Jean-Claude Trichet, the former head of the European Central Bank, told POLITICO that having a foreigner helm a major central bank was “in no way an obvious decision,” but that Carney’s “remarkable” reputation in central banking helped the appointment go through.
The man who appointed him then, the U.K.’s former conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, said Carney’s experience on the international stage will serve as an asset both to Canada and leaders in Western Europe as they confront the challenges posed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to annex Canada and hit the country with massive tariffs.
“His primary responsibility will be to the people of Canada, but it’ll definitely help the Western world,” Osborne told POLITICO.
“To have someone around the table who’s been there, been in the room … not intimated by a trip to the White House, not intimated by meeting Donald Trump … that person’s Mark Carney,” Osborne said.
Roland Lescure, who was France’s industry minister until last September and was briefly discussed as a potential French prime minister, has known Carney for more than a decade after having worked in the financial sector in Canada.
Lescure told POLITICO that he was often in touch with Carney while in government, and stressed that the likely new Canadian premier and French President Emmanuel Macron “know each other well,” which “would obviously be a big perk for France-Canada relations.”
