Carney ernennt den Investmentbanker Mark Wiseman zum nächsten US-Botschafter

He’s gonna have a lot of PR work to do in Quebec. Nobody there trusts him to keep supply management

Don’t love the idea of wiseman. But all trump knows is business diplomacy so might as well put someone that can play that game. Makes good sense

I guess it’s better to appoint a random person off the street.

Interesting that government is now appealing to top leaders in Canadian business. Harkens back to the days of CD Howe
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-dollar-a-year-men-canada-wwii-world-war-2-industrial-munitions/

Mark Wiseman is a former **BlackRock exec** and a co-founder of the ***Century Initiative***, which aims to increase Canada’s **population to 100 million** solely through immigration.

If you can’t trust investment bankers to look out for working Canadians interests, who can you trust?

Totally unrelated article in Bloomberg today: Canada Weighs Opening Its Housing Market to More Foreign Capital

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Aside from not being a fan of the Century Initiative. He’s notable for:

Successfully lobbying the Trudeau government to bring in 500,000 immigrants per year

He’s on record stating that „immigration screening is a waste of time“

Was fired in December 2019 for violating the company’s workplace relationship policy by failing to disclose a consensual relationship with a subordinate employee. Wiseman’s wife, Marcia Moffat, is the head of BlackRock Canada, which added to the scrutiny surrounding the incident.

# 1. The BlackRock Ousting (2019)

The most famous incident. Wiseman was a Senior Managing Director at BlackRock (and widely considered a potential successor to Larry Fink). He was fired in December 2019 for failing to disclose a consensual relationship with a subordinate.

* The Twist: His wife, Marcia Moffat, was (and still is) the Head of BlackRock Canada, which made the internal optics particularly messy.

# 2. The „Failing Upward“ AIMCo Appointment (2020)

Despite being fired for a conduct violation, Wiseman was named Chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo) just six months later.

* The Controversy: His arrival coincided with AIMCo losing $2.1 billion on a disastrous volatility trading strategy (VOLTS). Albertans were understandably furious that a „disgraced“ Wall Street exec was brought in to oversee public pensions during a massive financial loss.

# 3. The Century Initiative (The „100 Million“ Plan)

Wiseman co-founded the Century Initiative, a group lobbying to grow Canada’s population to 100 million by 2100.

* The Conflict: Critics point out that while at the CPPIB, Wiseman directed $105M into rental housing (Minto Group), citing „population growth“ as the driver. People often argue his policy advocacy creates a „demand surge“ that directly benefits the corporate real estate interests he is tied to.

# 4. Ethics Complaints & Lobbying (2018)

In 2018, Democracy Watch filed a formal ethics complaint. They alleged a conflict of interest because Wiseman was advising then-Finance Minister Bill Morneau on infrastructure while his firm (BlackRock) was actively lobbying the government for infrastructure deals.

# Quick Summary of Scandals

|Incident|Year|The Issue|
|:-|:-|:-|
|BlackRock|2019|Fired for undisclosed relationship with a subordinate.|
|AIMCo|2020|Appointed Chair despite firing; oversaw $2.1B trading loss.|
|Democracy Watch|2018|Alleged conflict of interest between govt advising & lobbying.|
|CPPIB Exit|2016|Left for BlackRock on the day CPPIB posted its worst returns since 2009.|

#

Interesting seeing the criticism in this topic. Just curious: if you think a former ibanker is a bad choice, which former professions would you consider acceptable for this position?

*surprised Pikachu face*

Lots of talk about the Century Initiative and his goal of increasing Canada’s population, but if his role is U.S. Ambassador, it seems like he’ll be more involved in trade and less in immigration?

The century initiative is a slap in the face to all Canadians.

Lol our country is hooped whether it’s the Liberals or Conservatives running it. Either way, we are going to be sold piece by piece and made servants to the global ownership class.