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by Joseph Brean

Canadian fiscal heartthrob Mark Carney is set to face awkward questions from the British Parliament after the embarrassing revelation that his Bank of England is secretly planning for Britain’s exit from the European Union.

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The disclosure of Project Bookend, which threatens to undermine Carney’s pledge of transparency, came on Friday when his chief spokesman, whom he brought to London from the Bank of Canada, accidentally emailed strategy documents to an editor at The Guardian newspaper, including guidance for how to rebuff questions from the public.

Even Bank of England staff were to be kept in the dark about the project, in which a senior executive was to lead a secret team planning for the so-called “Brexit.” A referendum on leaving the EU was a major platform plank for the newly re-elected Conservative government, and is expected by 2017.

Parliamentarians are likely to wonder when Carney was going to tell them about this major review of Britain’s economic prospects, and how many other secret projects he may have. Already, the Labour Party has called on George Osborne, the finance minister, to reveal what, if anything, he knew.