Canada did better than most countries when the economy tanked in 2008, most suggest due to our more stringent banking regulations. This morning the news broke that the head of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, has been appointed head of the Financial Stability Board, the G20’s agency for regulating markets.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, of the ruling Conservative Party, said, “This appointment of the governor is a credit not only to him but also to the Canadian financial system and our regulatory and supervisory system, which is a model for the world.”
Is this a body, like Benedict has called for, with “teeth”? Is this part of the “strong juridical framework” called for by John Paul II and mocked by certain conservatives pundits?
Here’s a quote from the news article linked to above:
Widely expected to get the part-time posting, Carney may have sealed his appointment in September with his blunt response to American bankers chafing at looming new rules.
“If some institutions feel pressure today, it is because they have done too little for too long, rather than because they are being asked to do too much, too soon,” Carney told an audience at the Institute of International Finance in Washington, D.C.
And there’s this from Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, quoted in the National Post story:
“Obviously there are some in the financial sector who don’t necessarily like the proposals, and there are some legitimate complaints and in Canada we pay attention to what the financial sector says,” said Harper.
“But that said, one of the things we know is the financial sector can’t just write its own rules. The crash of 2008 made very clear that there must be credible regulatory systems on the financial sector or it can lead us in a position where we don’t want to be. That is being done, that has to be done.”
Can someone tell me if this is good or bad news for American conservatives (not too mention Canadian progressives!), who like to claim that their northern neighbors are a bit of a Republican farm team? I actually have no idea.
Brett Salkeld is a doctoral student in theology at Regis College in Toronto. He is a father of three (so far) and husband of one.
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