The Honourable Pat Carney, a former Canadian politician who served as a member of Parliament and a senator, has died. She was 88.
Carney, born in 1935 in Shanghai, China, called Saturna Island home and passed away sometime Tuesday, Capital Regional District Southern Gulf Islands director Paul Brent confirmed to CHEK News Wednesday.
Carney was elected to the House of Commons in 1980 as MP for Vancouver Centre and held various positions, including Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, Minister of International Trade and President of the Treasury Board. In 1990 she was appointed to the Senate.
The mother of two served as a member of Parliament until 1988, and she retired from her role as a senator in 2008, according to a biography on her website.
“The Hon. Pat Carney, P.C. has made a major contribution to Canada’s political and economic development and has pioneered roles for women in both her professional and political life,” her bio reads.
“As a role model herself, she has had the distinction of being the ‘first’ woman in many male-dominated fields.”
Carney was the first woman Conservative member of Parliament ever elected in B.C., and the first woman Conservative appointed from the province to the Senate.
Her bio says she received various accolades, including a Governors’ Award in 2008 for her efforts to protect federally-owned lighthouses. In 2019 she received the Order of B.C., which recognizes people “who have served with the greatest distinction,” according to the province.
Carney was also an author, having penned books like 2016’s “On Island: Stories,” a story collection that “follows the rhythms of day-to-day life in coastal B.C.”
Her writing career, however, dates back decades.
“In her journalism career in the 1960s, she was the first woman business columnist writing for major daily newspapers, including the Vancouver Province, the Vancouver Sun and national newspaper groups in Canada,” her bio reads.
Carney’s full bio is here.
Ethan Morneau
