A Digital Canadian Dollar - The Future of Mark Carney's Canada

Now that 130,000 Liberals have picked Canada's next Prime Minister, a former two-time central banker, we would be wise to think about where Canada is headed under a Mark Carney government, particularly when it comes to our personal financial futures.  His coronation brought back thoughts from late 2023 when the Bank of Canada, Carney's former employer, released a survey asking Canadians about their views on a digital Canadian dollar aka a central bank digital currency.  Let's look at an excerpt from the results of the survey which found the following:

1.) Canadians place a high value on holding cash that is backed by their central bank and want to maintain access to bank notes.

2.) Canadians value their right to privacy and many expressed concerns that a digital dollar could compromise that right.

3.) A digital dollar should be easily accessible and should neither add barriers nor worsen existing ones.

4.) A digital dollar should not add to financial stability risks.

Basically, Canadians who responded to the survey were strongly against a digital Canadian dollar and strongly backed the continued existence of bank notes, responses which the bank appears to have taken to heart at least publicly, however, it did leave itself one significant loophole as quoted here with my bold:

"In an era of rapid digitalization, the Bank is undertaking the necessary work to be ready if Canadians’ payment preferences or needs change. Ultimately, the decision about whether or when to issue a digital dollar will be up to Canadians and their elected representatives in Parliament."

Here's a screen capture showing the "What's Next" section of the report on the Bank of Canada's survey for posterity's sake:

 

And, there you have it.  The ultimate decision about whether to implement a digital Canadian dollar lies in the hands of Canada's Parliament which is now led by a former central banker and strong advocate of central bank digital currencies.  The stumbling block to Canada's CBDC has now been removed and I don't think that Mark Carney cares one whit about what Canadians think about a cashless society.

The only question now is how long will it be before Canada adopts a central bank digital currency?  Canada's only hope is that a Carney-led Liberal party is either defeated in the next election or remains in minority status as long as the other parties are anti-digital Canadian dollar.