Why Mark Carney is dropping both his Irish and U.K. passports
CBC
St. Patrick's Day may be just around the corner, but it seems Mark Carney can no longer truly claim to be Irish, as Canada's new prime minister moved to renounce both his Irish and U.K. citizenships, prior to starting his new job.
Carney had acquired Irish citizenship through his family ancestry and got his U.K. passport while working overseas as the governor of the Bank of England.
He has said that, while many MPs have multiple citizenships, "as prime minister, I should only hold one."
Indeed, several million Canadians report holding more than one citizenship, while very few prime ministers have done the same.
Having ties to more than one country can complicate a politician's life.
"It's less complicated if you just have one citizenship," said Kathy Brock, a professor emerita of politics at Queen's University. Being entrusted with state secrets can prompt voter concerns about loyalties if more than one citizenship is in the mix, she says, and that's separate from any attacks from political opponents along the same lines.
Brock sees the renunciations as Carney signalling his commitment to his new job.
It could not only help him on the domestic front, but could also prevent a possible line of attack from south of the border.
"Think about it if Carney did have British and Canadian citizenship and how much fun [U.S. President Donald] Trump would have with that," she said, suggesting it could allow Trump to prod Carney over whose views he was representing.
There's no rule against prime ministers having dual citizenship but, says Laura Stephenson, a Western University professor of political science: "You want your prime ministers to be dedicated to the country that they're governing."
Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto, points out that there wasn't such thing as Canadian citizenship until 1947. So any prime ministers before then wouldn't have faced this issue.
In fact, three of the earliest — John A. Macdonald, Alexander Mackenzie and Mackenzie Bowell — were born on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Likewise, the English-born John Turner held dual citizenship during his brief tenure as prime minister in 1984. But the six who followed Turner did not.
Canada's opposition leaders, however, have recently and repeatedly been confronted on this issue.
Some businesses on 101st Street north of downtown Edmonton say they are concerned that planned changes to bus service — and a resulting loss of street parking — will negatively impact their operations.
Happily retired and living in the small east Kootenay village of Canal Flats, Gayle Lake never expected to become an expert in municipal water systems.
Kassim Abdulraheem cut his first head of hair — his best friend's — when he was in grade nine. He said he "butchered" the haircut then, but still cuts his friend's hair to this day.
Vehicles powered by electricity may soon no longer be limited to the ground, with research in Canada progressing into the testing of e-planes.
The Greater Toronto Area could be in for a rainy St. Patrick's Day weekend.
It was only a few years ago when paramedics in Waterloo region were sounding the alarm about being overworked and lacking necessary resources to effectively do their jobs, but recently they say there's hope.
P.E.I.'s Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act, which was passed nearly three years ago, will finally take effect next month, but advocates say the legislation doesn't go far enough to address the systemic injustices faced by this vulnerable population.
A researcher who studies political violence says it's important for politicians across parties to condemn violence when it happens, after a Yukon politician's vehicle was vandalized.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
It's been more than a decade since Nashom Berhane died after a stabbing in Toronto's east end, and since then his sister, Arsema, vowed his death wouldn't become another statistic.
London West Liberal MP Arielle Kayabaga was given a position in Prime Minister Mark Carney's cabinet during a swearing-in ceremony in Ottawa, early Friday afternoon.
As U.S. President Donald Trump keeps threatening Canada's sovereignty with his 51st state comments, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is calling for unity — as the United Kingdom continues to avoid directly pushing back on Trump's annexation talk.
Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture says a suspected case of avian influenza has been reported in a domestic flock of birds in Conception Bay South.