Mark Carney says former prime minister Stephen Harper asked him to be finance minister
Former Harper staffer says Carney ‘is not telling the whole story’
Liberal leadership candidate and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said on Sunday that former prime minister Stephen Harper asked him to join his cabinet as finance minister in 2012.
Carney, who sat down for an interview on Rosemary Barton Live, was responding to a question about why he was entering the political fray now, after his name has been tossed around in Liberal circles for years.
"I have been offered positions in the past," Carney told host Rosemary Barton. "For example, Prime Minister Harper asked me if I would be his finance minister in 2012."
The former central banker then said it "wasn't appropriate" for him to proceed with the offer because he didn't feel it would be right to "go directly from being governor into elective politics."
Carney worked as Bank of Canada governor from February 2008 to June 2013. In that time, he served under former Conservative finance minister Jim Flaherty — who was in Harper's cabinet when this purported job offer occurred.
The former central banker's comments on Sunday are the first time he's spoken publicly about a job offer from former prime minister Harper.
Harper's former director of communications Dimitri Soudas said in a statement to CBC News that "Mark Carney is not telling the whole story, and prime minister Harper certainly does not support Mr. Carney in any way."
CBC News has reached out to Harper for comment through his consulting firm, Harper & Associates.
Carney's comments come on the heels of back-and-forth exchanges on social media between Liberals and Conservatives over how much credit Carney should get for successfully steering Canada's response to the 2008 global finance crisis.
On Wednesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's wife, Anaida Poilievre, criticized Carney on social media and claimed the former central banker was "claiming the legacy of a man who has since passed" — referring to Flaherty, who died in 2014.
"I worked under the Harper government and saw firsthand the exceptional leadership of Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Harper in steering Canada through one of the most challenging economic periods in our history," Poilievre said. "What's happening right now is not just misleading — it's appalling."
Chisholm Pothier, who worked as Flaherty's deputy chief of staff and director of communications, came to Carney's defence in his own post on social media.
"Oh please. I was there and Carney played a big role," Pothier said. "Flaherty and Harper provided the political leadership that was key, but Carney was on deck with insight and smart monetary policy."
"Trying to erase that for partisan reasons is, well, beyond disgraceful, to match your hyperbole," Pothier posted in response to Anaida Poilievre.
Oh please. I was there and Carney played a big role. Flaherty and Harper provided the political leadership that was key, but Carney was on deck with insight and smart monetary policy.<br><br>Trying to erase that for partisan reasons is, well, beyond disgraceful, to match your hyperbole <a href="https://t.co/yKHrZKFUVk">https://t.co/yKHrZKFUVk</a>
—@chisholmpIn mid-January, Liberal MP Maninder Sidhu published a video on social media touting Carney's work during the 2008 crisis. The video featured a clip of Flaherty saying, "Mark has been a superb governor at the Bank of Canada for more than five years."
Two days after Sidhu posted the video, Soudas responded and said two people led Canada through the 2008 financial crisis — Flaherty and Harper — and added that "bureaucrats didn't lead the response; they followed direction by the elected government."
Carney and the Liberals
Going as far back as 2012, the Liberal Party has tried to bring Carney into the political fold — they even made an attempt to persuade him to quit his job as Bank of Canada governor to run in the leadership race that ultimately crowned Justin Trudeau.
At the time, social media sites promoting a "draft Carney" movement popped up on Facebook and Twitter, though Carney never ended up making a leadership run.
Carney's comments on Sunday that it felt inappropriate to go from his central bank posting to politics can also be traced back to 2012, but in the context of weighing a Liberal leadership run, according to a report from the Globe and Mail.
In the end, Carney went on to become governor of the Bank of England. At the press conference where it was announced he would take on the role, Carney laughed off the idea he would leave the Bank of Canada to seek the Liberal leadership.
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