[3][7] As a result of her father's studies and subsequent work as a veterinarian, the family moved to Guelph in 1944 and then to Victoria, British Columbia a year later.

[3] Carney's brother recalled that she demonstrated a keen interest in organizing various events for her family and neighbours by the time she was ten years old, including plays, which she frequently wrote and starred in.

[3] The reason for the family's move to Nelson was, in part, so Carney and her siblings could work on a farm and learn basic homesteading skills.

Carney kept her maiden name and continued to work as a freelance journalist to support Dickson while he finished law school, which was unusual for women of the time.

[8][7] After struggling to make ends meet as a freelance journalist, Carney went north to the city of Whitehorse, Yukon and started a consulting firm with her brother Jim.

[8][7] Trading under the name of Gemini North, Ltd., the firm worked on a number of projects related to the development of lumber and gas and oil industries in Yukon and the Northwest Territories (NWT).

[8] Gemini North also produced a number of studies on the potential social and economic impacts of such projects on local residents and Indigenous people in northern Canada.

In the early 1970s, Gemini North was commissioned to conduct a survey of local opinion about the installation of a gas pipeline along the Mackenzie River Valley.

In January 1991, Carney—a pro-choice advocate of women's rights to abortion[12]—voted against the restrictive, anti-abortion Bill C-43 proposed by her successor as MP for Vancouver Centre and fellow Conservative party member, Kim Campbell.

"[12] Several male senators planned to abstain as they felt abortion was a "women's issue" but when they saw Carney vote no, it spurred them to similarly oppose the bill and contribute to its defeat.

[14] In 2000, Carney acted on concerns that landmark lighthouses on both Canadian coasts were being neglected by teaming up with Senator Mike Forrestall from Nova Scotia to introduce the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, a private members bill which enjoyed consistent multi-party support in subsequent minority Parliaments and which received royal assent in 2008.