(Bloomberg) — Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Mark Carney should have been fired when he was governor of the Bank of England, arguing that the new Canadian prime minister’s economic record isn’t as strong as he presents it.
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Poilievre, speaking to reporters hours after Carney was sworn in as Canada’s new leader, said Carney had acted as an “unreliable boyfriend” while leading the central bank from 2013 to 2020. That’s a reference to a quote from British lawmaker Pat McFadden, who criticized Carney over a decade ago for not following through after signaling plans to hike interest rates.
Poilievre accused Carney of “changing his mind constantly” as Bank of England governor and “printing too much money, which led to inflation.” Annual inflation averaged about 1.6% in the UK while Carney led the bank and he left in March 2020, meaning he didn’t oversee much of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic — after which it surged, peaking above 11% in late 2022.
“Mark Carney should have been fired when he was the head of the Bank of England,” Poilievre said.
The comments illustrate the battle lines for an election campaign that’s likely to start soon and that is almost certain to be focused on which leader is best to manage the economy and handle a trade war with the US. Poilievre, who has been Conservative leader since 2022, built a significant lead in opinion polls by focusing on inflation, housing shortages and other economic issues. That lead has narrowed — and in some surveys it has disappeared altogether — after Justin Trudeau resigned and Carney won a vote to replace him.
Carney spokesperson Audrey Champoux said Poilievre was “desperate to misrepresent” Carney’s economic experience “because he has none of his own.”
Carney guided Canada as its central banker through the 2008 financial crisis, “protecting jobs and helping ensure that Canada came out stronger,” she said. “He was then recruited to lead the Bank of England, and stewarded the United Kingdom’s economy through Brexit and the economic and political crises that followed.”
Poilievre made the comments after being asked whether he plans to fire Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem if the Conservatives win the next election. Poilievre made that pledge in 2022, but hasn’t repeated it in recent years.
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