Recently, Mark Carney was named an economic advisor to the Liberal Party of Canada to help shape the party’s policies. Considering the Liberals currently form government, his efforts could have substantial effects upon Canadians.Carney is most famous for successful stints as the Governor of both the Bank of Canada (2008 - 2013) and then the Governor of the Bank of England (2013 - 2020.) He has also held other high-level financial positions., including that of UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.Some of his background may seem to provide assurances that he is highly qualified to provide sound advice on economic matters. Unfortunately, for a man with a business and finance background, Carney has surprisingly left-wing ideals.Perhaps the best summary of Carney’s ideology is a 4700-word essay published in the National Post in 2021. It was written by Peter Foster, a prominent business writer since the late 1970s, and is entitled, “Mark Carney, man of destiny, arises to revolutionize society. It won't be pleasant.” Anyone who wants to know details of Carney’s perspective will benefit from reading Foster’s online tome.Perhaps the central goal of Carney’s political and economic agenda is to save the world from global warming. Like other climate alarmists, he wants to phase out the use of fossil fuels. As part of this strategy, he encourages the insurance industry to divest from fossil fuels, claiming that many oil and gas reserves will be “stranded” as the world adopts clean energy technology.Indeed, as Steven Koonin, a former official in the Obama-era U.S. Energy Department, has written, Carney “is probably the single most influential figure in driving investors and financial institutions around the world to focus on changes in climate and human influences upon it.”Foster notes that “Carney has been a prime pusher of ‘net-zero,’ the notion that climate-related human emissions must be entirely eradicated, buried or offset by 2050 if the world is to avoid climate Armageddon.”A central aspect of the “net-zero” agenda is the rapid phase out of fossil fuels. Clearly then, his agenda poses a threat to Alberta’s economy and prosperity. Despite the fact that Carney grew up in Edmonton, he doesn’t demonstrate much concern for this province.Carney’s emphasis on fighting climate change leads Foster to quote the famous American writer H. L. Mencken as saying that: “The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-front for the urge to rule.”That statement applies in this context because the “Carney-backed agenda is not predicated on working through democratic institutions but on circumventing them.”More particularly, “Carney’s plan is to control the global economy by seizing the commanding heights of finance, not by nationalization but by exerting non-democratic pressure to divest from, and stop funding, fossil fuels. The private sector is to become a partner in imposing its own bondage. This will be do-it-yourself totalitarianism.”Indeed, in a country dominated by policies designed to alleviate climate change, citizens will have less choices (consider the current war against single-use plastics,) less transportation (e.g., no more gasoline cars,) less meat (cattle release carbon emissions, after all), and less conveniences in general, but more poverty (due to deindustrialization.)As Foster notes, Carney’s ideology embraces what libertarian economist Friedrich Hayek called the “fatal conceit” of constructivist rationalism: “the belief that the largely spontaneous institutions of the market order should be rejected in favour of more deliberately planned arrangements.”That is, give the government enough power, and central planners can arrange society — by force — into something much better than the supposed anarchy of a free society.In this view, allowing every citizen the freedom to live as he or she likes will result in sub-optimal results for society. Instead, a large and powerful central government can rationally plan and enforce a properly-run society.In short, Carney’s ultimate goal “is a technocratic dictatorship justified by climate alarmism.”Another revealing item is Carney’s February 7, 2022 column in the Globe and Mail on the trucker convoy protest in Ottawa. What did he think of the protest? “This is sedition,” he wrote. The goals of the freedom convoy are “blatant treachery.” According to Carney, Ottawa’s residents “have been terrorized” by the protestors. His solution? “Those who are still helping to extend this occupation must be identified and punished to the full force of the law.”An authoritarian crackdown on the protestors, in other words.Clearly, his perspective closely aligns with that of Justin Trudeau, so it’s no surprise Trudeau would see Carney as a natural fit for his team. As long as the Liberals form government, all Canadians are threatened by a loss of freedom and prosperity — especially those of us who live in Alberta.
Recently, Mark Carney was named an economic advisor to the Liberal Party of Canada to help shape the party’s policies. Considering the Liberals currently form government, his efforts could have substantial effects upon Canadians.Carney is most famous for successful stints as the Governor of both the Bank of Canada (2008 - 2013) and then the Governor of the Bank of England (2013 - 2020.) He has also held other high-level financial positions., including that of UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.Some of his background may seem to provide assurances that he is highly qualified to provide sound advice on economic matters. Unfortunately, for a man with a business and finance background, Carney has surprisingly left-wing ideals.Perhaps the best summary of Carney’s ideology is a 4700-word essay published in the National Post in 2021. It was written by Peter Foster, a prominent business writer since the late 1970s, and is entitled, “Mark Carney, man of destiny, arises to revolutionize society. It won't be pleasant.” Anyone who wants to know details of Carney’s perspective will benefit from reading Foster’s online tome.Perhaps the central goal of Carney’s political and economic agenda is to save the world from global warming. Like other climate alarmists, he wants to phase out the use of fossil fuels. As part of this strategy, he encourages the insurance industry to divest from fossil fuels, claiming that many oil and gas reserves will be “stranded” as the world adopts clean energy technology.Indeed, as Steven Koonin, a former official in the Obama-era U.S. Energy Department, has written, Carney “is probably the single most influential figure in driving investors and financial institutions around the world to focus on changes in climate and human influences upon it.”Foster notes that “Carney has been a prime pusher of ‘net-zero,’ the notion that climate-related human emissions must be entirely eradicated, buried or offset by 2050 if the world is to avoid climate Armageddon.”A central aspect of the “net-zero” agenda is the rapid phase out of fossil fuels. Clearly then, his agenda poses a threat to Alberta’s economy and prosperity. Despite the fact that Carney grew up in Edmonton, he doesn’t demonstrate much concern for this province.Carney’s emphasis on fighting climate change leads Foster to quote the famous American writer H. L. Mencken as saying that: “The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-front for the urge to rule.”That statement applies in this context because the “Carney-backed agenda is not predicated on working through democratic institutions but on circumventing them.”More particularly, “Carney’s plan is to control the global economy by seizing the commanding heights of finance, not by nationalization but by exerting non-democratic pressure to divest from, and stop funding, fossil fuels. The private sector is to become a partner in imposing its own bondage. This will be do-it-yourself totalitarianism.”Indeed, in a country dominated by policies designed to alleviate climate change, citizens will have less choices (consider the current war against single-use plastics,) less transportation (e.g., no more gasoline cars,) less meat (cattle release carbon emissions, after all), and less conveniences in general, but more poverty (due to deindustrialization.)As Foster notes, Carney’s ideology embraces what libertarian economist Friedrich Hayek called the “fatal conceit” of constructivist rationalism: “the belief that the largely spontaneous institutions of the market order should be rejected in favour of more deliberately planned arrangements.”That is, give the government enough power, and central planners can arrange society — by force — into something much better than the supposed anarchy of a free society.In this view, allowing every citizen the freedom to live as he or she likes will result in sub-optimal results for society. Instead, a large and powerful central government can rationally plan and enforce a properly-run society.In short, Carney’s ultimate goal “is a technocratic dictatorship justified by climate alarmism.”Another revealing item is Carney’s February 7, 2022 column in the Globe and Mail on the trucker convoy protest in Ottawa. What did he think of the protest? “This is sedition,” he wrote. The goals of the freedom convoy are “blatant treachery.” According to Carney, Ottawa’s residents “have been terrorized” by the protestors. His solution? “Those who are still helping to extend this occupation must be identified and punished to the full force of the law.”An authoritarian crackdown on the protestors, in other words.Clearly, his perspective closely aligns with that of Justin Trudeau, so it’s no surprise Trudeau would see Carney as a natural fit for his team. As long as the Liberals form government, all Canadians are threatened by a loss of freedom and prosperity — especially those of us who live in Alberta.
