Everyone seems to have nothing but nice things to say about Mark Carney, the Bank Of Canada head who was just poached by the Bank of England.

Economist and fellow Canadian David Rosenberg chimes in via an op-ed in The Globe And Mail. He recalls a conversation he had with Carney that proved to be incredibly prescient:

On U.S. Thanksgiving in 2007, shortly after he was named the next governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney and I met at his office in Ottawa. After a bit of discussion about the economic backdrop, he asked me: “Who is the smartest person on mortgages over at the Merrill desk in New York that I can talk to?”

I asked him why. He showed me reams of data from spreadsheets he had created and said, “Do you see these bracket signs at the bottom?” The brackets indicated negative numbers. I nodded. “This is Freddie Mac’s balance sheet,” he said. “It’s insolvent. And if it is, Fannie Mae isn’t far behind.” Needless to say, that finding sent a chill up my spine. We all know what happened next: Both Fannie and Freddie met their demise about eight months later.

The story speaks volumes about Mark Carney’s intelligence. And his brains, combined with his experience, work ethic, and ability to keep his cool as others lose theirs, will serve him well in his new role at the Bank of England...

It's an incredible story. We only wonder what we'll hear next about the now legendary Mark Carney.

Rosenberg goes on to compare Carney to perhaps the most famous Canadian of all time: Wayne Gretzky.

No wonder the Bank of England chose Mr. Carney as the first leader from outside Britain in its 318-year-history. As with the trade of another great one, hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky, to Los Angeles in 1988, there is a sense that Canada is now trying to replace the irreplaceable.

In the op-ed, Rosenberg discusses Carney's accomplishments as head of the Bank of Canada.

Read more at TheGlobeAndMail.com.