Carney Chooses Climate Campaign Over Canadian Election Run
Mark Carney #MarkCarney
(Bloomberg) — Mark Carney, the former central banker who is now head of impact investing at Brookfield Asset Management Inc., isn’t entering Canadian politics just yet.
The former governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England won’t be a candidate for Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party in an election the prime minister is expected to call in coming weeks, Carney said in a tweet Tuesday. The news was first reported by the Canadian Press.
Mark Carney.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
The Harvard-educated, Goldman Sachs-trained banker has long been touted as a potential successor to Trudeau as Liberal leader. Political canniness and his seminal efforts to bring issues like income inequality and the environment into central banking have helped the 56-year-old reach beyond the typical policy-making audience, and fueled speculation his ambitions may extend to politics.
But “climate change is the most important issue on the planet,” Carney said in announcing his decision. He added that he made commitments to both the United Nations secretary general and Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ensure a key climate conference in U.K. this fall is a success.
“As a goalie, I know you don’t skate off the ice in the 3rd period of a must-win game,” Carney said.
Despite his pedigree, Carney would have faced stiff criticism in an election campaign from opposition lawmakers. At an appearance before a parliamentary committee in May, he was badgered on everything from pipelines to human rights abuses in China by Conservative Pierre Poilievre, who accused him of “hypocritical window dressing” and being a Davos elite.
It was his first taste of bare-knuckled Canadian politics since the former central banker identified himself as a Liberal at the party’s policy convention the previous month.
He reiterated that support on Tuesday, pledging he would “do everything I can to help” Trudeau in the coming election.
(Updates with Carney’s confirmation of CP report.)
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