Spouse of the prime minister of Canada


The spouse of the prime minister of Canada is the wife or husband of the prime minister of Canada. Diana Fox Carney is married to the current prime minister, Mark Carney.
Twenty women have been wives of prime ministers of Canada; Kim Campbell, the only female prime minister, was unmarried during her time in office. As semi-public figures, spouses are often present at various ceremonial, diplomatic, or partisan activities alongside the prime minister. Spouses often pursue philanthropic or charitable endeavours on their own, although the spouses have varied in how actively they sought or accepted the public spotlight.
Some media outlets have styled prime ministers' wives as the "first lady of Canada", similar to the style of first lady used in the neighbouring United States and other republics. This is not a recognized nor accurately applicable title, as the spouses both of Canada's monarch and of the governor general take precedence over the spouse of the prime minister. Rather, use of first lady is based on the influence of American media and a general misunderstanding of Canadian civics.

Public role

The prime minister is not the head of state; thus, their spouse does not officially play as active a role in Canadian affairs as do the royal consorts of Canada|royal] and viceregal consorts. The prime minister's spouse, however, is still generally regarded as a public or semi-public figure, frequently accompanying the prime minister on campaign and other public appearances, and often hosting dignitaries at the prime minister's residence.
At times, prime ministers' spouses have used their public status to promote charitable causes: Mila Mulroney was a spokesperson for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and other children's charities, Aline Chrétien was an active campaigner for literacy programs, and Laureen Harper was known for her support of animal welfare organizations such as the Ottawa Humane Society. File:34th G8 summit member's spouses 20080708 2.jpg|thumb|right|Spouse of the prime minister of Canada Laureen Harper at 2008 G8 Summit in Hokkaidō, Japan
Many have also held an unofficial but influential role as a political or campaign advisor to their husbands: Laureen Harper was considered her husband's "secret weapon", whose instinctive sense of campaign optics proved invaluable to her husband's career; Harper, for example, was credited as the brains behind a public appearance in which her husband, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, appeared on stage at Ottawa's National Arts Centre to sing the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends", which was widely perceived as softening the prime minister's somewhat stiff and bureaucratic public image. Despite her relatively low public profile, Aline Chrétien was also recognized as a powerful advisor to her husband; Maclean's magazine once wrote, "Never mind calling her the power behind the throne—she shares the seat of power", and columnist Allan Fotheringham later called her the second most powerful political figure in Canada, behind her husband but ahead of any elected member of Parliament or any staffer in the Prime Minister's Office.
Some prime ministers' spouses have also attracted attention for other reasons: Maryon Pearson was noted for her prickly wit, having made a number of famous quips which are still regularly featured in anthologies of famous quotations. Margaret Trudeau, whom Pierre Trudeau married while in office, became a notable celebrity in her own right, most famously when she was featured on the covers of international tabloids after being seen partying at Studio 54. Maureen McTeer, spouse of Joe Clark, attracted controversy when she became the first spouse of a prime minister to retain her own surname after marriage. Mila Mulroney also rose to some notoriety due to her spending habits, and was satirized in Frank as Imelda because of her purportedly large collection of shoes.
Because the role of a prime minister's spouse is not formally defined, however, a spouse may face criticism over her public visibility itself. In 2016, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau faced some controversy when she stated in an interview that she needed a staff assistant to keep on top of all the requests she received for public and charitable appearances, which some critics described as coming from a sense of personal entitlement or an attempt to turn herself into a First Lady.

Other notes

Canada has had two prime ministers who were bachelors, William Lyon Mackenzie King and R.B. Bennett. Mackenzie Bowell, a widower whose wife, Harriet, died in 1884, was also not married during his term in office. Pierre Trudeau began his term as a bachelor, became the first Canadian prime minister to get married while in office and ended it as Canada's first divorced prime minister.
Three other Canadian prime ministers–Alexander Mackenzie, John Diefenbaker, and John A. Macdonald—were widowers who remarried before becoming prime minister. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, had been a widower for ten years while in office in the former Province of Canada. His first wife was Isabella Clark, who died in 1857. Macdonald married his second wife, Agnes Bernard, while in London in 1867, during the final negotiations leading up to Confederation. Mackenzie's first wife was Helen Neil, and Diefenbaker's was Edna Brower.
Canada has also had one female prime minister, Kim Campbell. As she had finalized her divorce from her second husband, Howard Eddy, in early 1993, there has never been a male spouse of the prime minister. She briefly dated Gregory Lekhtman, the inventor of Exerlopers, during her term as prime minister, but kept the relationship private and did not involve him in the 1993 election campaign. In 1997, after her prime ministership, she entered into a common-law marriage with Hershey Felder.
Maureen McTeer maintained a career during her life at 24 Sussex; although several others have had independent careers prior to their spouse's term as prime minister, all others have put their own careers on hold to concentrate on the public and ceremonial and philanthropic aspects of their role as a leader's spouse. McTeer was also the only spouse of a prime minister to use her birth surname, rather than her husband's surname, in her public life; although Laureen Harper and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau both used their birth surnames prior to their husbands becoming prime ministers, both opted to minimize any controversy by using their husband's surname once they were elevated to the public role of a prime minister's spouse. Grégoire Trudeau did, however, become the first spouse of a prime minister to use her husband's surname with her own.

Spouses of the prime ministers

No.ImageNameDate of birthDate of marriagePrime Minister
Date tenure beganAge at tenure startDate tenure endedDate of death
1Agnes Macdonald
August 24, 1836February 16, 1867Sir John A. MacdonaldJuly 1, 1867November 5, 1873
2Jane Mackenzie
March 22, 1825June 17, 1853Alexander MackenzieNovember 7, 1873October 8, 1878
Agnes Macdonald
August 24, 1836February 16, 1867Sir John A. MacdonaldOctober 17, 1878June 6, 1891
3Mary Abbott
October 17, 1823July 26, 1849Sir John Joseph Caldwell AbbottJune 16, 1891November 24, 1892
4Annie Thompson
June 26, 1845July 5, 1870Sir John Sparrow David ThompsonDecember 5, 1892December 12, 1894
None Sir Mackenzie BowellDecember 21, 1894April 27, 1896
5Frances Tupper
March 14, 1826October 6, 1846Sir Charles TupperMay 1, 1896July 8, 1896
6Zoé Laurier
June 26, 1841August 13, 1868Sir Wilfrid LaurierJuly 11, 1896October 7, 1911
7Laura Borden
November 26, 1861September 25, 1889Sir Robert Laird BordenOctober 10, 1911July 10, 1920
8Isabel Meighen
April 18, 1882June 1, 1904Arthur MeighenJuly 10, 1920December 29, 1921
None William Lyon Mackenzie KingDecember 29, 1921June 29, 1926
Isabel Meighen
April 18, 1882June 1, 1904Arthur MeighenJune 29, 1926November 25, 1926
None William Lyon Mackenzie KingNovember 25, 1926August 7, 1930
None R.B. BennettAugust 7, 1930October 23, 1935
None William Lyon Mackenzie KingOctober 23, 1935November 15, 1948
9Jeanne St. Laurent
October 22, 1886May 19, 1908Louis Stephen St. LaurentNovember 15, 1948June 21, 1957
10Olive Diefenbaker
April 14, 1902December 8, 1953John DiefenbakerJune 21, 1957April 22, 1963
11Maryon Pearson
December 13, 1901August 22, 1925Lester B. PearsonApril 22, 1963April 20, 1968
None Pierre TrudeauApril 20, 1968March 4, 1971
12Margaret Trudeau
September 10, 1948March 4, 1971Pierre TrudeauMarch 4, 1971June 4, 1979Living
13Maureen McTeerSeptember 27, 1952June 30, 1973Joe ClarkJune 4, 1979March 3, 1980Living
Margaret Trudeau
September 10, 1948March 4, 1971Pierre TrudeauMarch 3, 1980April 2, 1984Living
None Pierre TrudeauApril 2, 1984June 30, 1984
14Geills Turner
December 23, 1937May 11, 1963John TurnerJune 30, 1984September 17, 1984Living
15Mila Mulroney
July 13, 1953May 26, 1973Brian MulroneySeptember 17, 1984June 25, 1993Living
None Kim CampbellJune 25, 1993November 4, 1993
16Aline Chrétien
May 14, 1936September 10, 1957Jean ChrétienNovember 4, 1993December 12, 2003September 12, 2020
17Sheila Martin
July 31, 1943September 11, 1965Paul MartinDecember 12, 2003February 6, 2006Living
18Laureen Harper
June 23, 1963December 11, 1993Stephen HarperFebruary 6, 2006November 4, 2015Living
19Sophie Grégoire Trudeau
April 24, 1975May 28, 2005Justin TrudeauNovember 4, 2015March 14, 2025Living
20Diana Fox Carney
September, 1965July, 1994Mark CarneyMarch 14, 2025PresentLiving