A Vernon financial advisor had a chance meeting with someone who knows a thing or two about economics.
Kirbey Lockhart and his wife, Heidi, were out east to Montreal on a trip. Their daughter Courtney and her partner, Scott, live in Ottawa, so the Lockharts went to visit the kids.
In Ottawa, the family decided to visit the National Art Gallery (NAG) on Monday morning, June 8. It was Courtney who reminded all that new Governor-General Louise Arbour was being sworn in.
“The three of us had just taken a few steps inside the NAG when cannons went off at the National War Memorial, then two CF18s flew overhead,” said Lockhart.
Since they were so close to the celebrations, all but Heidi ventured to walk to “see what they could see.” Heidi stayed at the gallery.
Dad and daughter walked over to the war memorial out where a military band played God Save The King and O Canada, so the duo knew the ceremony was ending.
Most of the roads, said Lockhart, were shut down for security except one sidewalk, which Lockhart and Courtney walked down until they were perpendicular with the stage.
As the new Governor-General and her entourage walked away to security, Prime Minister Mark Carney and his wife, Diana Fox Carney, started walking toward the father/daughter pair.
“The crowd on the sidewalk was maybe 100 people and the PM and his wife walked right up to the barrier and started talking to people,” said Lockhart, who started snapping photos and video on his phone. “Overall, his demeanour was warm and approachable, while his wife said little.
“Courtney and I watched this for a few minutes. It was cool to be so close to the action, observing it all, including four SWAT-looking intense dudes in a blacked-out truck just next to the PM, in addition to his ubiquitous security detail in suits.”
As Lockhart and his daughter walked back up the sidewalk to return to the art gallery, a barrier was placed across the sidewalk which made the pair realize Mr. and Mrs. Carney were going to walk in front of them to Carney’s office.
“The crowd had thinned out by now and there we were, Courtney and me, sort of at the end of the line, and up walked the PM and his wife,” said Lockhart. “He immediately noticed that we had NAG entrance stickers on our clothes so we explained why and I told him I was visiting from the Okanagan.
“Courtney and Mrs. Carney are in the same Ottawa running club so they began to talk about a recent 10-kilometre race they both participated in. It was a relaxed, yet somewhat surreal conversation between the four of us.”
Courtney told Carney that she and her father share the same birthday, March 6. Lockhart is two years older than the PM. Carney smiled and told Lockhart, “you look younger since you live in the Okanagan.”
When Carney asked where in the Okanagan Lockhart was from, and got the answer ‘Vernon,’ the PM’s eyes lit up.
“His head went back and he said, ‘I love Vernon,’” said Lockhart. “He went on to tell me that while growing up in Edmonton, his grandparents lived in Vancouver and that they would meet for summer holidays in Vernon. He went on to say that then in his 20s he came back to Vernon for a few summers on his own.
“I was incredulous! It was indeed a serendipitous conversation… I then said a few brief words to his wife in greeting and they were off, heading into his office.”
Lockhart and Heidi grew up in the North Okanagan, and the pair moved back to Vernon 17 years ago. Lockhart’s dad attended the Vernon Cadet Camp for three summers in the 1950s, describing them as “the best summers of his life.”
Heidi’s parents immigrated to Edmonton from Germany after the Second World War. When her dad came out to the Okanagan for a visit, he fell in love with the area and moved the family in 1973. Heidi’s mom, Christa, 91, still lives in the same Coldstream house.
Carney, of course, is the former Governor of the Bank of Canada (2008-2013), and former Governor of the Bank of England (2013-2020) prior to his foray into federal politics.
Regardless of political affiliations, the chance meeting with Canada’s top leader will stay with the Lockharts.
“I can attest that as highly intelligent and well-educated people, PM Carney and his wife Diana were warm and genuine, not only in our conversation, but the previous ones I had observed a few minutes prior,” said Lockhart.
“That interaction quickly became the highlight of our day! We walked back to the NAG, met up with Heidi, and told her all about what had just happened.”