OTTAWA — Weeks after Mark Carney’s appointment as chair of the prime minister’s special new task force on economic growth, his outfit appears to have no firm deadline for its findings, no scheduled events and no other members except Carney.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the former governor of Canada’s and England’s central banks and a rumoured Liberal leadership contender would be chair of the new “Leader’s Task Force on Economic Growth,” at the Liberal caucus retreat in early September. Carney’s role means he will be working for the Liberal party and not the government.
The Liberal news release announcing Carney’s task force said he would be meeting with groups across the country before submitting a final report. So far, no such events have been scheduled.
Parker Lund, a spokesperson for the Liberal party, said more news on Carney’s group would be forthcoming.
“While we don’t comment on internal process, Mr. Carney began his work immediately. More will be shared about the work and timelines of the task force in the coming weeks,” he said.
Lund did not answer how other members of the task force would be selected and the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment, redirecting any questions to the Liberal party. Carney also did not respond to a request for comment.
No specific deadline for his report to be submitted to Trudeau has been declared.
When Carney took the post he said Canada needs news strategies and new approaches to ensure the economy continues to grow.
“The world is becoming a more dangerous and divided place, and at the same time, the global economy is being transformed. Every major economy is accelerating their energy transition, and being low carbon is becoming a key driver of competitiveness,” he said.
Carney has so far declined to run for the party as an MP, but has said he wanted to focus on problems the country faces.
“I’m interested in doing something, not being something, and this is a decisive time for our economy. These issues have to be tackled head on.”
In addition to his Liberal party position, Carney is chair of Brookfield Asset Management, an investment firm with more than $1 trillion in assets under management.
The Conservative party said Carney’s appointment creates myriad conflicts of interest that are being shielded because he is working for the party and not the government.
“Even though Carney now has significant power within the Trudeau Government, he will not have to declare his massive conflicts of interest and connections to multinational corporate interests because Justin Trudeau has shielded him from ethics laws by hiring him as a Liberal Party advisor,” the Conservative party said in a statement. “Carney and his corporate friends stand to potentially benefit to the tune of billions of dollars with no accountability to Canadians.”
National Post
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