Carney, Patricia, 1935- : In 1935, Pat Carney, journalist and Cabinet Minister, was born in Shanghai, China. She and her parents returned to their native Canada in 1939 prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Carney grew up in Guelph, Ontario and British Columbia and attended the University of British Columbia. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Political Science and, in 1977, a Master of Arts Degree from the University's School of Community and Regional Planning.
Carney began a distinguished career in journalism prior to finishing her undergraduate degree. After leaving the Vancouver Sun in 1971, she took her consulting business, Gemini North, to the Northwest Territories for three years, returning to Vancouver in 1974.
Following a narrow defeat in the 1979 election, Carney was elected in 1980 to the House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative Party member. During her years in Opposition, she was critic of the Secretary of State, Minister of State for Finance, Minister of Finance and Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources. Following re-election in the 1984 general election, Carney was appointed Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources and sworn of the Privy Council on 17 September 1984. As well, she was acting Minister of Regional Industrial Expansion, from Dec. 1985 to June 1986.
Following the Cabinet shuffle of 29 June 1986, Carney became Minister for International Trade and proceeded to play a key role in background discussions and negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States. After the completion of these negotiations, she became Minister of the Treasury Board, retaining this portfolio until November 1989. Carney was not a candidate in the 1989 general election. In October of 1990, she was appointed to the Senate.
