Public opinion in Canada seems to be turning away from the Conservatives just weeks away from a federal election.
While the federal Conservative Party attempts to pivot its messaging towards more nationalist rhetoric, local MP Rick Perkins may remain invested in many American companies; some closely connected to the Trump Regime.
U.S. President Donald Trump, since the beginning of his second term as president in January, has subjected Canada to a constantly-changing set of tariffs and tariff threats on imports along with threats of annexation.
The Government of Canada retaliated immediately after asserting their own tariffs and tariff threats on goods imported from the United States.
The Canadian public has also responded by boycotting American products and distancing themselves from politicians associated with Trump’s far-right rhetoric, such as Pierre Poilievre’s “Canada First” messaging, adopted following Trump’s tariff threats.
A “Canada First” approach is contrary to the declared investment portfolio of South Shore–St. Margaret’s for South Shore—St. Margaret’s Conservative Member of Parliament Rick Perkins who is facing an election this year.
The political opinion polling aggregator 338 Canada suggests that support in the riding of South Shore—St. Margaret for the Conservative Party plunged dramatically from a commanding lead of 56% in December to a statistical tie with the Liberal Party around 45% by March.
The Conservative Party, no longer gaining traction from Prime Minister Trudeau’s unpopularity or promises to remove the carbon tax, responded with a swift and sharp pivot from the rhetoric of “Canada is Broken” to the more nationalist messaging of “Canada First”.
This messaging was reflected in March with two-page mail outs from the South Shore MP, promising to “Put Canada First” though “carefully aimed” tariffs on American companies, expedite resource extraction, and investing in border security.
Despite the new messaging, a July 17, 2024 report filed by MP Perkins to the Federal Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner shows that he and his spouse are privately invested in numerous U.S.-based companies.
Listed among their reported financial assets are U.S. companies: Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Bank of America, Microsoft Corporation, Apple Inc., Applied Materials Inc., Eli Lilly & Co., Meta Platforms Inc., and Nvidia Corporation.
American companies make up the majority of the couple’s reported investments.
| Reported Assets, Income, and Liabilities of Richard Perkins Last Annual Review completed on: July 17, 2024 |
| Assets |
| Joint ownership with spouse of a rental property in Ingramport, Nova Scotia |
| Shares of the following companies:- Advanced Micro Devices Inc.- Bank of America- Microsoft Corp.- Royal Bank of Canada- Apple Inc.- SNDL Inc |
| Spouse’s/Common-Law Partner’s assets |
| Shares of the following companies:- Apple Inc.- Applied Materials Inc.- Element Fleet Management Corp.- Eli Lilly & Co.- Meta Platforms Inc.- Microsoft Corp.- Nvidia Corp.- Royal Bank of Canada- Toronto-Dominion Bank |
| Spouse’s/Common-Law Partner’s source(s) of income |
| Last and next 12 months: Employment income from Royal Bank of Canada Rental income |
| Liabilities |
| Two mortgages, joint with spouse, with the Royal Bank of Canada |
| Source: |
| Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Publicly declarable information under the Conflict of Interest Act for Richard Perkins |
The Perkins’ investments in several Silicon Valley companies are especially problematic amid the trade war considering the close relation that owners like Meta’s Mark Zuckerburg and Apple’s Tim Cook and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang have had with the Trump Regime.
The value of these investments are not disclosed in the report.
The Lunenburg Barnacle Reached out to MP Perkins for a statement on these investments and to ask if he and his spouse have plans to divest from these companies.
Perkins did not respond to the request by time of publication.
Other candidates for the riding in the upcoming election are not required to file disclosure reports with the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner so no information about their possible investments were available.
We reached out to candidates running in the upcoming Federal Election to ask them if they have any investments in the United States.
Green Party candidate Dr. Mark Embrett said that he owns a 401k savings account that he set up when he worked as a consultant in the United States in the past. He says that he has not made any contributions to the fund since 2018.
Dr. Christy Kelly-Bisson is an agrarian political economist and garlic farmer living in Sulieweykitk (New Germany), Lunenburg County. You can follow them on Bluesky at @garlicbreath644.bsky.social
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Excellent reporting . Thank you.
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