Mark Carney’s NWT hometown hopes for a slice of the action

The Mayor of Fort Smith’s education about Mark Carney’s local roots began on the wall of Berro’s Pizzeria.

Berro’s is routinely cited as a candidate for the Northwest Territories’ best pizza.

“Every time I went to Berro’s, there was a picture of him up there eating from one of his visits here in Fort Smith,” Mayor Dana Fergusson told Cabin Radio on Monday.

Eventually, Fergusson became curious enough to ask who was in the photo. She was told the man pictured was Fort Smith-born Carney, a former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, who on Sunday became the Liberal leader and prime minister-designate.

“That was my first introduction to who that fellow was,” said Fergusson.

“I think it’s pretty cool that we can claim a hometown boy as the Liberal leader and, for a little while at least, prime minister until the election.

“Whenever we see someone succeeding, it inspires you to be like, ‘You know what? I can be bigger too,’ right?”

The NWT hasn’t had the opportunity to be inspired by a homegrown prime minister before. Carney will be the territory’s first once he is sworn in, which is expected in the coming days.

Carney lived in Fort Smith for six years after his birth, in 1965, before he and his family moved south to Edmonton.

Dennis Bevington, a Fort Smith resident who was the territory’s New Democratic MP from 2006 to 2015, remembers Carney’s father. Robert Carney taught him at the town school between 1965 and 1968.

Bevington did not know the junior Carney when the two were in Fort Smith, but he met Carney later when he was an MP and Carney was running the Bank of Canada.

“I would talk to Mark Carney in Ottawa. He knew I was from Fort Smith as well so we had a common bond there,” Bevington said.

“He certainly was very proud of coming from Fort Smith. He really felt that was part of his identity. It didn’t really come across as a political thing, it was just more he liked the fact that he came from Fort Smith.”

How long Carney will remain prime minister isn’t clear. He will soon have to contest a federal election, meaning his tenure might be measured in weeks or a few months if the Liberals are defeated.

Carney, who isn’t currently an MP, will also need to run for a seat somewhere in Canada.

That was one of the big questions on Monday – where will he run? – and the Northwest Territories is not entirely out of the question. Journalists quizzing Liberal MPs attending an Ottawa caucus meeting with Carney on Monday could be heard asking if the NWT seat was an option.

The territory’s Liberal incumbent MP, Michael McLeod, is already stepping down at the next election. While local Liberals say they have a candidate lined up, national party headquarters has the final say.

However, whether NWT residents could be relied upon to vote for someone who hasn’t lived in the territory in decades, even if that person is the Liberal leader, might be too great an uncertainty. Nor is the territory considered the safest of Liberal seats.

There are also logistical issues associated with sitting as the NWT’s MP. It’s a much longer slog to and from Ottawa than it is for many other ridings, which might complicate Carney’s schedule as a party leader.

No matter where Carney attempts to find a seat, Bevington believes an NWT-born Liberal leader is a huge political asset for the territory.

“I think he might give more of an impetus to territorial self-determination. That’s something I’ve felt very strongly over the years, that over the Trudeau era, we didn’t see much movement for territorial self-determination,” he said.

“Certainly, a prime minister who has some emotional connection to the Northwest Territories should be valuable to the NWT.”

Bevington said Carney’s economic background might also provide fresh perspective on the territories’ need for investment.

“Mark Carney, being an economist, might understand better the importance of infrastructure. He has said he wants to see more attention paid to investment in Canada. I think that’s a positive thing.”

Fergusson said Carney’s multiple mentions of Fort Smith – he namechecked the town in his acceptance speech on Sunday and has done so in TV appearances – show he’s still thinking about his roots.

“Hopefully, when he is in those places making decisions, his thoughts still come to us,” she said.

“Don’t forget about us up here, because we haven’t forgotten about you,” she added, addressing Carney. “Make sure you do right by the Northwest Territories.”