A man once touted as a possible leader of the Liberal Party Mark Carney is providing advice to Prime Minister Trudeau on COVID recovery. Carney was the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.
Carney “certainly has been advising the PM through different phases of this,” said a senior government official speaking on background. “I’d hope we can count on him for more.”News of the informal role was first reported by Bloomberg on Monday.
Carney has long been rumoured to have political aspirations since returning to Canada after his term with the Bank of England expired earlier this year. Many in Liberal circles see Carney as a top candidate for finance minister should he seek office or as a possible leadership candidate to eventually succeed Trudeau.
With a sudden vacancy in the Toronto-area riding of York Centre there have been rumours that Carney could be a candidate in an upcoming byelection, though senior Liberal sources have repeatedly thrown cold water on that idea.
The Liberals are under pressure to rein in the economy after pandemic spending helped drive the projected deficit for 2020-21 to $342.2 billion — some ten times higher than expected before COVID-19 — according to a financial snapshot provided last month by Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
Most of that figure can be attributed to the $212 billion in direct support measures Ottawa is providing to individuals and businesses.
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