Looking for the old Dodge

What is David Dodge up to taking on the optimists in Ottawa? Always a plain-spoken man, he was somewhat muzzled in recent years, first as a deputy minister, then as governor of the Bank of Canada. In those roles, he either had to say nothing or measure his words so the C$ wouldn’t take a dive.

As a former journalist and sometime author (my book on Manulife and CEO Dominic D’Alessandro will be published this May) I’m all in favour of bright people speaking their minds. But I think it’s inappropriate for the former governor to take on the current governor and his political master. Shouldn’t there be a moratorium on such comments, just as there are rules about conflicts of interest when public servants join the private sector?

To be sure, Dodge has just signed on with the newly-minted Public Policy Group at Bennett Jones, so maybe this “exclusive interview” with the Globe and Mail was as much about getting the word out on his new role as declaring his views on the economy.
We don’t need cheerleaders, the government will supply enough of those. But should public service pensioners be biting the hand that feeds them? Dodge didn’t need to say anything, but he did. And he shouldn’t have.