Mark Carney could be about to make history as Canada heads to the polls to pick its new government.
The former banker may be leading the party that’s been in charge of the world’s second-largest country since 2015, but he’s a complete newcomer to politics.
In fact, he had never served in elected office before becoming the 24th Prime Minister of Canada last month.
And after today’s federal elections, Carney will be hoping to have won his first ever seat in the Ottawa parliament.
Nevertheless, polls suggest Canadians may give him their backing to continue as PM, a stunning reversal of fortune for his Liberal Party which was poised for a heavy defeat just a few months ago.
Though he may be a little green when it comes to politics, the 60-year-old has spent a lot of time in the public eye. Here’s all you need to know.
Who is Mark Carney’s wife?
Mark Carney met his English wife, Diana Fox Carney, when they were both members of the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club.
According to the Times, Diana Fox was in Cheltenham in 1965 and went to boarding school at Marlborough College – which was later attended by Catherine, Princess of Wales.
The couple married in 1994 and lived in Primrose Hill, north London, for several years before moving between New York and Toronto, then eventually settling in Ottawa.
Diana is also an economist and has written several books.
Does Mark Carney have children?
Together, the couple have four daughters named Cleo, Tess, Amelia and Sasha.
Cleo Carney, who studies at Harvard University, introduced her father to the stage for his first speech as leader of the Liberal Party following his election.
She told the audience: ‘My father is, to his core, a man of commitment. He is unflinchingly dedicated to what matters.
‘Canadians care about actions, and my father is a man of action.’
Is Mark Carney French?
Mark Carney is not French, and he does not come from one of Canada’s French-speaking areas.
He was born in the remote town of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, far enough north that the night does not get fully dark on the summer solstice.
Carney soon moved south to the city of Edmonton in Alberta and was brought up there. He remains a fan of local ice hockey team the Oilers.
On the campaign trail, his limited ability in French has come up frequently but does not appear to have hurt him – even in French-speaking Quebec.
What is Mark Carney’s career background?
Until this year, Mark Carney’s entire career was dedicated to economics. As the only person to serve as head of the central bank for two different countries, he’s one of the world’s best-known economists.
In February 2008, he was picked as the new governor of the Bank of Canada, just in time for global markets to be rocked by the financial crisis.
Five years later, he was chosen to become the governor of the Bank of England – the first foreign head of the UK’s central bank in its 320-year history. He served in the role throughout the disruption of Brexit, and he left at the beginning of the Covid lockdown in March 2020.
It’s this reputation as a cool head in a crisis that appears to have won over many Canadians, as the country faces massive disruption from Donald Trump’s tariffs and other policies.
In one of the Liberal leadership debates, he said: ‘In a situation like this, you need experience in terms of crisis management, you need negotiating skills.’
Carney won the contest for the party leadership sparked by the resignation of long-serving PM Justin Trudeau with a stunning 85.9% of the vote.
Shortly after taking over the reins, with his party on the ascendancy in the polls, he called a snap election.
Only one other person has become Canada’s PM without being an MP: John Turner, who took over after the resignation of Justin’s dad Pierre Trudeau.
Turner lasted only 79 days, as he called an election soon taking over and lost in a landslide to the Progressive Conservatives. Carney will be hoping to avoid a similar fate.
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