In his quest for the leadership of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre has made a point of attacking the Bank Of Canada. Andrew Coyne writes:
The bank is always open to criticism, of course, but it matters how it is conducted, and it matters by whom. The independence of central banks from political interference is rooted in much of the same soil as the independence of the courts, and is as sacrosanct. People agree to use a currency for the same reason they agree to obey the law: because they believe it has not been debased by the powers that be.
That does not mean critics should refrain from pointing out when either has in fact been debased. It does mean they should not make inflammatory suggestions to that effect without evidence. That is especially incumbent on those in positions of political leadership, or who aspire to it. A candidate for party leader who runs, essentially, against the bank is not sending a message that he would, if elected, leave the bank’s current leaders to carry on undisturbed. He is implying, even if he does not say it out loud, that he would fix their wagon.
This is a particularly hazardous moment to be playing politics with the bank. After a prolonged period in which interest rates were held at historic lows, the bank has begun to raise them, and promises to raise them further, the better to take the air out of inflation – or more particularly inflation expectations.
But Poilievre is not a man of self-restraint. His mission is to light fires:
To undermine the bank’s credibility at this, of all moments, then, is the height of recklessness. It can do no good, and may do much harm. Mr. Poilievre compounds the fault by pretending that, by baselessly questioning the bank’s independence, he is in fact defending it. The point of siccing the Auditor-General on it, he said in a statement after his press conference on the bank’s doorstep, was to “restore the bank’s independence.”
Poilievre sided with the truckers who wanted to overthrow the government. He also wants to overthrow the Bank. He doesn't have the stuff to be prime minister -- which he insists is the job he wants. He's nothing more than a bomb-thrower.
Image: Quotefancy
6 comments:
Great minds on similar subjects:
"The USA should always be paying the lowest rate. No Inflation! It is only the naïveté of Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve that doesn’t allow us to do what other countries are already doing. A once in a lifetime opportunity that we are missing because of ‘Boneheads.’”
- Trump (Sep 2019)
"Protecting independence" sounds much more sophisticated than "Boneheads".
George Orwell knew how language was corrupted, John. Donald and Pierre know how to corrupt language.
"Nothing More Than A Bomb Thrower"
He might blow himself up.
The amazing thing is he keeps holding on to his seat! Carleton riding must be much more conservative than I had thought.
The fact that they consistently choose Poilievre says as much about the electors of Carleton as it does about Poilievre.
'a bomb-thrower'
I prefer the term 'civic vandals'. Bomb thrower gives them too much gravitas.
And Lil'PP is just the latest vermin* in a long line and a good example of 'why we can't have nice things'.
*This guy actually looks like a cornered rat most of the time.
He loves playing the victim, PoV -- and claiming that he speaks for the victims.
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