Poloz cites continuity amid change of executives

OTTAWA — Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz is stressing continuity at the central bank even as it undergoes the biggest turnover of senior management in its 79-year history.

Poloz, who took over the bank last June, announced April 11 that Carolyn Wilkins will become senior deputy governor and the first woman to hold the post, replacing Tiff Macklem who departs next month. Wilkins is the highest-profile appointment at the Ottawa-based bank since Poloz succeeded Mark Carney. A third member of the sixmember interest-rate setting panel, deputy governor John Murray, also retires this month, and a replacement hasn’t been named yet.

The departures of Macklem and Carney, who left Canada last year to become governor of the Bank of England, mark the first time the central bank has replaced its two top executives within a 12-month period. With the exit of Macklem and Murray, the Bank of Canada is losing two executives with a combined six decades at the central bank.

The departures of Macklem and Carney … mark the first time the central bank has replaced its two top executives within a 12-month period.

Poloz told reporters during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund in Washington that the turnover “is not really an issue” for the central bank because it has “this incredible bench of expertise.” Calling the overhaul of the governing council an “accident of history,” Poloz said the central bank has a culture of continuity and a deep team of policy-makers.

Wilkins is the “complete package” with strengths that include credibility in financial markets, experience in economic forecasting and communications skills, Poloz said. “The range of characteristics you’re looking for just pop out in this candidate,” he said.

To be sure, it is not the first time the central bank has seen one half of its governing council leave in quick succession. In 2010, senior deputy governor Paul Jenkins and deputy governors David Longworth and Pierre Duguay all retired.

The six-member governing council works by consensus and doesn’t publish meeting minutes or record votes, meaning there’s no direct evidence of different members’ influence on policy decisions.

After the bank’s April 16 interest rate decision, Wilkins will join discussions by policy-makers who have said they may raise or lower a one per cent policy interest rate depending on how economic data progresses.