Tories attack Morneau with allegations over 2015 sale of shares

The Conservatives have opened up a new line of attack against Bill Morneau, accusing the embattled finance minister of selling off stock the week before a policy announcement drove their value down by half a million dollars.

Inside the House of Commons today, Tory MPs peppered Morneau with questions about the timing of the sale of $10 million worth of shares in his family-founded human resources firm, Morneau Shepell.

Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre says a motion introduced by Morneau in December 2015 to raise income taxes on the highest earners caused the entire stock market to drop — including Morneau Shepell’s share price.

Poilievre asked Morneau repeatedly throughout question period if it was merely a coincidence that the 680,000 shares were sold off a week before the announcement.

Morneau largely avoided the queries, insisting he had absolutely nothing to hide.

A spokesman for Morneau later called Poilievre’s insinuations utterly false and absurd — and challenged the Tories to make the accusations outside the House of Commons, where members are not protected by parliamentary privilege. Morneau has been at the centre of an ethics controversy for weeks. The ethics commissioner has launched a formal examination to determine if Morneau was in a conflict of interest related to his work to introduce pension-reform legislation, which critics insist will benefit Morneau Shepell in which he owned about $21 million worth of shares.