MNI POLICY: Trudeau Chose BOC Governor on Merit Over Gender

--PM Also Signals Airline Bailout, Defers Delivering Budget

By Greg Quinn

     OTTAWA (MNI) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government approved

the nomination of Tiff Macklem as Bank of Canada governor over the chance to

name the first female leader of the 85-year-old central bank based on

considerations of merit.

     Trudeau spoke at his daily press conference Monday, three days after

Finance Minister Bill Morneau confirmed the nomination made by the central

bank's board of directors. Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins was considered

a top candidate based on her work building the central bank's emergency policy

toolkit and because Trudeau named a gender-balanced cabinet when he first took

office five years ago. 

     "We were fortunate in this country to have many extraordinary people

qualified to head up the Bank of Canada and we made the determination on who

would be the best to see us through this difficult time and seven years into the

future as well. And I know that Tiff Macklem will do just that," Trudeau said. 

     Wilkins is the lone woman on the six-member panel that directs monetary

policy.

     She gave a closed-door speech around the time Trudeau spoke without

addressing her future plans. Macklem himself was the senior deputy before

Wilkins, and he left the BOC after the governor's job went to Stephen Poloz

seven years ago. Wilkins is starting the final year of her fixed term as the No.

2 official at the BOC. 

     --BUDGET DELAYED

     Trudeau also said he's not yet ready to present a budget for the fiscal

year that began April 1, citing the rush of spending to tackle the Covid-19

pandemic. Parliament's independent budget officer on Friday said the deficit is

heading for a record CAD250 billion or 13% of GDP.

     "A budget typically is an expression of what people can expect in the

coming year, both in terms of how the economy is going to unfold, what sort of

measures are going to be brought in," he said. "We're in a situation where there

is a tremendous degree of uncertainty as to what the economy could look like six

months from now."

     "So while we are continuing to be open and transparent, the reflections on

what points we might be able to present a budget or even just an economic update

is ongoing."

     Trudeau reiterated he's still looking at bailouts for hard-hit industries

like energy, airlines and tourism, a pledge he has made over the last few weeks.

--MNI Ottawa Bureau; +1 613-314-9647; email: greg.quinn@marketnews.com

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