Poilievre says he would remove Bank of Canada governor if he forms government

Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre said he would remove the governor of the Bank of Canada if he forms a government, a violation of the convention that separates the central bank from elected politics.

Mr. Poilievre has repeatedly attacked the Bank of Canada during his bid to become Conservative leader, but until Wednesday’s leadership debate in Edmonton, he had avoided saying what he would do with Governor Tiff Macklem.

The Ontario MP made the statement in his opening remarks at the only official English-language debate of the race.

“The Governor of the Bank of Canada has allowed himself to become the ATM of this government, so I would replace him with a new Governor who would reinstate our low inflation mandate,” Poilievre said.

He was one of six candidates who engaged in an exchange far quieter than the animosity and vitriol on display at an unofficial debate in Ottawa last week. Also in the race are Ontario MPs Scott Aitchison and Leslyn Lewis, former Quebec Premier Jean Charest, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and former Ontario MP Roman Baber.

At the end of the debate, Charest criticized Poilievre’s attacks on the Bank of Canada, calling them “irresponsible.”

“It raises doubts. If you are an investor looking to come to Canada and you hear that kind of statement coming from a member of the House of Commons, you think you are in a third world country,” said Mr. Charest, who was also the leader of the former federal Progressive Conservative Party in the 1990s.

“We cannot afford to have any leader come out and deliberately undermine trust in institutions. Conservatives don’t do that.”

Mr. Poilievre maintained his position, near the end of the debate, adding: “I will fire the governor of the central bank to control inflation.”

After the discussion, Ms. Lewis said that she was concerned about Mr. Poilievre’s comments and that she respects the Bank of Canada’s ability to make non-partisan decisions.

“I don’t agree that Members of Parliament should meddle in the Bank of Canada,” said Ms Lewis.

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Poilievre’s comments during Wednesday’s debate are a major escalation in his rhetoric against the central bank. He has criticized the bank repeatedly over the past two years, arguing that the rapid rise in consumer prices is largely due to the central bank buying hundreds of billions of federal government bonds during the pandemic. The central bank and most professional economists disagree with this assessment.

Central bank independence is a widely held convention because controlling inflation and maintaining the dollar’s purchasing power sometimes requires unpopular decisions that politicians may wish to avoid. This includes raising interest rates to slow the economy when inflation is too high.

The government appoints a governor every seven years and sets the high-level direction of monetary policy every five years. The day-to-day operation of monetary policy (setting interest rates and controlling the currency) is then left to the governor and the governing council. Mr. Macklem’s term ends in June 2027.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government has an agreement with the NDP to stay in power until 2025.

The Bank of Canada has come under fire in recent months as inflation has accelerated to a three-decade high. Many Bay Street analysts have said the bank waited too long to start raising interest rates, undermining its credibility as an inflation fighter and raising the risk that people will start expecting permanently higher inflation.

The bank kept interest rates close to zero for the first two years of the pandemic. It has raised its policy rate twice since March and suggested more rate hikes are imminent. This equates to the fastest rate hike cycle in decades as the bank seeks to cool the economy to realign demand with supply and rein in inflation.

More than 1,000 people gathered at the Edmonton Convention Center for the debate. The crowd strongly supported Poilievre in particular, despite being told not to boo or cheer during the event. Hosted by former political journalist Tom Clark, the candidates were asked for their views on the future of energy, the environment, the North, the cost of living, abortion, and public policy issues.

Particularly sharp attacks were launched between Mr. Poilievre, Mr. Brown, Mrs. Lewis and Mr. Charest. The latter two challenged Mr. Poilievre to reveal his personal position on abortion. He didn’t, but he did say that if he forms a government, he won’t change Canada’s abortion laws.

Mr. Poilievre, Mr. Brown and Mr. Charest exchanged criticisms about who could be trusted with current political promises that are different from past positions. For example, when he was premier of Quebec, Charest was against ending the long gun registry, but he told CBC News on Wednesday that he personally had no problem with the federal conservatives doing away with it. And Mr Brown previously campaigned against a carbon tax when running at the provincial level, then proposed one and now says he would consult party members on climate policy.

The mayor of Brampton presented himself as the leader who can broaden the appeal of the Conservative Party, turning it into a multi-denominational and multi-cultural coalition. “I won the GTA by showing voters who have not traditionally supported the Conservative Party that their values ​​are our values,” he said.

Mr. Charest emphasized the importance of unity, saying his Federalist credentials during the Quebec separatist movement better positioned him to confront Western alienation. He said he wanted to make the Conservative Party a place for what he said are millions of “political orphans” who are “looking for a national alternative and a conservative alternative.”

Poilievre said he would unite conservatives around “freedom” and focused his speech on economic issues such as the rising cost of living. He said he was running to “put you back in control of your life by making Canada the freest nation on Earth.”

Ms Lewis condemned the “wake up and cancel culture”, which she said “robbes people of their voices”.

Mr. Baber, as someone who was born into a communist regime, said he was concerned about the state of Canada’s democracy and is running to defend it. Mr Aitchison is positioning himself as the race’s bridge builder and said the party needs to attract more people but cannot do so with “angry rhetoric and mutual attacks”.

Instead of the ugliness of the previous debate, Wednesday’s meeting took a folksy turn with Clark playing a sad trombone sound every time a candidate deviated from the debate rules, and featuring questions about what the candidates were reading and watching. in excess.

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