Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem navigates a political minefield every time he testifies before the House of Commons finance committee.

Four times a year, members of Parliament get the chance to question the governor on monetary policy.

At a time when inflation and interest rates are both high, MPs 鈥� particularly Opposition ones 鈥� are eager to ask him about politically charged issues.

Is the federal government spending too much? How much is carbon pricing pushing up prices? Would eliminating it bring interest rates down?

Mindful of the weight his words carry, the governor keeps his responses focused on the implications of fiscal policy on inflation.

But despite Macklem鈥檚 best efforts, his words are often clipped and repackaged by politicians in service of their own narratives.

Parliamentary committees have become increasingly polarized over the course of the last two Liberal minority governments and have provided a venue for political theatre outside the House of Commons.

That was on full display Thursday when Conservatives sent out a news release following Macklem鈥檚 appearance in committee, which said the governor had 鈥渃onfirmed that Trudeau鈥檚 $61 billion in new spending is 鈥榥ot helpful鈥� in bringing inflation down and lowering interest rates.鈥�

Clips on X quickly circulated as well.

But what was missing was the fact that Macklem never singled out federal spending.

He noted provinces increased their spending, and it was largely deficit-financed.

鈥淭hat has increased the contribution to growth from government,鈥� Macklem said in response to a question on whether fiscal and monetary policy are rowing in the same direction.

Macklem noted the central bank鈥檚 April monetary policy report forecasts aggregate government spending will increase by 2.75 per cent this year.

That鈥檚 up from its January forecast of 2.25 per cent, largely due to a slew of provincial budgets that increase spending.

Notably, the federal budget had not yet been presented when these forecasts were published.

鈥淪o yeah, that is not helpful in trying to get inflation down,鈥� Macklem said about the increased growth rate for spending by all levels of Canadian government taken together.

The Canadian Press asked the Bank of Canada whether the governor鈥檚 response was accurately captured in the Conservative news release.

鈥淲e鈥檒l let the governor鈥檚 testimony speak for itself,鈥� Paul Badertscher, the central bank鈥檚 director of media relations, said in an email.

The Tories didn鈥檛 respond to a question about whether they believe that provincial government spending has contributed to inflation.

Instead, they reiterated their interpretation of Macklem鈥檚 comments.

鈥淢acklem said government spending is 鈥榥ot helpful鈥� to efforts of bringing down inflation and interest rates,鈥� said spokesman Sebastian Skamski.

Because the federal Liberals increased overall spending in this year鈥檚 budget, 鈥渋t鈥檚 clear鈥� that Macklem was referring to 鈥淛ustin Trudeau鈥檚 spending,鈥� Skamski said.

After four years as governor during arguably the most economically tumultuous time in decades, Macklem is well-versed in how quickly the Bank of Canada can find itself caught in a political firestorm.

The central bank has taken heat from politicians of various stripes, union leaders and commentators alike.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre even vowed to fire Macklem for the Bank of Canada鈥檚 policy response to the pandemic. He has not repeated that promise in a while.

Even as Tory MPs now lean on Macklem鈥檚 credibility as they try to make a case that Liberal decisions are fuelling inflation, government MPs are looking for his validation.

Liberals often craft questions to the governor that try to prod him into defending their government鈥檚 fiscal track record and policies.

Stephen Gordon, an economics professor at the University of Laval, said this is far from the first time that politicians have tried to use the Bank of Canada to score political points.

He said the central bank鈥檚 long-standing tradition is to not wade into politics or pass judgement on government policy.

鈥淚t always sort of takes fiscal policy as a given. It鈥檚 not supposed to express an opinion about whether it鈥檚 good or bad or not,鈥� he said.

Gordon said it鈥檚 unfortunate that MPs are more focused on scoring political points than asking the governor substantive questions.

鈥淭he parliamentary committee meetings are really a missed opportunity for politicians to really understand what鈥檚 going on with monetary policy. The focus on scoring media clips or gotcha quotes makes it harder for the bank,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he bank really would like people to understand how things are going.鈥�

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