The Bank of Canada is doing a formal review of its pandemic-era policies, when it bought hundreds of billions in government bonds to suppress interest rates. It may represent a last chance for Governor Tiff Macklem to explain himself before one of his fiercest critics comes to power.
Advertising
Early next year, the central bank plans to release a report on the “exceptional” measures it took during the Covid shock. That’s likely to be shortly before Canada’s next election, which is due to take place by October 2025.
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre — who’s leading Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by a hefty margin in polls — slammed the central bank during its first-ever foray into quantitative easing, saying it contributed to inflation. During his campaign for the party leadership in 2022, he even threatened to fire Macklem if elected.
Should Poilievre win next year, that would put him in the country’s highest office ahead of a scheduled review of the bank’s mandate in 2026 and the end of Macklem’s term in 2027. As the bank renews its framework, a Conservative government would likely want to scrutinize tools such as quantitative easing.
