Mark Carney is officially the new leader of the Liberal Party, but beyond his political victory, what do we really know about him?
After winning the majority of the votes after Justin Trudeau stepped down, Carney will lead the party against the Conservatives in the next federal election, and much has already been written about his impressive resume.
He was the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, a senior associate deputy minister of finance, and a finance adviser to the British prime minister.
An economist and career banker, he might be well-known in finance circles, but Canadians may not be entirely familiar with his background.
From his hockey aspirations to being compared to George Clooney, here are some things you may not know about the Prime Minister-designate.
He’s a citizen of three countries
Carney has more than a Canadian passport; he has British and Irish citizenship as well.
His grandfather migrated to Canada from Ireland, and according to The Irish Times, he plans to renounce both citizenships.
His signature is on Canada’s banknotes
As the former governor of the Bank of Canada, you’ll be able to find Carney’s signature on some Canadian banknotes from $5 to $100 bills. According to CBC, a handwriting analyst stated that, based on his signature, Carney is quick-witted, confident, and tenacious.
He compared Trump to Voldemort
Like most Canadians, Carney was not impressed with U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state.
“When you think about what’s at stake in these ridiculous, insulting comments of the president, of what we could be, I view this as the sort of Voldemort of comments,” he told the CBC. “Like I will not even repeat it, but you know what I’m talking about.”
He was born in a tiny town in the Northwest Territories
In addition to becoming the new leader of the Liberal Party, Carney has another reason to celebrate — he turns 60 on March 16.
He was born in 1965 in Fort Smith, N.W.T., home to just over 2,000 people. The family then lived in Yellowknife for two years, and the family eventually settled in Edmonton, Alta., when Carney was six.
He thought he was going to be a professional hockey player
According to the Liberal Party website, he played hockey as a goalie for Laurier Heights. While studying economics at Harvard University on a partial scholarship, he was a backup goalie for the university’s hockey team. He said he would listen to AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” before a game.
Mark Carney
While working on his PhD in philosophy at Oxford University, he helped manage the hockey team, where he was the backup goalie.
“I certainly had firm views I was going to play in the NHL, which didn’t come to pass,” he said.
His wife was also a hockey player
Carney married Diana Fox, a British economist specializing in developing countries. The couple tied the knot in 1995, and according to NPR, they have four daughters: Cleo, Tess, Amelia, and Sasha.
Fox also played hockey at Oxford University’s women’s team. Describing his wife’s hockey-playing skills, Carney said, “She was better than me.”
He hails from a family of educators
According to Reader’s Digest Canada, his mother, Verlie, stayed home with the four children before returning to teaching. His father worked as a public servant in Indigenous and Northern Affairs (INAC) with the Alberta government before becoming a professor of education history at the University of Alberta.
“Our house was filled with books, and there was lots of discussion on the issues of the day,” Carney recalled.
He’s been compared to George Clooney
According to The Standard, when Carney became the first Canadian governor of the Bank of England in 2013, commentators compared him to Don Draper and George Clooney.
Mark Carney|Denis Makarenko/Shutterstock.com
During a 2015 interview, Irish broadcaster and journalist Eammon Holmes asked Carney what it was like to be called “the George Clooney” of the central banking world.
Carney laughed and stated, “It’s a very low bar.”
He worked as a paperboy
According to the Edmonton Journal, like many young Canadians, Carney worked several jobs while living in the Laurier Heights neighbourhood.
For pocket money, he shovelled sidewalks and worked as a paperboy for the Edmonton Journal. While on summer break from Harvard University, he returned to Edmonton, where he worked as a landscaper for a local hospital.
He wrote a bestselling book
Carney wrote Values: Building a Better World for All, a book on changes needed to “build an economy and society based not on market values but on human values.”
The book became a national bestseller.
