The front-runner to become the next leader of Canada’s federal Conservative Party says he will ban the Bank of Canada from issuing a digital currency if he becomes prime minister.
Pierre Poilievre, who is campaigning on a vow to make Canada the blockchain capital of the world, also said he would ensure the central bank faces regular scrutiny of its balance sheet, including an audit of its COVID-19 pandemic bond-buying program.
“A Poilievre government will ban a central bank digital currency and allow Canadians to have the economic and financial liberty that they deserve,” he told reporters in Ottawa.
Poilievre, a Conservative member of parliament since 2004, is leading all polls ahead of a September vote to pick a new leader for Canada’s main opposition party.
If elected, he will likely have to wait until 2025 for the next federal election, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have a political support deal with the New Democratic Party (NDP), a smaller left-leaning party.
The leadership race was triggered in early February when Erin O’Toole was ousted as Conservative leader after failing to beat Trudeau in last year’s election.
Poilievre, in his campaigning, has blamed Canada’s high inflation rate on the central bank’s pandemic purchases of government bonds and said cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) are a good way to “opt-out of inflation.”
The Bank of Canada has been working on a digital currency for a number of years though a final decision on its launch is up to the federal government.
Inflation in Canada hit a 31-year high at 6.7% in March. Countries around the world are grappling with runaway prices amid strong demand and supply chain constraints.
