John McCallum describes his new position in the Canadian
government as: "junior finance minister". He has held the position
of secretary of state (international financial institutions) for a
couple of months, having begun his political career just 15 months
ago after leaving his post as chief economist at the Royal Bank of
Canada.
Politics chose McCallum, rather than the other way around. He says
he went into it not just because he's crazy, but because he was
approached by prime minister Jean Chrétien and his people while at
RBC.
However, he says: "You're not exactly a free agent in politics
because you have to say things that are consistent with the
government policy when you're in the cabinet." He seems to have
experienced this at first hand. At RBC, he supported the...
