Mark Carney is not giving any indication publicly that he is willing to relinquish his leading roles with Brookfield Asset Management to become Canada’s finance minister.

Carney’s name has been linked to the post since Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned Monday In her resignation letter, Freeland said that she decided to leave cabinet because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told her that he planned to name a new finance minister.

Citing unidentified sources, the Globe and Mail reported that Trudeau told Freeland that he planned to replace her with Carney, a former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor.

Carney currently chairs Brookfield Asset Management, which ranks among Canada’s largest institutional investors. He also heads the company’s global-transition investment program. If he were to accept the finance minister post, Carney would have to step away from those duties, either temporarily or permanently.

But the Globe has also reported that Carney is not willing to accept the finance minister role, again citing unidentified sources. Meanwhile, Trudeau has named Dominic LeBlanc as finance minister, at least for the time being. LeBlanc has also retained his role as intergovernmental affairs minister.

Business leaders have expressed disfavour with LeBlanc’s appointment as finance minister, suggesting that received the job because of his long friendship with Trudeau.

“There’s just an incredible amount of history and trust between him and the Prime Minister. And I think that’s why he has been appointed to that critical role,” Matthew Holmes, chief of public policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, told the Globe and Mail.

He added that LeBlanc’s appointment ”speaks more to the ever-smaller circle around Trudeau.”

Bay Street money managers are questioning LeBlanc’s lack of financial acumen, the Globe reported. He is a lawyer by profession.

“Here is a guy that’s never been in business and never been in finance,” fund manager John Ruffolo, founder and managing partner of Maverix Private Equity, told the Globe. “Are we getting someone who really understands the position or are we getting a trusted lieutenant of Trudeau?”

The prime minister has come under intense criticism in the wake of Freeland’s resignation. Some Liberal backbenchers have openly called for him to resign, while the heads of opposition parties have done likewise. Thus far, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, whose support for Trudeau props up his minority government, has resisted calls to prompt an early election through a non-confidence motion that, if passed, would defeat the government.

“I think [LeBlanc] is a placeholder [as finance minister],” Edward Sonshine, founder and chair of RioCan REIT, told the Globe. 

Sonshine is a former U.S. shopping-mall owner. He told the Globe that the chaos surrounding LeBlanc’s appointment, ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January give American negotiators an advantage in potential trade trade talks.

Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods. Sonshine believes that Trump and his team “are going to make chopped liver out of [Canada.]”

Although LeBlanc might lack financial knowledge, the New Brunswicker is viewed as a skilled politician.

Perrin Beatty, former CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and a former federal Progressive Conservative cabinet minister, told the Globe that LeBlanc’s work as intergovernmental affairs minister will serve him well in potential negotiations with the Trump administration.

“He’s demonstrated in his intergovernmental relations role a capacity to get along with people who are not soulmates of the current government,” Beatty told the Globe. “Plus, he carries no baggage. It’s not the sort of animus that Trump has for other members of the Canadian government.

“I see him as a pragmatist. He’s not one of the ideologues,” Beatty said. “That’s the issue with this government. The ideologues have been setting policy and have done things that are anti-business.”

LeBlanc has already schmoozed with Trump, joining Trudeau during a dinner meeting with Trump at the incoming president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in late November.

‘’Dominic LeBlanc is the government’s best communicator and one of the best politicians I have ever seen,” said Frank McKenna, deputy chair of TD Securities and former premier of New Brunswick, told the Globe.

“He is highly respected and liked across partisan lines. His charm is his superpower.”

LeBlanc has one advantage over Carney in that he is elected. It is rare for a Canadian cabinet minister to be appointed instead of elected, and Trudeau would face some political fallout if Carney were to become finance minister before an election.

Some observers believe that Carney has not accepted the finance portfolio because he would rather have Trudeau’s job.

In the meantime, Brookfield can hold off on a search for a new chair and global-transition investment head.

Photo: Brookfield Asset Management