Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ Tracking down Mark Carney's hidden billions in Bermuda

00:00:00.360 Hello, my friends. I'm very excited about today's show. I went down to Bermuda, the

00:00:06.020 island in the Atlantic that's known as a tax haven. It's known for two things, I guess.

00:00:11.200 The Bermuda Triangle where ships and planes go missing, but also the financial Bermuda

00:00:16.760 Triangle where people like Mark Carney and Brookfield Asset Management hide from the

00:00:22.060 tax man. I really want you to see the video. It's so beautiful down there in Bermuda. We

00:00:26.320 were only there for a day. I want to show you some of the drama of them. So make sure

00:00:30.560 you're watching the video version of this podcast. Go to rebelnewsplus.com and click

00:00:36.580 subscribe and you'll get the video version of this podcast every day and the satisfaction

00:00:40.660 of knowing that you help keep us strong. It's only eight bucks a month, which may not sound

00:00:45.340 like a lot of money to you, but boy, it adds up for us. It's rebelnewsplus.com.

00:00:49.340 Tonight, I went to Bermuda and back in one day, not for a vacation, but to track down Mark

00:00:59.340 Carney's hidden billions. It's May 8th and this is the Ezra LeVant Show.

00:01:03.900 Shame on you, you censorious bug.

00:01:09.940 Oh, hi there. I don't know if you knew, but I zipped down to the island of Bermuda yesterday,

00:01:25.560 left very early in the morning. There's a direct flight we took to get down there and

00:01:30.140 then we came back through Atlanta. We did that in part because we only had a specific project

00:01:35.600 and because it's extremely expensive. I don't know if you know what Bermuda is. It's sort of

00:01:41.120 a banking and insurance and financial haven. It's on an island. It's not in the Caribbean. It's sort

00:01:47.120 of in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. So it's sort of chilly there, even though they've got some

00:01:50.960 palm trees. It's a small place, 65,000 people. It was discovered more than 500 years ago. It's been

00:01:58.400 populated for 400 years. They've even got their own sort of accent and ethnicity. I mean,

00:02:05.600 the mixture of indigenous people and Brits and black people and Portuguese, like it's just a very 1.00

00:02:12.420 lovely place. And I say that based on the fact that I was there for, I don't know, about two full

00:02:17.900 hours yesterday. But we put together a little investigation, I guess. I went to Bermuda for

00:02:25.400 the same reason that I went to the Isle of Man a couple of weeks ago, because it's a tax haven

00:02:29.900 that Mark Carney used to avoid his company, Brookfield, from paying huge amounts of tax.

00:02:37.320 Now, I talked to Brookfield, and I'll read to you their letter to me. They claim they're following

00:02:42.840 the law. They're not breaking the law. Of course, they would say that. It would be weird for them to

00:02:46.180 say anything else. I'm not sure if that's true. They're being sued right now by the Canada Revenue

00:02:52.360 Agency over tax avoidance. And even if it is true, even if they are following the law, what about the

00:02:58.460 spirit of the law, of pushing as many assets into tax havens as possible to avoid paying Canadian

00:03:04.780 taxes? And it's the Canadian Prime Minister who taxes the rest of us who set that scheme up.

00:03:11.760 Well, without further ado, I present to you my one-day documentary, my journey to Bermuda,

00:03:17.480 to find where's the money. Here, take a look.

00:03:20.740 73 Front Street is the address of one of his companies, and it's obviously not this bike shop.

00:03:26.460 Yeah. Have you, has any other reporter come by asking about that?

00:03:30.400 No. The flow-through of the funds go to the, go to Canadian entities who then pay the, pay

00:03:37.740 the taxes appropriately, as opposed to taxes being paid multiple times.

00:03:41.840 All right. Brookfield Bermuda, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Renewable Partners,

00:03:47.200 Property Partners, Business Partners. That's on the fifth floor. So they really are here.

00:03:51.820 It's not just the bike shop. So I'm glad to know that there are some Brookfield people

00:03:56.480 here in Bermuda. It's not just a PO box, but is it really the principal executive office

00:04:03.940 for the various funds? I find that hard to believe.

00:04:06.680 I'm afraid I have no comment on that. I can't help you.

00:04:09.460 Can you tell me what you do here? Yeah.

00:04:11.540 Hi, everybody. Ezra here. We just landed in Bermuda. It is 12.31 local time, which means

00:04:20.460 we have exactly two hours to do our investigations because boarding for our flight home is actually

00:04:26.700 at 2.50. So we should be at the airport by 2.30. We got to get cracking. Just a little

00:04:32.420 FYI, Bermuda, even though there's some lovely palm trees and it's just beautiful beaches,

00:04:37.640 it's not actually in the tropics. It's sort of the mid-Atlantic. It's actually the same

00:04:42.800 temperature as Toronto, but I'm wearing shorts because why not? This is a lovely island with

00:04:48.480 its own history going back centuries, actually. It even has its kind of own accent. It's got its

00:04:54.340 own culture here. Of course, hundreds of years ago, the economy was much different. Today,

00:05:00.240 Bermuda makes its living in financial services, insurance companies, for example. But the reason

00:05:05.240 we're here is to track down why Mark Carney loves it. He loves the tax evasion. You probably heard

00:05:11.640 of the myth of the Bermuda Triangle, a place that would swallow up boats, even swallow up planes.

00:05:17.180 I don't know much about that, but I do know that Bermuda helps oligarchs like Mark Carney

00:05:22.000 and his Brookfield Asset Management make billions or even tens of billions of dollars disappear before

00:05:28.480 the tax man could go after him. Brookfield Asset Management that Mark Carney ran until just a few

00:05:33.800 weeks ago stashed tens of billions of dollars here in Bermuda, including two funds that Mark

00:05:40.200 Carney himself was personally responsible for, one of $10 billion and one was $15 billion. But hey,

00:05:46.800 a billion here, a billion there, it all adds up, doesn't it? It's just incredible. I don't know if

00:05:52.200 you remember, but the CBC asked a single critical question of Mark Carney during the entire campaign,

00:05:58.180 and it was, why don't you disclose and divulge your assets? And oh, he got prickly. Remember that?

00:06:04.580 He told the CBC to look within herself. Remember?

00:06:07.580 I'm complying with the rules in advance. Point for now.

00:06:11.980 Are you saying you are not willing to hang conflict of interest?

00:06:15.280 Yes.

00:06:16.280 You're not going to spend most of the time in the private sector. There's no possible conflict of interest in your assets.

00:06:21.880 It's very difficult to believe.

00:06:23.580 Look inside yourself, Rosemary. You start from a prior of conflict and ill will. I have served in the private sector. I have stood up for Canada. I have left my roles in the private sector at a time of crisis for our country.

00:06:50.580 I'm complying with all the rules. Your line of questioning is trying to invent new rules. I'm complying with the rules that Parliament has laid out and the responsibilities of the Ethics Commissioner.

00:07:05.580 And I will continue to comply with those rules.

00:07:08.580 I want to read to you his exact words when he was asked to explain why he was hiding his corporate taxes in Bermuda and normal Canadians had to pay it.

00:07:18.580 Let me just read this. Tell me if you can make any sense of this.

00:07:21.580 He said the taxes are, in fact, paid in Canada because, quote, the flow through of the funds go to Canadian entities who pay the taxes appropriately as opposed to taxes being paid multiple times before they get there.

00:07:38.580 So he's saying, well, listen, the people who are getting rich ultimately live in Canada, so they're ultimately paying the taxes.

00:07:45.580 Well, if that's true, why weren't these multi-billion dollar businesses registered in Canada?

00:07:51.580 I mean, Mark Carney moved Brookfield's head office to the United States, but these funds go back several years.

00:07:58.580 If it's all about making Canadians wealthier, why didn't he locate them in Canada? 0.82

00:08:03.580 I think he's got trouble telling the truth.

00:08:05.580 And I see, again, he still owns $6.8 million worth of stock options.

00:08:10.580 Everyone knows he owns it.

00:08:11.580 For example, the firms that are located here in Bermuda are solar panel firms and wind turbine firms.

00:08:20.580 They're not operating in Bermuda.

00:08:22.580 They just have a mailbox here, a shell company, a straw man officer.

00:08:27.580 They're not actually operating here.

00:08:29.580 He chose this place for secrecy and for lack of taxes.

00:08:33.580 He's avoiding Canadian taxes.

00:08:34.580 I was looking through some of the filings of one of his companies.

00:08:38.580 And, you know, normally you have a board of directors that are actually human people.

00:08:42.580 In Bermudian law, you can have a managing partner instead of a board of directors.

00:08:50.580 But the managing partner can be another company.

00:08:53.580 So you have a company that's the director of another company that's a director.

00:08:57.580 It's a shell game that they are.

00:08:59.580 It's so tricky the way he hides from taxes.

00:09:03.580 And I'm not saying it's a crime.

00:09:05.580 Although I remind you that the Canada Revenue Agency is after him.

00:09:08.580 But if he's now the one who is collecting taxes from you and me,

00:09:13.580 if they're hiring more tax collectors to go after average people in Canada, 0.98

00:09:18.580 you think the least the prime minister would do is pay his damn taxes in our own country. 0.91

00:09:23.580 All right, let's go down to 73 Front Street to see this global office of the $25 billion solar power company. 1.00

00:09:31.580 What a liar Mark Carney is. 0.83

00:09:33.580 Let's go take a look. 0.99

00:09:34.580 I'm wearing my Bermuda shorts.

00:09:36.580 I'm in Bermuda.

00:09:37.580 I'm tracking down Mark Carney's global address for Brookfield Asset Management.

00:09:43.580 73 Front Street.

00:09:46.580 Hang on.

00:09:47.580 Is that really the principal executive offices of Brookfield Asset Management's environmental funds?

00:09:55.580 $25 billion worth of assets.

00:10:01.580 The bike shop on the main floor.

00:10:03.580 And it looks like, I don't know if those are offices upstairs,

00:10:06.580 but Brookfield swore a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States.

00:10:12.580 And they published it to their investors that that was the principal executive office for not just the $25 billion in environmental funds that I mentioned,

00:10:24.580 but for tens of billions of other funds.

00:10:26.580 Why would you do that?

00:10:27.580 By the way, this looks like an amazing street.

00:10:30.580 There's Flanagan's Irish pub.

00:10:32.580 There's pubs all the way down here.

00:10:34.580 It's a bit of a party street.

00:10:36.580 Look at that.

00:10:37.580 There's Gringo Mayo.

00:10:39.580 That looks pretty fun.

00:10:40.580 Of course, we're right down at the waterfront.

00:10:43.580 Absolutely gorgeous here.

00:10:45.580 About 65,000 people here in Bermuda.

00:10:48.580 But I do not believe that Brookfield Asset Management is actually here in any real sense other than a mailbox.

00:10:58.580 And someone who is in the filings, the principal boss, Jane Shear, is the boss at the address of the principal executives.

00:11:13.580 Do you think Jane is here?

00:11:15.580 Do you think she runs Brookfield Asset Management's $25 billion environmental funds?

00:11:21.580 Let's go in and find out.

00:11:22.580 All right.

00:11:23.580 It's 1.24.

00:11:24.580 I tell you that because we've only got about one hour left before we've got to fly.

00:11:29.580 I just went into 73 Front Street.

00:11:31.580 I went into the Winner's Edge bike shop and I talked to the friendliest fella.

00:11:37.580 You know, there's actually a Bermudian accent and I think it's lovely.

00:11:41.580 This is an amazing island that has an interesting ethnic mix as well.

00:11:46.580 I think there's almost a Bermudian ethnicity.

00:11:49.580 Part African-American, part white, part Portuguese, part indigenous.

00:11:53.580 Anyways, don't get me started on these lovely Bermudians.

00:11:56.580 I went in there and the friendly fella said he's got nothing to do with Brookfield Asset Management.

00:12:03.580 He just runs a bike shop, but he heard for the first time about Brookfield when CTV published a picture of their front edifice.

00:12:14.580 He said that was the first time he heard about it.

00:12:16.580 I asked him, had any journalist ever popped by?

00:12:19.580 He said, no, of course not.

00:12:22.580 Yeah, I got a question for you.

00:12:23.580 It's not really about bikes.

00:12:24.580 I'm from Canada and I don't know if you heard, but we got a new prime minister.

00:12:29.580 And 73 Front Street is the address of one of his companies.

00:12:34.580 And it's obviously not this bike shop.

00:12:37.580 Yeah.

00:12:38.580 Has any other reporter come by asking about that?

00:12:40.580 No.

00:12:41.580 Not a single reporter.

00:12:42.580 Have you ever heard of this before?

00:12:44.580 Yeah.

00:12:45.580 We saw an article about it in the CTV.

00:12:47.580 Oh, really?

00:12:48.580 What do you think of that article?

00:12:49.580 Yeah.

00:12:50.580 Not much about it.

00:12:51.580 Not much about it.

00:12:52.580 They were just a bike shop in their building.

00:12:53.580 Yeah.

00:12:54.580 So there is something else going on?

00:12:56.580 Like there's offices upstairs?

00:12:57.580 Yeah.

00:12:58.580 How would I get there?

00:12:59.580 Like is there a, is there a stairs or?

00:13:02.580 You would have to go.

00:13:03.580 Yeah.

00:13:04.580 So you got the door and then you go, there's a little alleyway on the left, on the left side.

00:13:08.580 Yeah.

00:13:09.580 And then there's a door there.

00:13:10.580 I'm not sure if it's key card.

00:13:11.580 It might be a key card.

00:13:12.580 Okay.

00:13:13.580 Um, have you ever met anyone from Brookfield asset management?

00:13:18.580 Nope.

00:13:19.580 No?

00:13:20.580 Have you ever heard of it other than that CTV article?

00:13:22.580 Like here, I mean, the building, the building over that's getting built.

00:13:25.580 Yeah.

00:13:26.580 Oh, they're building a building.

00:13:27.580 Yeah.

00:13:28.580 Okay.

00:13:29.580 That building that's going up right there, that's Brookfield building.

00:13:31.580 All right.

00:13:32.580 Well, thanks very much for telling me.

00:13:33.580 You're welcome.

00:13:34.580 Okay.

00:13:35.580 Cheers.

00:13:36.580 You too.

00:13:37.580 Good luck with your reporting.

00:13:38.580 Thank you.

00:13:39.580 Why would anyone seek to investigate Mark Carney's $25 billion tax evasion?

00:13:44.580 That's not in the public interest.

00:13:45.580 So he said he hadn't heard about any of that.

00:13:48.580 He didn't, he didn't even know Mark Carney, but he did say that above is a Brookfield asset

00:13:56.580 management address.

00:13:57.580 And he told me to go around the corner where it says 73 and see if I can buzz my way in.

00:14:02.580 So I'll do that.

00:14:03.580 He said one more thing on my way out.

00:14:05.580 He said that this construction over there is a Brookfield asset management construction.

00:14:12.580 And I looked that up and indeed it is.

00:14:15.580 And Brookfield is being sued by shareholders in a company called Argo who claimed that Brookfield

00:14:22.580 did not properly disclose important information in the shareholders battle.

00:14:27.580 I'm not going to get too deep into it, but the point is Brookfield is building an asset

00:14:32.580 here, but it's not their environmental sustainable project.

00:14:36.580 That's not a $25 billion building.

00:14:39.580 That's just an office building, because I guess they're tired of being above the bicycle

00:14:44.580 shop.

00:14:45.580 So there is a presence of Brookfield asset management, or at least there will be when

00:14:50.580 that's done.

00:14:51.580 For now, 73 Front Street is just a bike shop and some offices above.

00:14:57.580 I say again, here's the scam.

00:14:59.580 If you're wondering why we're here and what the problem is, it's this.

00:15:03.580 Mark Carney was the chairman of Brookfield Asset Management.

00:15:06.580 He personally chaired two progressive environmentalist funds that were all about solar panels and

00:15:13.580 wind turbines.

00:15:14.580 Fair enough.

00:15:15.580 I really don't care about that.

00:15:16.580 What I care about is that he lied.

00:15:19.580 He said this is the principal executive offices of those $25 billion in managed asset funds

00:15:26.580 so that he could avoid paying taxes in Canada.

00:15:29.580 He lied when he said that's the principal executive offices.

00:15:33.580 Do you think that you've got $25 billion worth of managers and builders and executives for

00:15:41.580 wind turbines and solar panels up there?

00:15:43.580 I can promise you they don't.

00:15:45.580 And that's the problem.

00:15:47.580 It's bad enough if Mark Carney was hiding his company's assets and income from Canadian taxes.

00:15:53.580 But to lie about it.

00:15:55.580 To lie about it and to keep holding on to $6.8 million worth of stock options, pretending

00:16:00.580 he doesn't still have a stake in it, and then make you pay all of his taxes. 0.99

00:16:05.580 What a hypocrite we've got as a prime minister. 0.99

00:16:08.580 All right, it's 128. 0.99

00:16:09.580 I'm going to go around to see if we can ring the doorbell and find this corporate headquarters.

00:16:15.580 What a laugh.

00:16:24.580 All right, so far I don't see it.

00:16:26.580 I see Beesmont, Hamilton Legal, Harneys.

00:16:30.580 I see Christian and Company.

00:16:31.580 I don't know what these things are, but I don't see Brookfield.

00:16:33.580 Let's go in and see what we can find.

00:16:39.580 73 Front Street.

00:16:42.580 It's a very lovely building.

00:16:44.580 So it's not just the bike shop.

00:16:47.580 Let's see what we can find.

00:16:49.580 There's some floors there.

00:16:51.580 All right, Brookfield Bermuda, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Renewable Partners, Property Partners, Business Partners.

00:17:05.580 That's on the fifth floor.

00:17:06.580 So they really are here.

00:17:08.580 It's not just the bike shop.

00:17:10.580 And that's the one that's got the $25 billion.

00:17:13.580 Let's see what they have to say.

00:17:16.580 Hi.

00:17:37.580 Hi, how are you?

00:17:38.580 Is Jane Shear in, please?

00:17:40.580 No.

00:17:41.580 No.

00:17:42.580 What's your name?

00:17:43.580 I'm Ezra Levant from Canada.

00:17:45.580 Ezra.

00:17:46.580 Hi.

00:17:47.580 Hi.

00:17:48.580 Hi.

00:17:49.580 Is Jane available?

00:17:50.580 No, I'm afraid not.

00:17:53.580 I have a question maybe you could help me with.

00:17:55.580 Sorry, I can't.

00:17:56.580 No.

00:17:57.580 No?

00:17:58.580 Is there anyone I can talk to who can?

00:17:59.580 No.

00:18:00.580 I can get you some of our PR people.

00:18:03.580 Would they really talk to me, though?

00:18:05.580 I don't think they talk.

00:18:07.580 I don't know.

00:18:08.580 That's all I'm allowed to do, I'm afraid.

00:18:10.580 Okay.

00:18:11.580 So I'm glad to know that there are some Brookfield people here in Bermuda.

00:18:15.580 It's just a PO box.

00:18:17.580 But is it really the principal executive office for the various funds?

00:18:22.580 I find that hard to believe.

00:18:24.580 I have no comment on that.

00:18:25.580 I can't help you.

00:18:26.580 Can you tell me what you do here?

00:18:28.580 No.

00:18:29.580 What's your name?

00:18:30.580 Sorry?

00:18:31.580 Okay.

00:18:32.580 Well, you'd be polite to talk to me at all.

00:18:33.580 That's more than Mark Carney himself has done.

00:18:35.580 So I won't impose upon you.

00:18:38.580 But perhaps I can take you up on your offer of those corporate spokesmen.

00:18:43.580 All right.

00:18:44.580 If you could wait for one minute.

00:18:45.580 I will.

00:18:46.580 I'll see if I can find the information.

00:18:47.580 Thank you.

00:18:50.580 Well, it took so long, it wasn't what I thought it was.

00:18:56.580 No.

00:18:57.580 Well, you're so helpful.

00:18:58.580 Suzanne Fleming.

00:18:59.580 Suzanne Fleming.

00:19:00.580 212416.

00:19:01.580 Okay.

00:19:02.580 Well, thanks for your help.

00:19:03.580 You know, you were very courteous.

00:19:04.580 And I know we sort of surprised you here.

00:19:06.580 It is a bit of a surprise.

00:19:07.580 Yeah.

00:19:08.580 But good luck.

00:19:09.580 Thank you.

00:19:10.580 It's a lovely place.

00:19:11.580 Have you been here for a long time?

00:19:12.580 Yeah.

00:19:13.580 I've been here for a while.

00:19:14.580 If you get a chance to get out to the beaches before you leave, please do.

00:19:16.580 Thank you.

00:19:17.580 You're worth it.

00:19:18.580 Thanks for being friendly.

00:19:19.580 Cheers.

00:19:20.580 See you.

00:19:21.580 Bye.

00:19:22.580 Well, our friend here was very helpful.

00:19:23.580 He gave us Susan Fleming's phone number in New York, looks like.

00:19:24.580 I'll give Susan Fleming a call.

00:19:26.580 I am a little bit skeptical that she'll answer our questions, but you never know.

00:19:31.580 We'll give her a try. 0.97

00:19:32.580 We'll let this fella go. 0.98

00:19:34.580 Well, I think things go pretty easy peasy here in Bermuda.

00:19:37.580 It's not part of the Caribbean.

00:19:38.580 It's further north.

00:19:39.580 It's in the Atlantic.

00:19:40.580 But they have that friendly, easy going style to them.

00:19:43.580 So we did go up to Brookfield on the fifth floor.

00:19:46.580 And they opened the door and had a very brief chat with us, but they were certainly friendly.

00:19:50.580 In fact, they gave us some recommendations to go to hit the beaches afterwards.

00:19:55.580 Brookfield indeed does have a handful of people up there.

00:19:58.580 They do have one floor in this very small building.

00:20:01.580 But I can tell you just from peering around the corner, this is not the executive offices.

00:20:06.580 It's full of a handful of probably clerks or form filler outers just to keep the technical formalities legal.

00:20:15.580 Brookfield Renewable Partners and these other companies do business around the world.

00:20:20.580 The reason why they have this office here in the tourist section of Bermuda is so they can avoid paying taxes in Canada.

00:20:31.580 That's what's so crazy.

00:20:33.580 Mark Carney made the decision as the chairman of Brookfield that he would rather hide money here in Bermuda than pay taxes back home.

00:20:42.580 And he's still doing it with his own stock options.

00:20:45.580 Let's go and see what people on the street have to say.

00:20:48.580 Did you know that Mark Carney, Canada's prime minister, set up offices in this building?

00:20:52.580 What do you think of that?

00:20:53.580 Did you know that?

00:20:54.580 I had no idea.

00:20:55.580 What? No, I didn't know that.

00:20:56.580 I bet it's not surprising, though.

00:20:58.580 A lot of foreigners stash millions here in the country in Bermuda.

00:21:02.580 What do you think?

00:21:03.580 Well, sadly, I don't know what to do.

00:21:05.580 You and me both.

00:21:06.580 News to us.

00:21:07.580 All right, it's 1 47.

00:21:09.580 The reason I keep telling you that is we have got to get back to the airport in about 45 minutes.

00:21:14.580 That is how brief our stay here is.

00:21:17.580 It's just a place for really the locals or the elite.

00:21:21.580 Hotels here start at just under a thousand bucks a night.

00:21:24.580 So we've got a short amount of time.

00:21:26.580 I went in there and I did find some Brookfield employees, but I didn't find an executive suite.

00:21:32.580 I didn't find the people, the principal executives of the company.

00:21:36.580 Which is the wording in their SEC declaration.

00:21:39.580 I did get from a friendly guy in there.

00:21:41.580 I mean, he was friendly enough.

00:21:42.580 A phone number for a Brookfield spokesperson in New York City.

00:21:46.580 I'll give her a call in a moment.

00:21:48.580 I also tried doing some streeters, some man on the street interviews here.

00:21:52.580 And it wasn't that fruitful because I think people who are here working in the financial services industry,

00:21:59.580 they don't want to bad mouth it. 0.56

00:22:02.580 They don't want to talk down about oligarchs stashing money here in a tax free way.

00:22:07.580 That's sort of what Bermuda does.

00:22:09.580 I mean, it's most famous for the Bermuda Triangle, which disappears ships.

00:22:14.580 But I think the real Bermuda Triangle is disappearing cash, so the revenue tax collector can't get their hands on it.

00:22:21.580 It's just when you ask people in Bermuda how they feel about tax havens, they're going to say,

00:22:27.580 yeah, that's how we live and have a beautiful life here.

00:22:30.580 And they absolutely, certainly do.

00:22:33.580 I wish that in some way I would be liberated from my taxes.

00:22:37.580 Alas, I'm just a mere Canadian.

00:22:40.580 Having a tax dodge like this is a benefit that only the elites get, including, bizarrely, our Prime Minister.

00:22:47.580 All right, it's 1.49.

00:22:48.580 We're going to get in the vehicle and start heading back to the airport.

00:22:52.580 And I'm going to get some questions ready for the Brookfield spokesperson if she even answers her phone.

00:23:00.580 Talk to you soon.

00:23:03.580 All right, well, it's 2.04 p.m. and we're actually making our way back to the airport now.

00:23:07.580 Our flight boards, they say, at 2.50.

00:23:11.580 But that's when you have to get on the plane.

00:23:14.580 There's security and all that beforehand.

00:23:16.580 We have no luggage.

00:23:17.580 But we better get there because I wouldn't want to be stranded here.

00:23:20.580 But as you saw, the friendly fellow who answered the door, didn't let us in, of course, didn't say his name, didn't really answer any questions substantively.

00:23:30.580 He did take the time to look up the name of a spokesperson in New York City for Brookfield, Suzanne Fleming, and gave me her phone number.

00:23:39.580 I'm guessing that by now he's also emailed or called Suzanne to let her know of our appearance.

00:23:45.580 So I'm going to call Suzanne right now on my phone.

00:23:48.580 And I don't have scripted questions, but they're the kind of questions I've been asking in this video so far.

00:23:53.580 Why was Bermuda chosen?

00:23:55.580 Is it true that that's the principal executive office?

00:23:59.580 And we'll just see what she says from there.

00:24:01.580 So I'm going to dial her right now.

00:24:03.580 I'll dial her right now.

00:24:07.580 It's ringing.

00:24:13.580 Oh, hi, Suzanne.

00:24:14.580 It's Ezra Levant calling from Rebel News.

00:24:16.580 How are you?

00:24:18.580 I'm fine. Thank you.

00:24:20.580 Great.

00:24:21.580 I was just in your Bermuda office and I spoke to the gentleman there and he gave me your phone number.

00:24:26.580 Is this a good time to call right now?

00:24:29.580 It's actually I'm just actually heading into a meeting.

00:24:32.580 Is there any chance you could send me an email?

00:24:34.580 Sure.

00:24:35.580 But I only have a couple of quick questions.

00:24:38.580 And that really is.

00:24:39.580 I just really have one, actually, which is we just visited the offices in Bermuda and they're small offices.

00:24:47.580 And yet your SEC filing says that that is actually the principal executive office for various Brookfield Asset Management companies with $50 billion in assets.

00:25:01.580 So is it true?

00:25:03.580 So for this, you're going to need to send me an email for this.

00:25:06.580 Okay.

00:25:07.580 So it's firstname.lastname.com.

00:25:10.580 Okay.

00:25:11.580 And I just want to make sure I got your spelling right.

00:25:12.580 It's not for me.

00:25:14.580 And so it's just.

00:25:17.580 Perfect.

00:25:18.580 Dot F-L-E-M-I-N-G. 1.00

00:25:19.580 Okay.

00:25:20.580 At .com.

00:25:21.580 Thanks so much.

00:25:22.580 Okay.

00:25:23.580 Bye.

00:25:24.580 Correct.

00:25:25.580 Thank you.

00:25:26.580 Thanks.

00:25:27.580 Bye bye.

00:25:28.580 You know, that's fair enough.

00:25:29.580 It sounds like she wasn't given the heads up by her colleague here.

00:25:32.580 And it is a question that if you weren't prepared for it, you need a little bit of time to answer.

00:25:37.580 Fair, fair enough.

00:25:39.580 And I'm not looking to gotcha.

00:25:41.580 I think the facts are the powerful thing here.

00:25:43.580 I don't need to surprise anybody.

00:25:45.580 So I will send that email to her.

00:25:47.580 I'm not going to type it in the car.

00:25:48.580 I'll get carsick.

00:25:49.580 But when we're at the airport, which should be in about 20 minutes, I will send her that

00:25:54.580 question and a few others that come to mind.

00:25:57.580 And I'm saying this now at 2.07 p.m. on Wednesday.

00:26:03.580 And we're not going to put this video out until Thursday.

00:26:07.580 So she will have time to give an answer, even if it's just an answer to blow me off, which I think will happen.

00:26:13.580 I don't think Brookfield is in the habit of answering prickly questions, certainly not from independent journalists like Rebel News.

00:26:19.580 But the facts are the facts.

00:26:21.580 Their Bermuda office, it's not just a P.O. box like the Isle of Man office for Brookfield, which was literally someone's home apartment.

00:26:30.580 I think I'll ask her about that, too.

00:26:32.580 But here there were a handful of people.

00:26:34.580 There's no lie to it.

00:26:35.580 But is it really the principal executive offices of Brookfield?

00:26:39.580 And is that really enough to shield $50 billion from income and other taxes in Canada, including the $25 billion that were personally directed by Mark Carney?

00:26:50.580 I'll see what she says.

00:26:51.580 I'll put those questions to her.

00:26:52.580 I'll show you my questions, too.

00:26:54.580 All right.

00:26:55.580 We'll be at the airport pretty soon.

00:26:56.580 I'll have more for you later.

00:26:58.580 Hi, guys.

00:26:59.580 We're back at the airport.

00:27:00.580 It is 2.26 p.m.

00:27:02.580 I tell you that because we've got to get on a plane in 24 minutes.

00:27:06.580 And I just didn't want to risk it.

00:27:08.580 So mission accomplished.

00:27:11.580 I'm now going to type out my questions and send them to Suzanne Fleming.

00:27:15.580 And fair play to her to have them in writing.

00:27:18.580 Give her a chance to inquire.

00:27:20.580 There's no way that a spokesperson for something as massive as Brookfield would know it all.

00:27:24.580 I mean, really, they have a trillion dollars under management.

00:27:27.580 It's like a slightly smaller version of BlackRock itself.

00:27:30.580 So I'll send that email to Suzanne, and I'll give her some time to answer.

00:27:34.580 I don't know what kind of answer she's going to give.

00:27:37.580 I know that when I put questions to the Liberal Party of Canada, they just completely ignore us.

00:27:42.580 They hate us, frankly.

00:27:44.580 I mean, fair enough.

00:27:45.580 We asked some critical questions.

00:27:47.580 We'll see how Brookfield handles it.

00:27:49.580 Anyways, it's time for us to go in, get through security.

00:27:52.580 We might have one more video before we take off.

00:27:54.580 Hi, everybody.

00:27:55.580 It's 3.13 p.m.

00:27:57.580 Our plane is literally boarding right now.

00:28:00.580 So I've only got a minute to tell you that I wrote a series of eight questions that I emailed to Suzanne Fleming of Brookfield.

00:28:08.580 And it was important that I got that done before I left Bermuda because I wanted to give her maximum time to answer them.

00:28:15.580 There's eight questions I wrote to her.

00:28:17.580 I'll read them to you now, and then I'm going to get on the plane.

00:28:19.580 I called an urgent media inquiry.

00:28:22.580 Dear Suzanne, thank you for taking my call briefly today.

00:28:25.580 As I mentioned, I'm with Rebel News Network Limited in Canada.

00:28:28.580 We're doing a story about Brookfield's various tax havens and how they relate to your immediate past chairman, Mark Carney, now the Canadian Prime Minister.

00:28:34.580 Here are my questions.

00:28:35.580 I'd be grateful for an answer by tomorrow morning if possible.

00:28:38.580 All right, here's the eight questions.

00:28:40.580 One, in various Bermuda filings for Brookfield, you claim that your 73 Front Street office is the, quote, address of principal executive offices.

00:28:49.580 Is that true?

00:28:50.580 The various Brookfield entities are worth tens of billions of dollars, and yet your office there is very small.

00:28:55.580 And from what we could see, not an executive office, but more likely compliance clerks.

00:29:00.580 Is Brookfield accurately describing its Bermuda operations, or is it just giving the formal statement required to avail itself of preferential taxes as compared to the taxes it would pay if it were taxed where it does business?

00:29:13.580 Question two, what business, if any, does Brookfield do in Bermuda?

00:29:17.580 Are there any wind turbines, solar panels, or other projects covered in the environmental funds led by Mark Carney?

00:29:23.580 Remember, those are worth $25 billion.

00:29:25.580 Three, we were recently in the Isle of Man, and there Brookfield's office was even smaller.

00:29:31.580 It was literally an apartment in a small residential apartment building.

00:29:34.580 Does Brookfield claim that any substantial business is done in the Isle of Man, or is it, again, simply to minimize taxes?

00:29:41.580 Question four, in both the Isle of Man and Bermuda, Brookfield appears to be using straw men.

00:29:47.580 In the Isle of Man, the straw man appears to be Leslie Commons.

00:29:50.580 In Bermuda, it's Jane Shear.

00:29:53.580 In both cases, Brookfield filings claim that those are indeed the executives or decision-makers.

00:29:58.580 But in fact, Mr. Commons appears to be an 88-year-old small landlord.

00:30:02.580 And Ms. Shear appears to be a straw man for a great number of shell companies.

00:30:07.580 Question five, we understand that Mark Carney has $6.8 million in stock options that he has not exercised or sold.

00:30:15.580 Is that accurate?

00:30:16.580 Does Mr. Carney have any other stake in Brookfield or any of its related entities?

00:30:21.580 Question six, how does Brookfield propose to continue doing business with the Canadian government,

00:30:26.580 including bidding for contracts, when the Prime Minister still has a major interest in the company?

00:30:31.580 Have you put any ethical limits on how you will interact with the Canadian government?

00:30:35.580 I think that's a good one.

00:30:37.580 Question seven, I'm almost done.

00:30:39.580 When was the last time Mr. Carney or his agents or staff have communicated in any way with Brookfield?

00:30:45.580 And finally, is there any other information that you think we should tell our viewers?

00:30:49.580 Thanks again for your help.

00:30:50.580 Yours truly, Ezra LeVant, Rebel News.

00:30:52.580 So those are my eight questions.

00:30:54.580 I don't know if I'm going to get any answers.

00:30:56.580 I think if Brookfield is like Mark Carney, they'll look down their noses at us and say,

00:31:00.580 we don't have to talk to you peasants, but we'll see if I get an answer.

00:31:04.580 Anyways, they're literally boarding our flight right now.

00:31:08.580 We're going to be airborne in about 15 minutes.

00:31:10.580 We're actually flying home via Atlanta.

00:31:12.580 It was the only way we could stretch out our time here on the island as long as possible.

00:31:17.580 I really can't believe it.

00:31:19.580 We landed, we got out of the airport, we went to Front Street, and we pretty much headed home right away.

00:31:25.580 That's how brief our visit was, but I think it was useful to do.

00:31:29.580 And I'm not sure how much more we would have got had we spent more time on the ground.

00:31:34.580 Obviously, the Brookfield people don't want to talk to us.

00:31:37.580 And fair enough, the guy who just showed up to work in Bermuda today, he doesn't need to answer questions from a reporter.

00:31:43.580 But Suzanne Fleming, their communications officer, hopefully she will.

00:31:49.580 I said to her she can answer me tomorrow morning if she needs more time, but I think it's going to be mind your own business all the way down.

00:31:56.580 We'll see. I hope she proves me wrong.

00:31:58.580 OK, we got to get on the plane.

00:31:59.580 Hi, everybody. We're in the Atlanta airport slowly making our way home.

00:32:02.580 I want to tell you it's 6.57 p.m.

00:32:05.580 We have not heard back from Suzanne Fleming.

00:32:08.580 She's probably doing some research.

00:32:09.580 Hopefully we'll hear back from her tomorrow morning.

00:32:11.580 If not, we're going to publish this report anyways.

00:32:14.580 We need to hear her side of the story, but I really don't know what explanation will do.

00:32:18.580 I want to thank you for your support.

00:32:20.580 Go to TheCarneyFiles.com.

00:32:22.580 I want to let you know this isn't about being opposed to wealth or wealth creation.

00:32:27.580 We support that. We're capitalists.

00:32:30.580 This is about tax evasion.

00:32:32.580 This is about lying on SEC forms.

00:32:34.580 And this is about the new Prime Minister of Canada imposing taxes on the citizens that he himself evades in tax havens like the Isle of Man and Bermuda.

00:32:44.580 That's what this is about.

00:32:46.580 And it's no surprise to me, even though it is rather shocking, that not a single other journalist came down to Bermuda or the Isle of Man to chase this story.

00:32:55.580 That's the regime media versus citizen journalists.

00:32:58.580 TheCarneyFiles.com.

00:33:00.580 Well, I'm back in Toronto now at our head office.

00:33:04.580 We landed at Pearson International Airport at about 10.30 p.m. last night, in and out in the same day.

00:33:10.580 And this morning, we received a reply to my series of questions to Brookfield.

00:33:16.580 It truly was a global response to my little visit.

00:33:19.580 It shouldn't surprise you when you realize that Brookfield manages a trillion dollars around the world.

00:33:25.580 We were in Bermuda.

00:33:26.580 We were told to contact their PR woman in New York.

00:33:29.580 And this morning, we received a written reply from London.

00:33:33.580 They truly are masters of the universe, aren't they?

00:33:36.580 The response was from Simon Main.

00:33:39.580 And he wrote this to me.

00:33:40.580 He said, Ezra, that's me, responding on behalf of Brookfield, we don't have a statement on the record for you.

00:33:48.580 To help clarify our use of international legal entities, I provided some information below, which we would like to be treated as on background, not for direct quotation, please.

00:34:00.580 Many thanks, Simon.

00:34:03.580 Well, I guess at least he got back to me.

00:34:06.580 And then he did have a series of points, which I don't know why he didn't want me to quote them exactly for some reason, so I won't quote them exactly.

00:34:15.580 But there really wasn't much there that he said, other than he claims Brookfield follows all the rules and all the laws.

00:34:22.580 And one of the reasons why things are squirreled away in Bermuda and the Isle of Man, he said, and other places known for tax dodging, is to avoid double taxation, he says.

00:34:33.580 He says that no tax is avoided, although the Canada Revenue Agency seems to disagree.

00:34:39.580 They're battling Brookfield in court right now, claiming that Brookfield has illegally evaded millions of dollars in taxes.

00:34:47.580 Now that Mark Carney is the boss of the Canada Revenue Agency, it'll be interesting to see if they drop that litigation against Brookfield.

00:34:56.580 It goes without saying that Simon Main did not answer my specific questions about why their corporate filings claim that a little office above a bike rental shop is the true executive offices of Brookfield, when that's obviously a sham.

00:35:11.580 He didn't answer my questions about the straw man and women that Brookfield claims are the decision makers, when they're clearly just placeholders obscuring Brookfield's real activities.

00:35:22.580 And he didn't answer my questions about Mark Carney, including whether he's still in touch with Brookfield, or has more interest in Brookfield than the $6.8 million in stock options that Carney bizarrely insists on keeping.

00:35:36.580 Here's what I wrote back to Simon this morning.

00:35:39.580 I said,

00:35:40.580 Hi Simon, thanks for writing back.

00:35:42.580 I will reflect your response in our story, but I would encourage you to consider answering the specifics of my questions, which I believe are relevant and in the public interest.

00:35:51.580 I don't believe your answers here even touch on several of them.

00:35:55.580 To be candid, non-answers to legitimate questions in the public interest only magnify the perception that Brookfield considers itself above accountability, and that it bends or even breaks the rules that apply to the little people.

00:36:11.580 That's what I wrote back to him.

00:36:12.580 So that's the story.

00:36:13.580 It's now just afternoon on Thursday.

00:36:16.580 Our investigation comes to a close.

00:36:19.580 Boy, it's been a busy day and a bit.

00:36:21.580 Yet Brookfield claims it's following the law.

00:36:23.580 They say they're paying all the taxes they have to, and not a penny more.

00:36:28.580 They're deliberately trying to minimize it.

00:36:30.580 Well, the CRA seems to disagree and is fighting them in court.

00:36:34.580 But even if Brookfield is right, even if they found a way to game the system, to hide tens of billions of dollars in assets outside the reach of the CRA, even if that's legal,

00:36:48.580 put aside the letter of the law just for a minute.

00:36:50.580 What about the spirit of the law?

00:36:52.580 And what about a prime minister, Mark Carney, who was personally responsible for moving at least $25 billion of these funds to Bermuda, out of reach of Canadian taxes?

00:37:05.580 The same Canadian taxes that he imposes on the rest of us.

00:37:09.580 That's your prime minister, an oligarch, with passports from three different countries, who has participated in what has been called the largest tax dodge in Canadian history.

00:37:21.580 The only thing more gross than that is how easily he's been able to pay off the regime media, including a $150 million campaign bribe to the CBC state broadcaster.

00:37:33.580 That's why I was the first reporter to go into that bike shop, according to the kid who works there.

00:37:39.580 The rest of the media, they don't care.

00:37:41.580 But I can promise you this, at Rebel News, we'll do the work the mainstream media won't.

00:37:48.580 If you think that's valuable work, please help me cover the cost of our trip by joining the crowdfund at thecarneyfiles.com.

00:37:58.580 Thanks very much.

00:38:00.580 What do you think of that little journey?

00:38:13.580 I really enjoyed it, even though I admit I'm a little bit tired today.

00:38:16.580 That's a lot of traveling for a short time on the ground, but I think we did our job.

00:38:21.580 Let me read you some letters to the editor that have come in.

00:38:25.580 The first one is from Tom C., who says,

00:38:30.580 Trump bashed the former prime minister in Freeland and said he doesn't want our products from Canada,

00:38:35.580 and Carney sat there like a whipped dog and said nothing.

00:38:38.580 His extended elbows melted like wax.

00:38:41.580 Oh, not just that, but I don't know if you...

00:38:44.580 I mean, Donald Trump put out a little video of Mark Carney's visit to the White House, but so did Carney.

00:38:50.580 Let me show you this video produced by the prime minister's office.

00:38:54.580 This is Mark Carney's liberal team.

00:38:56.580 Here's how they portrayed the visit with Trump.

00:38:58.580 Take a look.

00:38:59.580 I conveyed to the president today what our countries have long proven to be true.

00:39:04.580 That Canada and the United States are stronger when we work together.

00:39:09.580 We can get a better deal for our workers.

00:39:12.580 We can create more opportunities for our businesses.

00:39:15.580 We can build stronger economies across North America when we work together.

00:39:20.580 The question is how we will cooperate in the future.

00:39:24.580 How we can build an economic and security relationship built on mutual respect.

00:39:30.580 We agreed to have further conversations in the coming weeks,

00:39:33.580 and we are looking forward to meeting in person at the G7 summit in Kananaskis in Alberta.

00:39:39.580 Yeah, where did all the elbows up business go?

00:39:42.580 Where did all the we hate Trump, we hate America go?

00:39:45.580 I mean, they're best buddies.

00:39:46.580 It wouldn't surprise me if Mark Carney said,

00:39:48.580 Hey, I'm a billion dollar real estate tycoon just like you.

00:39:52.580 We're buddies.

00:39:53.580 Who knows?

00:39:54.580 Maybe they connected in that way.

00:39:55.580 Or maybe Mark Carney's anti-Trump thing was just a, you know,

00:39:59.580 whatever he had to tell the liberal sheeple, he told them.

00:40:03.580 Next letter, Dustin Levans said,

00:40:08.580 Carney been learning more and more, been leaning more and more conservative,

00:40:13.580 especially when using Poliab's ideas during the campaign.

00:40:16.580 I've seen a theory that Mark Carney is less crazy, less radical than Trudeau.

00:40:22.580 I'm not sure if I buy it. 0.76

00:40:23.580 I mean, Mark Carney looks less crazy and radical.

00:40:26.580 He wears a suit.

00:40:27.580 He's not always speaking like a drama teacher.

00:40:30.580 He does have the CV of being a former central banker.

00:40:34.580 But if you look at what he stood for, I mean, he's fully woke and said so in the campaign.

00:40:39.580 His life's work has been net zero, carbon taxes, shutting in fossil fuels.

00:40:46.580 So he's just as radical as Trudeau on the climate, but smarter.

00:40:51.580 He's pledged a huge amount of money to the UN Relief Works Agency,

00:40:56.580 which is a front group for Hamas.

00:40:59.580 He says he'll allow Quebec to veto pipelines.

00:41:02.580 So he said, even on immigration, he says he's going to permit 5% of our population

00:41:09.580 worth of temporary foreign workers.

00:41:11.580 What's that?

00:41:12.580 Two million?

00:41:14.580 Yeah, that's not, I don't know if it's conservative.

00:41:18.580 Maybe he feels conservative, but I don't think he is.

00:41:21.580 Last letter from Div Squared.

00:41:24.580 I've never seen Mark wear a Canadian flag on his lapel.

00:41:28.580 I don't care if the one he wears is some Order of Canada pin.

00:41:31.580 He is the Canadian PM and can't even wear a Canadian flag.

00:41:34.580 That should tell us something about him.

00:41:35.580 Well, the man has three passports.

00:41:37.580 The man hides billions of dollars outside the reach of Canada.

00:41:41.580 One of his last acts as the chairman of Brookfield was to move their corporate headquarters

00:41:46.580 from Toronto to New York.

00:41:48.580 He's not loyal to any country because he doesn't really believe in countries.

00:41:52.580 He believes in globalism.

00:41:54.580 He was a board member of the World Economic Forum.

00:41:56.580 By definition, he doesn't believe in local sovereignty or local democracy.

00:42:00.580 I'm a little bit worried that he will revive Trudeau's Online Harms Act.

00:42:06.580 In fact, he alluded to it during the campaign.

00:42:08.580 I think, in answer to the previous letter, I think he's just as bad as Trudeau.

00:42:13.580 Perhaps less irritating because he's less sort of a dramatic emo guy like Trudeau.

00:42:20.580 I think, in a way, Mark Carney has a thinner skin, though, because he's not used to being peppered with questions.

00:42:26.580 He's being cloistered.

00:42:27.580 I mean, the Bank of Canada governor, the Bank of England governor, the chairman of Brookfield,

00:42:32.580 they're not used to taking questions from the peasants.

00:42:34.580 And I don't think that he'll do well being peppered with questions, especially ones that challenge him.

00:42:39.580 I don't know if you remember.

00:42:40.580 But even when Rosemary Barton and the CBC asked him about his ethics, he bristled and said,

00:42:45.580 look inside yourself.

00:42:47.580 Like, how dare you question me, the great Mark Carney.

00:42:51.580 So I think we're in for a bumpy ride.

00:42:53.580 That's our show for today.

00:42:55.580 Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, see you at home.

00:42:59.580 Bye, keep fighting for freedom.

Rebel News Podcast - May 08, 2025

EZRA LEVANT ｜ Tracking down Mark Carney's hidden billions in Bermuda

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