What others think of Carney

Re. Robert Hepting’s letter Questions Freeland's plan (Castanet, Feb. 11)

I think folks on the (political) right and far right are starting to panic at the prospect of the Liberal Party rising like a phoenix from the ashes to win the next federal election, even though most surveys continue to suggest the Conservative Party leads by a wide margin and would win a majority government if the election were held today.

But as the saying goes: "A week is a long time in politics."

The election is at least several months away. Under the fixed-date provisions of the Canada Elections Act, the federal election must be held no later than Oct. 20 (of this year.)

Robert Hepting's letter ends with a pivot to (Liberal leadership candidate) Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada and former Bank of England governor.

Hepting writes: "Did you know that in England he [Carney] was known by several nicknames, including 'Mark Carnage,' 'the unreliable boyfriend' and 'Circus Carney.' Yup, we should all feel comfortable in selecting him as a prime minister."

The toss-off comment lacks any context. Most of those nicknames are from—wait for it —Carney's childhood.

In Sept. 2016 he told a group of schoolchildren: “I was given nicknames that were variants of my last name, which is Carney, so I was called Carnival or Carnage or things like that. I like Carnage a little better than Carnival. It seemed a little more manly I guess.”

The nickname "the unreliable boyfriend" originated with Labour MP Pat McFadden in 2014, when he compared the Bank of England to an unreliable boyfriend due to its mixed signals over the timing of future interest rate rises.

"We've had a lot of different signals. I mean it strikes me that the Bank's behaving a bit like a sort of unreliable boyfriend. One day hot, one day cold, and the people on the other side of the message are left not really knowing where they stand,” said McFadden.

Simon English, The London Standard's financial editor, wrote of Carney in a Jan. 30, 2020 article: "His biggest critics seemed to (wilfully?) misunderstand forward guidance. It was never supposed to be a guarantee, it was a steer. The clue is in the name. Mostly that guidance proved solid. The unreliable boyfriend line was a good gag, but unfair. The guidance did change from time to time, but that was inevitable, indeed it was precisely the point. In any case, as Simon French at Panmure Gordon notes: 'Those who expect perfection from our central bankers need to adjust their own guidance.'"

On Feb. 11 Carney wrote on X: "President (Donald) Trump seems to think he can suspend the laws of the United States, of international trade and of economics. The American Congress and U.S. courts will decide for themselves how they will address these violations of Presidential powers. President Trump’s actions will hurt millions of Americans workers and all American consumers. And after promising to reduce inflation, his actions will send it and interest rates up. In Canada, we understand the laws of economics. That’s why we will be masters of our own house in building the strongest economy in the G7."

A new Leger poll suggests that if Carney wins the Liberal leadership race, he would erase the massive lead the Conservatives have enjoyed for the past year and a half. A Carney-led Liberal party would boost Liberal support by six points to 37 per cent, putting them in a dead heat with the Conservatives (predicts Leger).

The poll says the Conservatives are currently at 40 per cent, with Liberals at 31 per cent support, and the New Democrats trailing far behind at 14 per cent.

David Buckna, Kelowna