Robert J. Carney

Robert James Carney (3 November 19339 December 2009) was a Canadian educator and the father of Mark Carney, the 24th prime minister of Canada. He retired from the University of Alberta as professor emeritus.

Early life and education Robert J. Carney was born on 3 November 1933. He worked as a waiter on Canadian Pacific Railway dining cars in the 1950s before beginning university. Carney earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education from the University of British Columbia, followed by a Doctor of Education from the University of Alberta.

Career Carney worked as a principal and superintendent of schools in the Northwest Territories. In 1962, he became the principal of the Joseph Burr Tyrrell School, a federal day school in Fort Smith. He later served on the board of the Newman Theological College, and as executive director of the Alberta Catholic School Trustees' Association before becoming employed at the University of Alberta. He was an associate professor at the university from 1967 to 1971.

In March 1965, Carney was interviewed by CBC Radio concerning his work as a principal in the Northwest Territories. During the interview, he was asked about a program for "culturally retarded children" at the Joseph B. Tyrrell school, where he was principal. When asked to define a "culturally retarded child", Carney replied: "a culturally retarded child in the context of the Northwest Territories is a child from a Native background who for various reasons has not been in regular attendance in school". His remarks resurfaced in 2025 after the election of Mark Carney, with some online posts incorrectly referring to Robert Carney as a residential school principal.

In 1975, Carney was appointed as deputy minister of the Alberta department of recreation, parks and wildlife. Prior to the appointment he held the role of executive director of the Alberta Northern Development Group. In 1976, Carney was appointed as deputy director for operations of Department of Indian Affairs in the Alberta region.

Carney was a candidate in the 1980 Canadian federal election, running as a Liberal in the riding of Edmonton South. He placed second in the election.

In 1991, Carney conducted interviews with 240 former residential school students as part of a study commissioned by the church. He subsequently published a report detailing allegations of physical abuse within the schools, noting 15 alleged instances of sexual assault which took place at residential schools in the Western Arctic. News coverage following the report prompted Carney to clarify that abuse was not the focus of the report, writing to the Edmonton Journal that "a number of interviewees expressed positive comments about their experiences in residential schools and hostels, while others deplored what they described as the excessive attention given to negative incidents related to these institutions". He later criticized the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples for being "dominated" by "the Aboriginal perspective".

Carney was employed at the University of Alberta as Professor of Education Foundations, and retired as professor emeritus. He died on 9 December 2009 in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

Personal life Carney married his wife, Verlie Margaret in 1957. Together they had four children; among them Mark Carney, the 24th prime minister of Canada. He was a Catholic.

Publications Academic works

Selected articles

Electoral history