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As someone from the US, I thought we were the leaders in choosing strange government figureheads, until Canada elected the head of a foreign bank as their's. T

As someone from the US, I thought we were the leaders in choosing strange government figureheads, until Canada elected the head of a foreign bank as their's. That speech reminds me of the conclusion the main character in the movie Antz settled on. Being forced to be a cog in the machine is awful and no one should accept it. Instead we should be happy to volunteer ourselves to be cogs in the machine.

jleyank 10mo ago
FWIW he was bank head of Canada before being bank head of uk.
- canadiantim 10mo ago
  [flagged]
  - SanjayMehta 10mo ago
    Is that an allusion to changing colours?
    - almaight 10mo ago
      So it might have been Chinese before.
    - canadiantim 10mo ago
      It’s an allusion to him previously working as a Goldman sachs banker, Goldman sachs is lovingly referred to as a vampire squid, its tentacles are everywhere.
      - SanjayMehta 10mo ago
        Ah so, I thought it was some Canadian slang. Also: "lovingly" cracked me up.
cjbenedikt 10mo ago
At least he can speak coherently and doesn't waffle off topic.
- CursedSilicon 10mo ago
  But, y'know, nuclear...!
canadiantim 10mo ago
He only won because trump said he wanted to make Canada the 51st state and the opposition party didn’t pivot or adjust their campaign to Trump’s rhetoric.
- stackghost 10mo ago
  That seems overly reductive. He won because: - the NDP and the CPC were both led by deeply unpopular leaders: Jagmeet Singh the silk clad, Rolex-wearing self styled "man of the people" and Pierre Poilievre who is so dislikeable he routinely polls double digits below his party - Trump threatening to collapse the Canadian economy and/or annex us by force - Flat economic growth - Carney's credentials on the economy being unparalleled in Canadian politics (see previous point) - Voters tired of the far-left big government nanny state philosophy that was the hallmark of the Trudeau governments and Carney successfully presented himself as a centrist Interestingly, Carney was appointed to the Bank of Canada by a Conservative PM and I'd argue he's got a similar appeal that Trump initially had, but for different reasons: Trump positioned himself as an outsider, and Carney is similarly not a career politician. By contrast his only real challenger (Poilievre) hasn't had a real job in his life and has been living on the taxpayer's dime his entire career. I think voters in both the US and Canada are sick of slimy politicians. (Edit: can't reply because rate limited, better go back to pointless discussions about JavaScript. My usage of "far left" should be understood as being relative to the Canadian political spectrum. Justin Trudeau was definitely a very left-leaning PM by any rational measure)
  - b00ty4breakfast 10mo ago
    >Voters tired of the far-left big government.... Ah, yes; that communist fiend, Justin "Al Jolson" Trudeau, seizing all those means and abolishing hierarchies and redistributing the wealth.
    - stackghost 10mo ago
      [flagged]
lukeinator42 10mo ago
I mean it's not just any old foreign bank either though, in Canada the King of England is still our head of state.
- lifetimerubyist 10mo ago
  The King of England is not our head of state, the King of Canada is our head of state. It's an important distinction because the Canadian and British monarchies are legally distinct offices. Canada is not subordinate to Britain like it once was as a colony, and our succession laws, royal titles and even the powers of our monarch are all determined by our law and constitution - not British law. Mark Carney is born and raised Canadian. Just because he has had an illustrious career internationally does not make him any less Canadian than someone who has lived here their entire lives.
  - tasuki 10mo ago
    Very interesting! I was surprised to learn that the King of Canada sometimes even visits to do some kinging[0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Canada
    - lifetimerubyist 10mo ago
      He was here recently to read the speech from the throne and open his new government after the election. It was quite the event with a lot of pomp and circumstance. Very much welcome during these tumultuous times, and a nice reminder of our tradition and history that makes Canada what it is.
    - netsharc 10mo ago
      Geez, what a gig. Lose your mom, become king of 15 nations...
cperciva 10mo ago
Technically Carney was never the head of a foreign central bank; he was the head of a Commonwealth central bank. Canada and the UK do not consider each other to be foreign nations, as evidenced by their exchange of High Commissioners rather than Ambassadors.

jleyank 10mo ago

FWIW he was bank head of Canada before being bank head of uk.

canadiantim 10mo ago
[flagged]
- SanjayMehta 10mo ago
  Is that an allusion to changing colours?
  - almaight 10mo ago
    So it might have been Chinese before.
  - canadiantim 10mo ago
    It’s an allusion to him previously working as a Goldman sachs banker, Goldman sachs is lovingly referred to as a vampire squid, its tentacles are everywhere.
    - SanjayMehta 10mo ago
      Ah so, I thought it was some Canadian slang. Also: "lovingly" cracked me up.

cjbenedikt 10mo ago

At least he can speak coherently and doesn't waffle off topic.

CursedSilicon 10mo ago
But, y'know, nuclear...!

canadiantim 10mo ago

He only won because trump said he wanted to make Canada the 51st state and the opposition party didn’t pivot or adjust their campaign to Trump’s rhetoric.

stackghost 10mo ago
That seems overly reductive. He won because: - the NDP and the CPC were both led by deeply unpopular leaders: Jagmeet Singh the silk clad, Rolex-wearing self styled "man of the people" and Pierre Poilievre who is so dislikeable he routinely polls double digits below his party - Trump threatening to collapse the Canadian economy and/or annex us by force - Flat economic growth - Carney's credentials on the economy being unparalleled in Canadian politics (see previous point) - Voters tired of the far-left big government nanny state philosophy that was the hallmark of the Trudeau governments and Carney successfully presented himself as a centrist Interestingly, Carney was appointed to the Bank of Canada by a Conservative PM and I'd argue he's got a similar appeal that Trump initially had, but for different reasons: Trump positioned himself as an outsider, and Carney is similarly not a career politician. By contrast his only real challenger (Poilievre) hasn't had a real job in his life and has been living on the taxpayer's dime his entire career. I think voters in both the US and Canada are sick of slimy politicians. (Edit: can't reply because rate limited, better go back to pointless discussions about JavaScript. My usage of "far left" should be understood as being relative to the Canadian political spectrum. Justin Trudeau was definitely a very left-leaning PM by any rational measure)
- b00ty4breakfast 10mo ago
  >Voters tired of the far-left big government.... Ah, yes; that communist fiend, Justin "Al Jolson" Trudeau, seizing all those means and abolishing hierarchies and redistributing the wealth.
  - stackghost 10mo ago
    [flagged]

lukeinator42 10mo ago

I mean it's not just any old foreign bank either though, in Canada the King of England is still our head of state.

lifetimerubyist 10mo ago
The King of England is not our head of state, the King of Canada is our head of state. It's an important distinction because the Canadian and British monarchies are legally distinct offices. Canada is not subordinate to Britain like it once was as a colony, and our succession laws, royal titles and even the powers of our monarch are all determined by our law and constitution - not British law. Mark Carney is born and raised Canadian. Just because he has had an illustrious career internationally does not make him any less Canadian than someone who has lived here their entire lives.
- tasuki 10mo ago
  Very interesting! I was surprised to learn that the King of Canada sometimes even visits to do some kinging[0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Canada
  - lifetimerubyist 10mo ago
    He was here recently to read the speech from the throne and open his new government after the election. It was quite the event with a lot of pomp and circumstance. Very much welcome during these tumultuous times, and a nice reminder of our tradition and history that makes Canada what it is.
  - netsharc 10mo ago
    Geez, what a gig. Lose your mom, become king of 15 nations...

cperciva 10mo ago

Technically Carney was never the head of a foreign central bank; he was the head of a Commonwealth central bank. Canada and the UK do not consider each other to be foreign nations, as evidenced by their exchange of High Commissioners rather than Ambassadors.