Meet Diana Fox Carney

It’s the eve of election day and dozens of red-clad volunteers are working hard inside Nepean Liberal candidate Mark Carney’s Hunt Club area campaign office. 

There is excitement and nerves in the air as the month-long campaign comes to an end. While polls are in Carney’s favour both locally and nationally, nobody is taking the numbers for granted. 

With the Liberal party leader campaigning across Canada, there is little time for Carney to spend in the riding he hopes to represent. On Sunday alone he had six campaign stops in four provinces: Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. 

The responsibility then falls on the volunteers to spread the party message locally. 

One of their fiercest supporters has been someone who knows the Liberal leader perhaps better than anyone: Diana Fox Carney, the former central banker's wife, who’s spent days in rain, cold, sleet, and sunshine, walking the streets of Nepean. 

In her only interview with the media, Ms. Carney sat down exclusively with the Lookout to share a bit about herself, what the campaigning experience has been like and why people should vote for the man she’s been married to for over 30 years. 

Nepean is much like most of Canada, says Ms. Carney 

Ms. Carney has never been involved in politics before. Instead, she worked in policy on topics like agriculture, climate, nature and biodiversity. 

At first it was a bit daunting knocking on strangers’ doors, she says, but was quickly put at ease by the generosity of Nepeanites. 

“I'm the second choice; I’m sure at the doors people would be more excited to see Mark, but I think it’s really important for both of us to get to know the riding. He’s not able to do that right now but after he will get to spend more time doing that. I’ve got to be his eyes and ears a little bit,” said Ms. Carney. 

“I’ve been struck by how friendly people are. The people I’ve met in this campaign office and volunteering. I love the diversity. My husband said it when he first came to this office that this is a representative riding of Canada. It’s bilingual; it’s got every community here. We had a great time at the Sikh Festival, the Celebration of Eid, and a variety of other cultural things we’ve done here.”

There’s been a lot of controversy as to how well the Carneys actually know Nepean. Their home is on the other side of the city in a more affluent neighbourhood than the suburb where the average income is between $50,000 to $55,000. But Ms. Carney, whose family moved to Canada in July 2000 and has lived in Ottawa for 20 years, said they’ve travelled there for occasions over the years. 

“I’ve been to Nepean intermittently over the years I’ve been in Ottawa. My kids have friends here, always for hockey, and to visit different businesses. The first thing that struck me was how big this riding is. You basically go into the countryside,” she said. 

Ms. Carney said she tries to “channel” her husband when she’s campaigning in Nepean and is proud of the team of volunteers who stepped up when they weren’t yet fully aware of their new candidate. 

She’s also eager to spend more time in the suburban riding. 

“I’m a big explorer of greenspaces. I’ve been thinking I should do more exploring of the Greenbelt,” said Mrs. Carney 

When he was first elected, Mr. Carney shared a similar sentiment and referenced being best friends with Nepeanite Peter Chiarelli, former general manager of both the Boston Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers. 

So who are the Carneys? 

Despite her newfound presence in the public eye, Ms. Carney likes to live a relatively private life. She enjoys going for runs along the Ottawa River — something she did two hours before our interview — or skiing through Gatineau Park in the winter. She also enjoys making ceramics in her cottage studio or playing pickup hockey. 

Now that spring has sprung, Ms. Carney is gearing up to garden at her Rockcliffe Park home. (And in case you’re wondering, she says the Prime Minister doesn’t have much of a green thumb.)

Instead, he has a passion for music – when he’s not working on diving into a book. 

“He spends a lot of time reading and thinking — that’s his personality. He has all these books in his office and I clean them up and think ‘he will never read this’, but he always says ‘it’s a very interesting one.’ Somehow, he manages to get all that done while also prioritizing family,” she said. 

“I’m not going to say he’s the most practical person around the house, but one of his core skills is music. He follows music very deeply and keeps up with new music in a way I never could,” Ms. Carney added. “He’s very good at music trivia and he’s always discovering new bands and such.”

There is also his love of hockey. Mr. Carney is a fan of the Edmonton Oilers — a city he moved to at the age of six — but also has a newfound love for the Ottawa Senators, which he referenced during a recent Nepean campaign event. 

As to not be accused of saying different things in different places, Mr. Carney also gave support to the Toronto Maple Leafs — a statement perhaps not shared by his wife. 

“Ough… that’s a tough one,” she said intensely.   

The Carneys have been married for 31 years 

The couple met while attending the University of Oxford; Mr. Carney was studying economics, Ms. Carney agriculture economics. They bonded over their passion for hockey. 

The University of Oxford Ice Hockey Club website says the young Ms. Carney was “known for her ability to skate rings around her opponents and move effortlessly through the opposing defensive line." A source told the Toronto Star that Mr. Carney thought she was the best on the team after watching a game. 

The rest is history. The Carneys wed in 1994 and four children soon followed: Cleo, Tess, Amelia and Sasha.

Ms. Carney went on to have a successful career, including as vice president of Canada 2020, which is a think tank focused on issues around climate, energy, social mobility and inequality. She then later became a director of strategy and engagement at the Institute for Public Policy Research. 

Before his job as Liberal party leader, Mr. Carney spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs, then joined the Bank of Canada as deputy governor and was senior associate deputy minister and G7 deputy in the Department of Finance Canada. 

Promotion then came calling and Carney became Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 until 2013. He was largely credited for managing what could have been catastrophic impacts from the 2008 financial crisis. 

In 2013 Mr. Carney left that role to become Governor of the Bank of England. Ms. Carney said it was a bit of a shock. 

“I was surprised we went to the UK. I thought we’d never go because he always said it had to be Canada,” she said. 

What was not a surprise, Ms. Carney says, was her husband's run to be Prime Minister. 

“He always had a deep yearning for public service. He’s got this focus for making things better for the country,” she said. “He always comes back.” 

As Prime Minister and party leader, Mr. Carney has branded himself as the best man to take on U.S. President Donald Trump amidst a tariff war. 

For Ms. Carney, both when they first met and throughout the campaign, there has never been any doubt about her husband’s love of Canada. 

“When I first met him I was first struck by his degree of patriotism,” said Ms. Carney. ”He walked away from a lot of interesting roles. But deep in his heart, if his country calls, he will be there.”