Pat Carney studied economics at the University of British Columbia before becoming a business columnist for the Vancouver Sun and the Province. In 1970, she moved to Yellowknife, where she ran her own consulting firm on northern socio-economic issues. Ten years later she was elected to Parliament. She was called to the Senate in 1990. She has a master’s degree in regional planning and has, for ten years, been an adjunct professor, teaching graduate students in the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC. She holds honourary degrees from UBC and BC Open Learning University. Pat Carney has a son, John Dickson, and a daughter, Jane Reid. She lives on Saturna Island, British Columbia, with her husband Paul White and their cat Minou.