Carney’s departure won’t cause instability: NDP

Any economic instability plaguing Canada is the fault of Conservative mismanagement, not the departure of outgoing Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney. That’s what Peter Julian, the NDP’s trade critic, told reporters following Question Period.

“The reality is the governor of the Bank of Canada sets policies in very limited ways. The issue of economic stability comes from the government itself, and there our concerns have been very clear,” said Julian, who cited manufacturing job losses and high unemployment as two outcomes of government economic policy. “Changing the governor of the Bank of Canada is not going to have an impact on the problems we’re having.”

As for who should take over, Julian was light on detail. “Somebody who is highly skilled, understands the role the Bank of Canada plays, and the limitations it has, as well,” he said. “I have no doubt that, in Canada, we’ll have a number of very good candidates.”

That last comment piqued the interest of Postmedia‘s Jordan Press, who followed up by asking whether the bank should look overseas for candidates. Julian was, again, brief. “There are a lot of candidates in Canada that would do an admirable job. Let’s leave it at that,” he said. “I’m not one who believes you need to look beyond Canada to get highly skilled people who can do these kinds of things.”