Carney visits Calgary Stampede on opening night

Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Calgary for opening day of the 2025 Calgary Stampede Friday.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Calgary for Stampede.

On the grounds Friday evening, Carney sampled fudge, spoke with vendors and visited the barns.

He also met with members of the RCMP and Canadian military and checked out a tank.

The prime minister was also scheduled to meet with Mayor Jyoti Gondek later on Friday night, possibly after watching the chuckwagon races at the Stampede Grandstand.

“We gotta see some chuckwagons, huh,” Carney said as he strolled down the Midway earlier in the evening with an entourage of security and cameras, sampling mini doughnuts and pretzels as he made his way to the grandstand stadium for the chuckwagon races.

He was scheduled to be at a Stampede breakfast Saturday morning and an event hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the afternoon.

Politicians are always happy to visit Calgary during the Stampede to meet people and raise their profile.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre will be in town on Saturday.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expected to drop in next week.

With files from The Canadian Press