Ottawa's Prime Minister Mark Carney stepped away from the usual business of Parliament Hill this week for a night of football in England. According to a post from Instagram account @613trending, Carney joined UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham at Everton's Carabao Cup match against Wolves on Wednesday at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool.
Two leaders, one shared team
The pairing is less random than it might sound. Both Carney and Burnham are known Everton supporters, and the two held bilateral talks before heading to the stadium together for the match. It's the kind of moment that blends statecraft with something a lot more personal for Carney, whose ties to the club go back further than his political career.
Carney has previously said his cousins in Liverpool are the reason he became an Everton fan in the first place, a detail that's followed him through his years in international finance and now into his time leading the federal government from Ottawa. For a prime minister who spends most of his public appearances in suits and boardrooms, a night at a football match with a fellow head of government offers a rare glimpse of him outside the formal trappings of office.
Why it matters back home
For Ottawa residents, moments like this are a reminder that the person steering the country from the nation's capital still carries connections and interests well beyond the Hill. Diplomatic trips often come wrapped in dry communiqués and photo-ops in front of flags, but pairing bilateral talks with a shared trip to a football match is a more informal way for two world leaders to build rapport. Whatever came out of the Carney-Burnham talks on policy, the optics of two PMs cheering on the same club side by side are the kind of soft diplomacy that tends to stick in people's minds longer than a press release.
Ottawa hasn't had much reason to talk football diplomacy before, but with Carney's well-documented Everton loyalty, don't be surprised if this isn't the last time the city's top office holder finds an excuse to catch a match while abroad.
Story via @613trending on Instagram.
