Former senator, MP, journalist Pat Carney is dead at the age of 88
Posted July 26, 2023 4:08 pm.
Last Updated July 26, 2023 4:35 pm.
Pat Carney, who pioneered roles for women in Canadian politics and journalism has died at the age of 88.
Her niece, Jill Carney, confirmed in a statement that the former MP and senator passed away Tuesday night.
Carney was the first female Conservative member of Parliament elected in B.C. and the first female Conservative appointed from the province to the Senate.
Her website says she began her journalism career in the 1960s and was the first female business columnist writing for daily newspapers, including the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province.
It says Carney was also the first woman in every government portfolio she held, serving as the minister of energy, minister of international trade, and president of the Treasury Board in Brian Mulroney’s cabinet.
After eight years as an MP for Vancouver Centre, she served another 18 as a senator from 1990 until 2008.
She was a mother of two and lived on Saturna Island, one of B.C.’s Gulf Islands.
