investments from before he entered politics. Carney already has a “screen” for 103 companies that has caused his staff to sideline him from at least 29 policy deliberations within his administration, according to the latest disclosure to the House of Commons’ ethics committee. 

Now Carney is seeking to add Telesat, an Ottawa-based satellite company, to that list. In a Nov. 4 letter that was provided to the Star, Carney asked Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein to formalize a new conflict of interest “screen” to prevent him from participating in official dealings related to the Canadian satellite company and its chief executive officer, Dan Goldberg.

Carney described the screen as a “prudent” step that is “preferable to reactive recusals, so as to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest.” He asked to work with von Finckenstein to prevent any such conflicts while preserving “my ability to engage in essential international diplomacy where appropriate and without preferential treatment.”

The prime minister also wrote that he has never “participated in any debate, vote or decision regarding” Telesat or Goldberg, and that he did not participate in “discussions leading to the decisions in relation” to a $2.3-billion contract that Telesat inked in August with the federal government’s Defence Investment Agency. 

That 15-year deal is meant to provide the Canadian Armed Forces with satellite communications in the Arctic, with funding for Telesat to increase its “constellation” of satellites from 156 to 225, with options to extend the contract with an additional $400 million. 

Carney’s office insisted in recent weeks that the prime minister was “not involved in or consulted on” the decision to award that contract to Telesat, while defending his existing measures to avoid conflicts of interest. 

On Nov. 3, a day before Carney’s letter to the ethics commissioner, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani asked von Finckenstein to investigate whether Carney’s long-standing friendship with Goldberg required a formal “screen” to ensure the prime minister recused himself from any of his government’s dealings with the company.

Jivani also urged von Finckenstein to look into whether Carney’s “past participation in matters involving Telesat,” such as how the company was promoted at the prime minister’s global investment summit in September. 

In a statement at the time, Telesat spokesperson Lynette Simmons said Goldberg “has been open about his friendship with Mr. Carney” and that he’s never asked the prime minister for government money, contracts, or “special treatment of any kind related to Telesat.” 

A government official, who spoke to the Star on condition they aren’t named, said Friday that Carney requested the new screen as a “proactive and preventative measure.” The official said Carney’s office also expects Telesat — which hopes to rival Elon Musk’s U.S.-based Starlink network — to be the focus of more public discussion. 

The official also acknowledged that Carney’s office is trying to take steps, including through official “screens” and “ad hoc” assessments, to avoid the appearance that the prime minister is in conflicts of interest. With a career that included stints as the governor of the Bank of Canada, governor of the Bank of England and chair of global investment firm Brookfield Asset Management, Carney is “one of the most networked people on the planet,” the official said. 

After the Liberals held power in the 2025 federal election, Carney and his top advisers created a conflict of interest screen for Brookfield and 102 other companies that the prime minister was involved with, are held in Brookfield’s investment portfolio, or have other links with the firm. The screen is supposed to prevent him from being aware of or participating in “any official matters or decision-making processes” involving the interests of the companies, to avoid “preferential treatment.”

In a new disclosure submitted to the House of Commons’ ethics committee on Friday, Carney’s office revealed the screen prevented his involvement in 29 “situations” as of Oct. 23 of this year — up from 25 as of July 24. 

While details of 17 of the 29 instances remain secret because Carney isn’t allowed to know about them until after they’ve been announced or abandoned by his government, one new example disclosed Friday involved a decision to give $250 million in funding to Air Transat to help the company “return to sustainable footing.” 

He has also been sidelined from the development and release of his government’s nuclear energy strategy, and a decision to make a $3.1-billion payment for mortgage insurance to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, among other instances. 

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Alex Ballingall is the Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief for the Star. Reach him via email: aballingall@thestar.ca