Freeland Out! Mark Carney In? Technocratic governance of Canada?

Chrystia Freeland resigned- However, it was widely anticipated she was going to be replaced in a pre-Christmas Trudeau cabinet shuffle ( Globe and Mail 3 days ago)

So, she resigned. It’s a good face saving move! Cue Mark Carney- Technocrat extraordinaire. Will Trudeau appoint him to replace Chyrstia Freeland?

If Mark Carney steps in to the Trudeau government, will he lead the Liberal party in the next election? Maybe?!

The Economist just last year/2023- Could Mark Carney lead Canada?

The former central-bank governor is coy, but clearly has political ambitions

Via Archive.ph

Canada must hold a general election within the next two years. Justin Trudeau, the prime minister since 2015, is unpopular and leads a minority government. A recent poll by Ipsos suggested that fully 72% of Canadians feel that Mr Trudeau should step down as the leader of the Liberal Party before the vote. Mr Carney is among a handful of potential candidates to replace him, including Chrystia Freeland, the current finance minister and Mélanie Joly, the minister of foreign affairs. Ms Freeland leads the polls as Mr Trudeau’s replacement, with 25% of those asked saying they have a positive opinion of her, compared with 18% for Ms Joly and 16% for Mr Carney (most answer that they “do not know”).

Now she’s gone.

Mr Carney has not yet explicitly stated his intention to throw his hat in the ring. When speaking with The Economist he says, evasively: “If you can avoid going into politics it’s better not to go into politics”.

Even so, it is clear that he harbours ambitions. Mr Carney’s close advisers, as well as one of Mr Trudeau’s counsellors, say the two men have spoken several times since 2019, in order to try to get him to join the prime minister’s team. Those advising Mr Carney say that if Mr Trudeau offers him a parliamentary seat close to his home in Ottawa, as well as a meaningful role in cabinet, he will make the leap from the private sector. They also believe that he would make a bid for party leadership, should Mr Trudeau step down before the election.

Finance Minister is definitely a meaningful role for Mark Carney

But does the former bank boss have what it takes? Mr Carney’s CV is in many ways a textbook instance of the metropolitan liberal elite. He grew up in Alberta and was educated at Harvard and Oxford, before working for Goldman Sachs, a bank. In 2004 he moved to Canada’s department of finance, to work as a civil servant for Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister. In 2008 he became governor of the Bank of Canada just after the global financial crisis struck. Mr Carney was the public face of a decision to cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage points one month into his appointment. Canada came out of the recession faster than other G7 economies.

In 2013 he became the first non-Briton to head the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694. He was pummelled by conservatives for his blunt warnings about Brexit and climate change (though Michael Gove, when justice minister, lauded him for preparing well for the former). He ended that role in 2020, and now spends half of his time working pro bono as the UN special envoy for climate action and finance. The other half is spent as chairman of Bloomberg LP, a media company, and as head of impact investing at Brookfield Asset Management, a fund.

It appears the cards are falling into place. Freeland out. Carney appointed. Trudeau steps down next year and Mark Carney leads the Liberals in the next election. Let’s see what happens!