October 9, 2008

Canadian Election: What did Stephen Harper Know About Interest Rate Cuts?

By admin

In the CBC interview with Peter Mansbridge on Tuesday night, Stephen Harper disclosed that the Bank of Canada would be taking action with interest rates as part of an effort to help with the international economic situation.

This announcement is unprecedented.  My question:  should it be considered illegal and a breach of trust?

Why the question?  It’s of the utmost importance that at least two critical components related to the Canadian banking system are preserved in order to ensure the integrity of our financial system:

  1. Actions to be taken by the Bank of Canada are taken independently of government involvement or knowledge;
  2. If it happens that any officials become aware of such actions, they do not disclose them to the public, especially those who could profit from such actions.

It’s the second item that we should all be concerned about.  By disclosing that the Bank of Canada would take action, which it did yesterday by dropping the prime half by 50 basis points, approximately 10 hours after Stephen Harper’s statement, international traders would have been able to profit from this comment, whereas the Canadian public would not have the resources to do so.

This breach of confidentiality seems to be unprecedented and I believe a full investigation should be issued against Stephen Harper by the RCMP.  This is not something to be taken lightly because as Canadians suffer from tighter mortgage rates (which are unjustified), job losses (because of Conservative neglect) and other financial dire straits (starting with changes to income trust regulations), friends of Stephen Harper are profiting from shifts in global interest rates.

What do you think?