Meet BlackRock, the huge asset manager pulled into Canada’s political arena
OTTAWA — First they met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and again, a few months later, in New York City. They met two more times in Toronto over the last six months, most recently in March.
BlackRock Inc., the planet’s largest asset manager, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are engaged in an intense courtship that has been swept into Canada’s political crossfire.
As details emerge about the depth of the relationship between the investors and the policy makers, opposition politicians suspect a conflict of interest as the federal Liberals promote their vaunted infrastructure bank and seek big money.
Political rivals from both the left and the right have been trying to frame BlackRock’s role in the process as evidence, they say, that the government’s new bank will put the priorities of wealthy investors ahead of Canadian taxpayers.