Harper says he offered Carney a government role, not finance minister post

OTTAWA · Former prime minister Stephen Harper says he offered Mark Carney a role in his Conservative government in 2012, but not the job of finance minister. In his newly released memoir, Harper writes that he told Carney, then the governor of the Bank of Canada, that the finance portfolio was occupied by Jim Flaherty. Harper indicated Carney would be the leading candidate for the position should it become vacant. The former prime minister says he felt he should address the issue as it has occasionally cropped up in the media.

"Obviously, I did not offer him the post of minister of finance, as it was then not available," Harper writes in "Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister." "However, I indicated that, if he chose to join the government, he would be the leading candidate should the post come open." This account contradicts a claim Carney made during the 2025 Liberal leadership race. In a CBC interview that year, Carney said Harper had "asked me if I would be his finance minister in 2012." Carney said at the time it would not be appropriate to go directly from the Bank of Canada governorship into party politics.

Harper writes that while Carney was "highly effective" as bank governor, Flaherty was increasingly worried after the 2011 election that Carney was nurturing political ambitions. Flaherty feared Carney might seek the Liberal party leadership, a prospect widely rumoured at the time. "This was a serious concern for us," Harper writes. He says he discussed the matter with his chief of staff, Nigel Wright, who suggested making a job offer. The idea, Harper writes, was that an offer would either secure Carney's services for the government or force him to rule out a Liberal leadership bid, given his non-partisan role as central bank governor. "Mark took some time to reflect on the opportunity, ultimately declaring that he should stay out of partisan politics," Harper said. Carney left the Bank of Canada soon after to become governor of the Bank of England.

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The Carney anecdote is a small part of the nearly 650-page memoir, which covers Harper's political career from uniting the right through his decade in government. It includes a first-person account of his final election campaign and his government's defeat in 2015. Harper writes that he debated stepping down as leader in the summer of 2014 to rejuvenate the party. After deciding to stay, he planned to serve until just after Canada's 150th anniversary in July 2017, then call a leadership race.

The book also reveals Harper only learned of one of the most controversial policies of the 2015 campaign during his debate preparation. He says news of the proposed "barbaric cultural practices hotline" flashed across his screen while he was in Montreal preparing for the French leaders' debate. The announcement was fronted by former cabinet ministers Kellie Leitch and Chris Alexander. Harper writes he was "furious" upon learning about the policy, which he says he was not consulted on and had to defend on the campaign trail.

The memoir spans decades, including Harper's descriptions of standoffs with Russian President Vladimir Putin at G8 meetings and his reaction to the 2008 parliamentary crisis when opposition parties tried to form a coalition. It also covers his personal experience during the 2014 shooting on Parliament Hill, which happened when he was without his normal protective detail. Harper offers occasional reflections on current matters, stating he now opposes the World Economic Forum in Davos, which he attended twice as prime minister. If he were prime minister today, Harper writes, he would end Canadian government participation in the WEF. He describes it as a once-useful forum that has become a club for advancing the "narrow interests of its globalist, elitist attendees." The book was released on Tuesday.

With files from The Canadian Press, CityNews and BNN Bloomberg