US embassy cable - 03OTTAWA1036

UNCLAS OTTAWA 001036 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CA 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI - HARLOW, MATHIEU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN, CA, PBIO, Finance, Bank of Canada 
SUBJECT: BANK OF CANADA PROMOTES FROM WITHIN 
 
 
1.  The Bank of Canada's April 9 announcement that Paul 
Jenkins will be promoted to Senior Deputy Governor reverses a 
recent trend of drawing on outside talent for top leadership. 
 Jenkins, a Deputy Governor for 10 years, had been a 
front-runner for the SDG job in 1999, but was edged out by 
Malcolm Knight.  (Knight left to assume the top job at the 
Bank for International Settlements earlier this month.)  The 
promotion makes Jenkins a member of the BOC Board of 
Directors and a strong contender to eventually replace David 
Dodge as Governor (if Dodge does not continue when his 7-year 
term expires in about five years.)  Dodge, too, was selected 
from outside the BOC. 
 
2.  The choice of Jenkins had been leaked earlier in the 
week. His promotion leaves the BOC with two Deputy Governor 
jobs to fill (Charles Freedman is retiring at the end of 
August), and both internal and external candidates are under 
consideration.  A decision on those jobs is expected "soon" 
and the choice is expected to signal the BOC's future 
direction.   Deputy Governor appointments, unlike the 
Governor and the Senior Deputy, do not require Cabinet 
approval. 
 
3.  Jenkin's promotion, which takes effect immediately, has 
been positively received and economists believe it reinforces 
the BOC's priorities of transparency and maintaining an 
aggressive stance on inflation.  Jenkins has focussed on 
international economics (and hosted the Bank's biannual 
briefings for G-7 financial attaches on the Monetary Policy 
Report). 
 
4.  Jenkins, 55, joined the Bank's research department in 
1972.  In 1978 he transferred to the Department of Monetary 
and Financial Analysis, becoming Deputy Chief in 1983, Chief 
of the Research Department in 1984, and Advisor to the 
Governor in 1989.  Jenkins graduated from the University of 
Western Ontario, and received a Masters in Political Science 
from the London School of Economics.  He studied at Princeton 
from 1982-83 before returning to the Bank.  He was born in 
St. Catharines, Ontario, and he and his wife Sheila have 
three children. 
CELLUCCI