‘Revisionist history’: Carney hits back at Harper over letter challenging the Liberal leadership frontrunner’s economic chops

In this file photo, then-Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney looks on as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper opens a meeting with international business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 26, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Liberal leadership frontrunner Mark Carney is hitting back at former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper for accusing the Liberal leadership frontrunner of taking undue economic credit.

Responding to a letter Harper penned to Conservative party members – and sent out as a fundraising blast – Carney’s campaign accused Harper of being called on “to save Pierre Poilievre from a historic drop in support.”

“But no amount of revisionist history can take away from Mr. Carney’s proven record of economic leadership,” his campaign said in a statement.

Carney’s team also doubled down on the assertion that Harper approached him to serve as finance minister, in noting that the former prime minister could have picked Poilievre, but didn’t.

The statement also included a handful of references to comments made by prominent Conservatives, including Harper, of the job Carney did as Canada’s central banker.

“Canadians know that Pierre Poilievre and his team bring no experience or plan to protect our economy, and no ability to stand up to Donald Trump in a national crisis. Mr. Carney is ready to lead Canada and to build the strongest economy in the G7,” Carney’s campaign said.

Harper says Carney taking credit for Flaherty ‘hard calls’

Harper – who appointed Carney to run the Bank of Canada back in 2008 – spoke out Monday, blasting the former central banker for overstating his role in steering the country through the global financial crisis.

In a fundraising letter sent to Conservatives, Harper questioned Carney’s economic record, in the context of the massive economic danger Canada is facing in light of U.S. President Donald Trump’s impending tariffs.

“I have listened, with increasing disbelief, to Mark Carney’s attempts to take credit for things he had little or nothing to do with back then,” Harper writes.

“He has been doing this at the expense of the late Jim Flaherty, among the greatest finance ministers in Canada’s history, who sadly is not here to defend his record. But let me be very clear: the hard calls during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis were made by Jim.”

Harper went on to say Carney’s experience as a Liberal economic advisor is tied to the carbon tax and sizeable deficits, calling the leadership contender “wrong on all the big issues.”

“The real reason Carney wants to claim our Conservative record for himself is that he dare not speak of his actual ‘experience,’” Harper said.

Former Flaherty staffer weighs in

One former Flaherty staffer, speaking to CTV News on Monday, said while he agrees his former boss led the political and fiscal decisions such as running a $55 billion deficit, Carney’s role on the monetary side shouldn’t be minimized.

“Behind the scenes and intangible is that Carney and Flaherty were close. They liked each other. They talked a lot, and they worked well together,” said Chisholm Pothier.

Pothier – who worked on a rival candidates’ leadership campaign during the race that elected Poilievre and is no longer a federal Conservative member – described Carney as “a sounding board” for the then-finance minister.

“Up until Carney entered the political scene in Canada, it was generally a given that Harper, Flaherty, and Carney got us through the crisis and helped and set us on the path to recovery,” he said, noting their working relationship predated the global financial crisis, to when Carney was a senior bureaucrat at the finance department.

Liberals closing polling gap

Both Carney and Harper have called the coming federal election the most consequential vote of their lifetimes.

Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned and the race to replace him kicked off, the Liberals have seen a sizeable uptick in support, considerably narrowing the Conservatives’ lead.

For months, Poilievre’s Conservatives had been enjoying around a 20-point polling advantage but as of last week, CTV News’ pollster Nik Nanos said that if an election was called, it would be “a coin toss,” with the Conservatives sitting at 37 per cent support, and the Liberals at 33 per cent.

Nanos said at the time that the numbers indicate some Canadians are questioning why Consevatives are focusing their attacks on Carney, rather than spending more time talking about Trump and tariffs.

“It’s not going to be a change election anymore. It’s actually going to be who can best manage Donald Trump, and who do Canadians trust to move forward in some sort of positive way in the relationship with the United States. So, I think change is out the door as the ballot question,” Nanos said.

“We may find that Canadians don’t vote for a party that they like. They don’t vote for potentially a leader that they like, but that Canadians as voters become very mercenary, looking at the choices that are before them.”

Liberals will elect their next leader on Sunday. While some voters have run into issues with the party’s verification processes, party spokesperson Parker Lund said the system is working as it should to ensure a secure vote, and that there’s a team working to troubleshoot more complex cases.

Voting opened last week. So far, of the 400,000 registered Liberals eligible to cast a ballot, 100,000 people have been verified, and of those 78,000 have cast a ballot so far.

With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha