Mark Carney’s recent appointment as prime minister marks the first time in Canadian history that a former governor of Canada’s central bank became head of the federal government. Traditionally, central bankers remain at arm’s length from government operations, but over the years there have been times when that didn’t hold true.
Carney himself broke that mould when he served as governor of the Bank of England. During the 2016 Brexit campaign, the pro-Brexit side and some politicians were unhappy that as the central banker he spoke publicly against the UK leaving the European Union.
There have been other cases where central bank governors ended up causing friction with elected politicians….