Andrew Willis writes in the Globe and Mail’s Report On Business Executive Insight on Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s part of the Carney/McKenna conversation on Friday to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
He calls Mr. Carney “a banker in touch with the times” due in part to his efforts to make climate change a business priority.
Mark Carney and Minister McKenna
Sharing a podium with Canada’s Environment Minister Catherine McKenna in a packed-to-the-rafters breakfast in a cavernous Toronto ballroom, Mr. Carney had a message to deliver: Climate change is real, it carries staggering risks and costs for business and corporate leaders, and politicians need to take action.
For many, this is not a new message. But why does the writer conclude that Mr. Carney is in touch with the times? The answer nearly caused me to guffaw through a mouthful of morning tea.
And the central banker only needed to look at the crowd Friday to know a call to action on climate change resonates. In a sea of suits at a downtown hotel, a significant portion of the audience had bike helmets on tables, or under chairs: They rode to the event, rather than drive. Mr. Carney is a banker in touch with the times.
At least in the eyes of Mr. Willis, the bicycle is now the mainstream symbol of changing times in his world of big money and big business. We’ve come a long way from the conversation being about “. . . all the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything”, (thanks Don Cherry and Rob Ford for the delightful slur).
