TODAY is Canada’s general election. The likely winner is Mr Mark Carney from the Liberal Party. Politics is strange. One incident can derail the expected results of a country’s election. That topic will be a separate column, but for now, let’s look at Mr Mark Carney.
Mr Carney is a pure Canadian without any other nationality input. He has never had dual citizenship for any other country.

He rose to occupy one of the most sensitive state positions in all countries in the world – Governor of the Central Bank. He was the Governor of the Bank of Canada.
The British Government thought that Mr Carney was such a successful governor that it offered Mr Carney the unthinkable in global economic relations. It made a non-UK citizen, Mr Mark Caney of Canada, the Governor of the Bank of England. That was in 2017. When that appointment was made, it raised

eyes all over the world.
It is impossible for a country to offer the position of the central bank governor to a total stranger from outside the citizenship of the country. The reason is simple: The governor will know more about the country’s economy than the Finance Minister, the Prime Minister or President. The governor is the storehouse of all the economic and financial data of a country.
When the PM or the President wants some sensitive information, they ask the governor. It is the governor who will inform the Finance Minister or the PM or the President about changes in the country’s trade deficits, the shape of the balance of payments and GDP and GNP. That is how important the role of the governor is.

The official philosopher of the Holy Roman Empire, St. Aquinas, once noted that everything in life has an explanation.
So, what is the explanation for one of the world’s top industrial nations asking a non-citizen to be its central bank governor?
His appointment was not rejected by any opposition parties at the time. Why? The answer lies in culture, politics and race. The British Government at the time did not see Mr Carney as a Canadian, but as someone belonging to an Anglo-Saxon family.
For the British Government that made that decision, there were no racial, political, religious and cultural barriers between the UK and Canada; therefore, having an Anglo-Saxon Canadian heading the central bank was just as good as if he were a UK citizen.
Some questions arise from those who belong to the post-colonial world.

India was the jewel of the British Empire. Why was an Indian economist not chosen? And they had hundreds that were as bright as Mr Carney. Of course, it needs to be mentioned that the post was not advertised.
Can one imagine a Nigerian or Jamaican invited to be the Governor of the Bank of England?
The past appointment of Mr Carney raises questions about the nature of the non-White world and the nature of CARICOM. The political and business leaders approved of a Canadian to head the UK’s Central Bank because for them he was “one of our own.”
You would never hear those words from Caribbean society; “he is one of our own.” CARICOM’S Single Market Economy countries are about five million people with some islands not even reaching one million. These countries are very close to each other historically, politically and culturally. Two of those countries have East Indian populations who see themselves and define themselves as CARICOM people.
While Canada and the UK are divided by oceans, CSME countries are geographically very close. Rich folks can use a speedboat from Guyana and the other islands and reach each other in less than an hour. The CARICOM cargo and passenger ferry has not been built as yet but when it is, it will be like using the ferry within your own country.

So, the million-dollar question is: would one CARICOM state allow the position of the Central Bank Governor to go to a national of another country? Would one CARICOM country allow its DPP to come from its CARICOM neighbour?
In my experience of living all my life in the CARICOM territory, one CARICOM country I saw was zealous in having a Caribbean family of nations and that was Grenada under Maurice Bishop.
I worked for that government and I know how it felt about Caribbean oneness.

CARICOM lost a vital pillar when the Maurice Bishop Government imploded. Do you know if the revolution had lasted, a Guyanese based in Jamaica would have been appointed the central bank governor? He was in fact the unofficial governor. I believe under President Ali in his next term, Guyana will have an enduring CARICOM closeness.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.