By Julie Gordon

OTTAWA (Reuters] – Canada’s dollar will always be the centre of its financial system, said the chief of the Canadian central bank. He was responding to questions on a promise by Conservative leaders to make the nation the blockchain capital in the world.

Innovation in the financial industry has many promising advantages. “Having said all that, we expect the Canadian currency to remain the centre of Canada’s financial system,” Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Maklem stated in testimony before the House of Commons.

Current work at the Bank of Canada on its central bank digital currency is underway. This so-called “digital ” could launch if there were a private, digital tender to be used as a means of payment.

Pierre Poilievre is a prominent candidate to lead the Conservative Party’s leadership. He stated that if elected, he would support a “new decentralized bottom-up economy” and let people take back control of their finances from politicians and bankers.

To make his point about the usability of cryptocurrency, he has uploaded videos of him buying lunch with it. He also regularly promotes crypto as an option for Canadians to “opt out of inflation.”

Poilievre leads all polls before the September vote for a new Conservative leader. According to the Angus Reid Institute’s survey, 25% of Conservatives favored Poilievre last month. Jean Charest was 20% behind.

Previous statements by The Bank of Canada have stated that cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are speculation investments and do not “have a plausible claim of becoming the money of the Future.”

According to Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers (NYSE :), the central bank is now in the development phase of its digital currency. However, the government will ultimately decide if that happens.

She stated that she views her job as being prepared, having done all the necessary work in advance so that, if it is decided that central bank digital currencies are beneficial to Canadians, we can provide them.

Poilievre makes quashing the soaring inflation one of his top campaign issues. He has also criticised Justin Trudeau, Liberal Prime Minister, for failing to do enough and the central banks for not doing more.

Canada saw an inflation rate of 6.7%, which was a new record for the country. Other countries are struggling with rising demand and tight supply chains. Russia’s invasion in Ukraine has further pushed up commodities prices.

Bitcoin for its part reached a new record of $68,000 at the end of 2021. This was before it halved in January. Bitcoin is currently trading at close to 40,000.