VZCZCXRO8313
RR RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #1869 2781805
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051805Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6649
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS OTTAWA 001869 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CAN, EB/OMA AND INR 
 
USDOC FOR 4310/MAC/ONA 
 
TREASURY FOR IMI (FAIBISHENKO) 
 
TREASURY PASS FEDERAL RESERVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN CA
SUBJECT:  CANADA NAMES NEW CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR 
 
 
SENSITIVE, BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE USG 
CHANNELS. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Mark Carney, a 42-year-old rising star from 
Canada's Department of Finance, will replace David Dodge on February 
1 as Governor of the Bank of Canada.  Carney has been Canada's 
Finance Deputy at the G-7, G-20 and the Financial Stability Forum. 
End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) GOC Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Mark Carney's 
appointment as the next Bank of Canada Governor yesterday in Ottawa, 
flanked by Carney and current Governor Dodge, who indicated several 
months ago that he would not seek a second 7-year term.  The 
announcement had been expected this month, and Carney had been 
considered a front-runner, along with the Bank's current Senior 
Deputy Governor Paul Jenkins. 
 
¶3. (U) However, Carney, like Dodge before him, comes from outside 
the ranks of career central bankers.  Dodge had been an academic and 
then a star Deputy Minister of Finance; he was credited with 
managing then Finance Minister Paul Martin's successful assault on 
the GOC's debt-deficit crisis in the early-to-mid 1990's.  While 
Carney, too, is a Finance star, his earlier career was in the 
private sector with Goldman Sachs. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Apart from scheduled interest rate announcements (the next 
is due on October 16), the Bank of Canada normally receives little 
press or public attention.  However, credit market events of the 
past two months, plus the recent appreciation of the Canadian dollar 
to parity with its U.S. counterpart, have put the Bank in the 
spotlight.  Carney's appointment was highlighted accordingly in the 
national media, with emphasis on Dodge's successful term and on the 
role of the Bank in economic policymaking. 
 
BIOGRAPHY 
--------- 
¶5. (U) Born in the remote community of Fort Smith, Northwest 
Territories, Mark Carney is the son of a high school principal who 
later became a university professor in Edmonton, Alberta.  Mark 
Carney received a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard 
University in 1988. He then received a master's degree in economics 
in 1993, and a doctorate in economics in 1995, both from Oxford 
University.  Carney had a thirteen-year career with Goldman Sachs in 
its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices.  His positions 
included Co-Head of Sovereign Risk; Executive Director, Emerging 
Debt Capital Markets; and Managing Director, Investment Banking. 
 
¶6. (U) Carney was Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada for fifteen 
months from August 2003 until his appointment as Senior Associate 
Deputy Minister of Finance in November 2004. In addition to his 
domestic responsibilities in the Department of Finance, he also 
served as Canada's Finance Deputy at the G-7, G-20 and the Financial 
Stability Forum. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Post received indications a few weeks ago that Carney might 
get the Bank of Canada's top slot, but one Bank insider expressed 
some surprise that Senior Deputy Governor Paul Jenkins had not been 
named.  Perhaps expressing central bankers' traditional reluctance 
to embrace outsiders, our contact commented that Carney's background 
lies in the "wheeler-dealer" atmosphere of investment banking as 
opposed to the minutiae of central bank work.  While one press item 
tried to characterize Carney as "direct" and "arrogant" (in contrast 
to Dodge's friendly, paternal style), we have found Carney to be not 
only approachable, but also extremely competent and effective at 
public outreach. 
Qpublic outreach. 
 
BREESE