Spouse of the prime minister of Canada

The prime minister is not the head of state; thus, their spouse does not officially play as active a role in Canadian affairs as the 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.[2] Conversely, other prime ministers' spouses, including Geills Turner and Sheila Martin, were uncomfortable with the public aspects of their role and tried to minimize their time in the press spotlight.

Spouse of the Prime Minister of Canada Laureen Harper (second from left) 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: both Mila Mulroney and Laureen Harper were considered their husbands' "secret weapons", whose instinctive sense of campaign optics proved invaluable to their husbands' careers;[2] 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.[3] 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",[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] 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.[3] 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.[3] Mila Mulroney also rose to some notoriety due to her spending habits[3] 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.[7]

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.

Two other Canadian prime ministers–Alexander Mackenzie and John Diefenbaker—were widowers, who each married their second wives during their terms as prime minister. Mackenzie's first wife was Helen Neil, and Diefenbaker's was Edna Brower. (John A. Macdonald, who was to become 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.)

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 (although Campbell's first husband, Nathan Divinsky, did try to attract media attention in 1993 by billing himself as the ex-husband of the prime minister). She briefly dated Gregory Lekhtman, the inventor of Exerlopers, during her term as prime minister, but kept the relationship relatively private and did not involve him in the election campaign.[8][9] In 1997, after her prime ministership, she entered into a common-law marriage with Hershey Felder.

Maureen McTeer is the only spouse to have 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 to date 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, to date, the only spouse of a prime minister to use her birth surname, rather than her husband's surname, in her public life; although Laureen (Teskey) 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.[10] Grégoire Trudeau did, however, become the first spouse of a prime minister to hyphenate her husband's surname with her own.[10]

The longest-lived spouse of a prime Minister is Isabel Meighen. who died on September 6, 1985 at the age of 103 years, 141 days. The oldest currently living spouse is Geills Turner, who was born on December 23, 1937; at age 83 years, 47 days, she will tie the age of Isabel Meighen if she lives to May 21, 2041, and outlive her if she still live pass that date.

The most recent spouse of a prime minister to die was Aline Chrétien, wife of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien (1993–2003), on September 13, 2020 at the age of 84.[12]

• List of royal consorts of Canada
• Viceregal consort of Canada