Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will take on a new role as chair of a Liberal Party task force advising Justin Trudeau, the party leader, about economic growth.
The new role for Carney was announced Monday and will see him advising the party leader on how to “develop and shape ideas for the next phase of Canada’s strategy for near- and longer-term economic growth and productivity, building on the Liberal government’s work to strengthen the middle class and deliver lower costs for families,” a party press release said.
“Recommendations will be shared in a report with the Leader and Liberal Party’s Platform Committee as the party prepares for the next election.”
Carney’s role does not have him joining the Prime Minister’s Office, the Privy Council Office, or Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office. Instead, the role is with the party itself.
The appointment comes with the blessing of Freeland who has long called Carney a close friend, a senior government source told Global News.
Carney is set to arrive in Nanaimo, B.C., on Monday and will speak to Liberal MPs at their summer caucus retreat on the topic of growth and the economy. That is the subject area he is expected to be advising Trudeau on.
Some Liberals believe Carney would make an excellent successor to Trudeau as party leader though, when asked, he has indicated he is not interested in the job.
Carney, who lives in Ottawa, was Canada’s central bank governor from 2008 to 2013 and went on to be governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. He currently serves as United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.
The opposition Conservatives have already aimed political barbs at the former central bank governor, dubbing him “carbon-tax Carney.”
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer said Carney and Trudeau are “basically the same people.”
“Out-of-touch elites that believe that they know better than hard working Canadians,” Scheer said. “They believe they know better how to spend your money, the hardworking paycheques that Canadians earn every week.”
His new relationship with the Liberal Party is sure to draw even more fire.
That said, Liberal sources say they believe Carney is more of an asset than a liability, as they try to erase a 20-point deficit to the Conservatives.