OTTAWA — Just before Christmas, Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge was digging into his latest assignment with typical determination.
This, after all, is the intense man who took time off a few years ago, supposedly to relax -- and then devoted himself to learning everything there is to know about health policy. He's conquered the country's deficit, stared down inflation in the face of rising energy prices, forced the world to listen to his recipe to avoid currency crises, and provoked serious debate on almost every economic topic known to Canadians.
Now, as the year drew to a close, he was setting his sights on examining, in depth, how best to present How the Grinch Stole Christmas to a bunch of staff children at the Bank of Canada.
He had obtained a copy of the book and read it through carefully. He had watched the movie. He had made sure a Grinch costume was in the works for one of his colleagues. And then he consulted with his communications staff on the best delivery.
That he has room left in his brain for child's play, after exploring the reaches of economic policy in a volatile environment and steering Canada gently through a slowdown, is testament to Mr. Dodge's imposing intellect, open-mindedness and high standards.
The long-time civil servant has used his pedestal as central-bank governor to hoist the national discourse on well-being -- both economic and social -- to new levels. Over the course of his 30-year career in government and academia, he has played a key role in fostering the conditions for a national economy that is enjoying one of its longest stretches of prosperity ever. His work in eliminating the deficit and keeping inflation under control has granted Canada an economic stability that provides the private sector with a comfort zone in which to take new risks and grow.
He is uniquely placed to drive a debate on how decision-making -- be it on bank mergers, retirement policies or early childhood education -- should benefit the country as a whole.
"He certainly doesn't run and hide," says Don Drummond, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank who worked with Mr. Dodge at the Department of Finance in the 1990s. "He's not afraid of saying things that might not please his political masters."
While some observers have criticized the governor for too frequently straying far from his mandate, and his comments have made some politicians and economists uncomfortable, Mr. Dodge says it is almost his duty to be a receptacle for a wide range of ideas, and to inspire a lively national discourse on how to push the Canadian economy to its upper limits.
He consults relentlessly with almost anyone with an intelligent thought, from maintenance workers at the central bank and neighbours near his Eastern Ontario farm, to experts in a wide array of social and economic policy niches.
"You've got to keep pushing and providing the analysis of how things can be done better, and provoke debate. You may be wrong, but if you provoke debate, you'll soon find out," said Mr. Dodge, 63, setting aside The Grinch for a recent interview in his spacious office across from the Parliament Buildings.
"You've got to keep pushing the frontiers. That's what excellence is all about. And that's what we as a nation have to strive to do, both in the realm of social policy as well as economic policy."
His methodical determination to make The Grinch story sing is the same resolve he puts to work to make Canadians understand what it takes not just to get by, but to prosper in a global economy that is in the midst of a dramatic transformation.
"He is a national treasure," says fellow economist and long-time friend Peter Nicholson.
In the first few months of 2006, Mr. Dodge delicately raised interest rates to cool off a Western economy overheating from oil prices, but stopped in May, as the effects of a high dollar and global competition were clearly taking their toll on Central Canada's export sector.
Mr. Dodge sees the challenges of managing the ups and downs of monetary policy in a broader context, and figures he's had it easy compared to his predecessors. In the 1970s, when Canada was dealing with a similar oil-driven disparity, he says, "we ended up destroying people's confidence in the future value of money, and things really became unhinged."
Inflation soared, government deficits fattened, workers were under great pressure and grew restless, and Canada's West came to deeply resent Canada's East.
"We didn't have flexibility. We tried to step in and hold down oil prices.
"We tried to cushion rather than say, 'No guys, you've got to adjust,' " Mr. Dodge recalls.
"I think we've come a long way since then."
A Toronto-born, Princeton-trained economist, Mr. Dodge entered the federal public service in the 1970s and rose through the ranks of the Finance Department, designing the Goods and Services Tax for Brian Mulroney's government, and eventually becoming deputy finance minister for Paul Martin.
There, he was instrumental in persuading the Liberal government to take drastic steps to eliminate the burgeoning deficit -- helping to set the stage for a more stable and prosperous era of low interest rates, low inflation, and now, no recession for 15 years and counting.
After a stint at the University of British Columbia and then as deputy minister of health back in Ottawa in the late 1990s, he moved over to head the Bank of Canada in 2001. His appointment was controversial at the time, spearheaded by Mr. Martin and the Prime Minister's Office rather than the bank's board of governors.
But any disgruntlement quickly evaporated, and Mr. Dodge has gone on to firmly entrench inflation at 2 per cent, bring the central bank to the forefront of economic policy writ large, and garner widespread respect.
With the fiscal situation on sound footing after Mr. Dodge's work in the 1990s, and monetary policy now marching along quietly based on low and predictable inflation, the governor has focused on explaining frequently and at length what Canadian individuals and businesses need to do to increase their prosperity.
He also is opening up the Bank of Canada to more scrutiny, exposing its innermost thoughts on inflation and economic development; taking Corporate Canada to task on its governance practices and its reluctance to take risks and improve productivity; challenging policy-makers to think long-term by investing seriously in early childhood education; poking a stick in the federal government's ribs by urging it to allow big banks to merge; prodding that same government to invite private-sector investment in public infrastructure projects; and challenging the conventional wisdom of retirement at age 65.
"If you don't take a chance on innovating, if you don't push the envelope a little bit, then you never can be second to none. In pushing the envelope, you may make mistakes, but that's part of the learning process. That's part of being the best."
And while the Grinch anecdote will no doubt prompt critics to draw attention to Mr. Dodge raising rates while manufacturers in Central Canada sagged, it's clear that for the governor, the Grinch story has a broader, brighter meaning: that the public -- with a little bit of help from well-planned policy -- is wise enough and innovative enough to prevail over adversity.
This week, we are introducing our list of nominees who have made a major contribution to Canadian society this year. Each runner-up will be profiled as a prelude to the announcement of our winner Saturday. Go to globeandmail.com to see the profiles as they are published and to see some of the hundreds of submissions we have received from readers.
