Former prime minister Stephen Harper says Liberal leadership hopeful Mark Carney is taking too much credit for helping guide Canada’s response to the 2008 global financial crisis.
Carney’s history leading the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, before moving on to the Bank of England, has been a pillar of his bid to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as he pitches himself as someone who would bring a steady hand to the economy.
Carney’s campaign website states that during the 2008 financial crisis, he “guided Canada through one of the most turbulent economic periods in modern history, protecting jobs and helping ensure that Canada came out stronger.”
With less than a week before Liberals choose their next leader, Harper, the Conservative prime minister at the time of the crisis, is taking issue with Carney’s characterization.
In a recent fundraising letter, Harper wrote that Carney — widely seen as the frontrunner in the race — is undermining former finance minister Jim Flaherty’s legacy. Flaherty died in 2014.
“I have listened, with increasing disbelief, to Mark Carney’s attempts to take credit for things he had little or nothing to do with back then,” read the letter.
“He has been doing this at the expense of the late Jim Flaherty, among the greatest Finance Ministers in Canada’s history, who sadly is not here to defend his record. But let me be very clear: the hard calls during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis were made by Jim.”
The former prime minister’s letter comes weeks after Carney revealed Harper asked him to join his cabinet as finance minister in 2012.
Harper previously praised Carney
In a February interview on CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live, Carney was asked 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 Barton. “For example, prime minister Harper asked me if I would be his finance minister in 2012.”
At the time of the interview, Harper’s former director of communications Dimitri Soudas said, “Carney is not telling the whole story, and prime minister Harper certainly does not support Mr. Carney in any way.”
Harper’s letter, shared with media Monday, does not deny he offered him the position.
The tone of Harper’s letter is starkly different from some of his previous public comments about Carney.
When Carney left to lead the Bank of England, Harper congratulated him for being a “valued partner as the government has worked to steer Canada away from the worst impacts of the global economic recession.
“As a result, Canada remains an example to the world with its strong banks, effective regulatory environment and sound economic policy,” Harper said at the time.
The former prime minister’s comments are just the latest round of back and forth over how much credit Carney should get for successfully steering Canada’s response to the 2008 global finance crisis.
Last month, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s wife, Anaida, criticized Carney on social media and claimed the former central banker was “claiming the legacy of a man who has since passed.”
Carney’s team has not responded to Harper’s letter.
