Mark Carney became prime minister of Canada on Friday. The 59-year-old father of four succeeds Justin Trudeau, who held power for close to a decade.

While Canada's new leader was raised in Edmonton, he was born in Fort Smith, a town of about 2,300 people, perched near the NWT's southern border with Alberta. His father even served as principal of Joseph Burr Tyrrell Elementary School. 

However, Carney's time in Fort Smith was brief. His family relocated to Alberta's capital when he just six — more than 50 years ago. As such, there aren't many people in town with vivid memories of the individual who has become Canada's top politician. 

Nevertheless, there are some who at least remember his family, such as former Thebacha MLA Michael Miltenberger. 

"I have memories of his dad," said Miltenberger. "I'm 74, so he and I are different age groups, but I recollect his dad being the principal here."

While Miltenberger doesn't have any memories of Carney as a child, they have crossed paths in the time since, when Carney paid a visit to the South Slave community. 

"He came back to Fort Smith a few years ago — more than a few now — when he was Governor of the Bank of Canada," Miltenberger recalled. "We had lunch at Berro's [Pizzeria]. He has his picture hung on the wall there. 

"There were lots of people coming around, lots of people coming up that have been around a long time, the old-timers that could remember his family."

Miltenberger hopes that Carney's ¿ìÓ¯v3 roots — and the fact that he's still connected enough to the region to make occasional visits — will make him more receptive to ¿ìÓ¯v3 problems. 

"Absolutely, I think he's going to have a special sensitivity," he said. "There was a shout-out in his speech I listened to when he was elected — he made a shout-out to Fort Smith. 

"He's always prided himself on where he was born. It adds to his credibility, as he's a man that's coming from relatively humble beginnings. His dad was a teacher, just like my dad was, and he's gone on to bigger and better things. He's got a lot of life experience, which I think is important for anybody that wants to lead the country."

Earl Evans, a Metis Elder in his 70s, is also a little too old to have crossed paths with Carney in a classroom or school yard, but he does have memories of Carney's family. 

"I don’t remember him as a kid but I could see the yellow house where he lived — by the school yard — from my dad’s house," Evans said. "That must have been in the early 1960s."

Evans admits he doesn't follow politics very closely, and that he hasn't given Carney's leadership much thought yet, but said he too suspects that the new PM being a former ¿ìÓ¯v3 resident will give him "a better grasp on the realities of living here."

Kenny Hudson, another local Metis Elder — and a good friend and hunting buddy of Evans — recalls seeing Carney on television once he had gotten into the public eye. He shares Miltenberger and Evans' perspective that the PM's ¿ìÓ¯v3 roots will make him a good leader â€” particularly amid the ongoing tariff war started by United States President Donald Trump. 

"I recall seeing him on the news as governor of the Bank of Canada," he said. "We should be proud that our leader is from the NWT. We are a tough bunch, and a person born here is what is needed to deal with idiot, President Trump."

Former Fort Smith mayor Fred Daniels shares the others' hope that Carney's connection to the North will make him more inclined to help ¿ìÓ¯v3 communities deal with their most pressing issues, such as rampant crime and addiction, and the housing crisis. 

"He'll understand the problems we have in the territories," Daniels said. "He'll understand ¿ìÓ¯v3 problems, like housing... [Some politicians] don't understand the territories. 

"You're trying to fund [the territories] but you don't know what's really happening there, being from the south. We have winter here and cold, and we don't access all the stuff that bigger cities would."

Leadership hangs in the balance

Carney's time as Canada's leader could be quite short. The expectation is that a federal election will be called sometime before this fall, and when it happens, there's no guarantee he will be able to beat Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, though recent polls do suggest it could be a close race. 

Currently without a seat in Parliament, Carney will need to decide which electoral district he would like to run in. As a former resident of Fort Smith, it's possible that he will attempt take the mantle from the territory's outgoing Liberal candidate, Michael McLeod. 

That's certainly a "long shot," according to Miltenberger, but the former MLA would not be opposed to seeing it happen.

"I heard he is running in Alberta," he said. "Does he want to go back to where he has lived, or where he was born? There are all sorts of political variables, but him running in the North would be interesting... He would definitely be the star attraction [of the race], and that race would be huge across Canada because that's possibly where the prime minister would be from. It would be very interesting and unique, for sure."

Daniels, meanwhile, is wholly supportive of Carney running in the NWT. 

"I think he should do that because when McLeod was in there, I had brought up justice — I really hit hard on justice," he said. "I really didn't get too much of a response there from McLeod.

"The good thing about the Conservatives is that they're hard on justice. It's an issue right across Canada. We're paying into a service that's broken, so where do we go from here? [Crime] is getting serious in all these small communities now."