Born January 10, 1955. Eva was the 1st Languages Commissioner for Nunavut serving from 1999 to 2004. After leaving her position as Commissioner she taught for awhile before owning and operating Malikkaat, a retail store in Iqualuit selling native arts and crafts. She has also served as coordinator of the Baffin Divisional Education Council’s Inuktitut language book publishing program as president of the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce and as chair of the Nunavut Film Development Corporation. Eva was the only woman elected in the 2008 Nunavut territorial election for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. On November 14, 2008 she was selected as the second Premier of Nunavut becoming the fifth woman to serve as a premier in Canada. She did not seek a second term as Premier. (2022)

Born 1897. Died January 9, 2005. Ruth graduated from the University of Manitoba and worked her way from a lower level clerk in the Canadian Civil Service to being an economist and then executive assistant to the Canadian Minister of the Department of Defence  Production. In 1957 she was appointed as the 1st woman member of the Civil Service Commission a position she held until 1968. Source: Jean Bannerman, Leading Ladies of Canada (Belleville, Mika Publishing, 1977) (2020)

née Sharp. Born January 12, 1865, Woodstock, New Brunswick. Died April 11, 1937, Woodstock, New Brunswick. In 1883 Minnie Bell took training in piano and voice in New York City, U.S.A. On September 12, 1899 she married Edwin Tappan Adney (1868-1950), an artist and writer. The couple raised one son but the marriage saw long periods of separation for the family. Minnie used her musical talents to run the Woodstock School of Music for two decades. She became interested in womens rights and politics and would become the 1st woman candidate in a federal election in New Brunswick. She attempted to run as an independent candidate in a federal by-election in October 1919 in the riding of Victoria Carleton. Even though women by this time had the right to vote they had just recently been allowed to run for political positions and in this by-election her name did not appear on the ballot because her papers had been “lost” and she was disqualified as a candidate. In the 1921 general election she was unable to raise the $200.00 fee required to register her nomination. Her name finally appeared on the ballot for the 1925 Federal General Election but she only received 84 votes.  Source: New Brunswick Womens’ History  (accessed March 2012) 

Born July 3, 1906*, Newcastle, New Brunswick. Died November 19, 1980. Margaret was educated at Branksome Hall in Toronto, Ontario. In 1938 she began working at the Toronto Telegram as a foreign correspondent and covered such notable events as the birth of Israel as a nation. In 1953 she was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the riding of York-Humber with the Progressive Conservative Party. She was one of four women elected to Ottawa that year. She wrote of her election experience in her book Hey Ma! I Did It! published in 1953. She was the first woman to be appointed chair of a parliamentary committee, the Standing Committee on Standing Orders. She was re-elected in 1957 and again in 1958. She was unsuccessful in the 1962 federal election. That year she was appointed as Canada's representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. (2022) * the date of birth is often misquoted as 1908 in numerous resources

née Falkner. Born November 9, 1922, St. Catherines, Ontario. Died July 17, 2019, Barrie, Ontario. Edna was an accomplished pianist stydying at the Toronto Conservatory of Music.  Edna married Derek H. Anderson (died 2003) and the couple had three children. In  the 1988 federal election she won a seat in the House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative representing Simcoe Centre in Ontario She served until 1993. She was a co-founder of the Barrie May Court Club. She enjoyed the outdoor life and was a counselor at Camp Tanamakoon. Source: Obituary. online (accessed 2023)

née Nelson. Born 1920, Monticello, Arkansas, U.S.A.  Died 2006, Calgary, Alberta. Virnetta attended the Arkansas Agricultural Mechanical and Normal College (now University of Arkansas) Pine Bluffs, Arkansas and then went on to the Metropolitan School of Business, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. She married Ezzret Anderson (1920-2017), a football player who was drafted by the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League in 1952. The couple settled in Calgary. Virnetta was the first Black women elected to Calgary City Council in 1974. She was defeated in her attempt at re-election in 1977. Still wanting to serve the community she sat on the Board of Directors of the Calgary Centre for the Performing Arts and would also sit on various municipal advisory committees such as  City Core Senior Citizen Centre, the Calgary Welcome and Recreation Centre, Trinity Lodge, Aunts at Large, the Calgary Metropolitan Foundation, and the VirnettCalgary Tourist and Convention Association. At his time she began a career in real estate. In 1988 as a member of the Rotary Club she was named a Paul Harris Fellow. She was a member of the Mount Royal College Ladies Auxiliary and served as president ot the Calgary Senior Showcase Society. She co-founded and served as president of the Meals on Wheels from 1971-1974. (2023)

Born August 14, 1944, Saskatoon Saskatchewan. In 1966 she graduated with her BA from the University of Saskatchewan and followed this with her Law Degree. She opened her law practice in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In 1976 she was appointed judge with the Saskatchewan Provincial Court. From 1977-1983 she served as Chancellor of the University of Regina. In 1985 she became Deputy Minister of Saskatchewan Social Services. In 1987 she served at High Commissioner to Kenya and Uganda and Ambassador to Somalia. From 1988 through 1993 she also served as Canada’s permanent representative to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In 1990 she was Ambassador to Portugal for Canada. In 1993 she was appointed to the Senate of Canada. She has also served Canadian youth as president of the YMCA of Canada, Chirr of Katimovik and Chair of Canadian World Youth. In May 2008  she was awarded the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise medal, for her substantial contribution in the development of Ukrainian-Canadian relations. In June 2010, she was awarded the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations’ Woman of Distinction Award, for her dedication and commitment to promoting freedom, democracy and human rights throughout the world. She is also a recipient of the Taras Shevchenko Medal, the Ukrainian Nation Builders Award, and a Special Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ukrainian Canadian Professional & Business Association of Calgary and is the recipient of the  Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Centennial Medal, the Y. M. C. A. Fellowship of Honour, the Vanier Outstanding Young Canadian Award, and the Regina Y.W.C.A. Women's Award. Senator Andrechuk has also been recognized as one of the top 100 distinguished graduates in the 100 year history of the University of Saskatchewan.  Source: Raynell Andrechuk (Biography) Parliament of Canada. Online (accessed September 2014) .

née Carroll. Born December 7, 1929, Caven Ireland. Died December 28, 1994, Ottawa, Ontario. From 1948 through 1950 Ursula served in the Women's Royal Air Force in Great Britain. In 1958 she married Lucio Appolloni an Italian working at the Italian consulate in Liverpool, England. The couple settled in Italy and had four children. In the mid 1960's the family immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto. A free lance journalist she had works published in the Toronto Telegram, the Toronto Star and the Catholic Register. For a time she worked with Employment and Immigrations Canada in Ottawa as Chair of the Board of Refugees. In 1968 she joined a local Liberal Party candidates election team. In 1974 she was a successful candidate herself running as a Liberal Party candidate for House of Commons becoming the first Irish Canadian woman elected to the Canadian Parliament. When she won the election the family relocated to Ottawa. She served in Parliament until 1984. She supported the idea of creating pensions for housewives, putting unemployed youth into military, abolition of the death penalty.  After leaving office she worked with Health and welfare Canada. (2023)

Born August 25, 1934, Valleyfield, Quebec. She studied humanities at College Marie-de-L'Incarnation and Academie Saint-Louis-de-GomInzague in Trois-Riviéres and the sociology, political science and psychology at Institut Albert-Thomas in Chicoutimi, Quebec. She began her career as a department manager at Prudential Insurance Company from 1951-1971 and was a Canadian Citizenship Court Judge from 1977-1979.. She was an executive member of the Association des femmes libérales Louis Saint-Laurent, the Fédération des femmes libérales du Québec/and the Canadian Liberal Women's Federation. She was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in 1973 and held several cabinet positions including in 1985 being deputy Premier. She would retire from provincial politics in 1994 and was appointed to the Senate of Canada serving from September 14 1994 to August 25, 2009. In 2003 she became an Officer of the legion of Honneur in France and the following year she was made Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec In 2010 she became a Member of the Order of Canada.

Born July 20, 1923, Springfield, Prince Edward Island. Died April 30, 2017, Prince Edward Island. She attended Prince of Wales College 1971-1973 and went on to the University of Prince Edward Island obtaining a Diploma in Education. She earned her Bachelor in Education in 1979. She married Erroll Bagnall and taught elementary school. She was elected to the legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (PEI) in 1979 and returned in 1982, 1986 and 1989. She served as Minister of Education from 1982-1986 and served as interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of PEI from 1987-1988. Leone was a charter member of the Prince Edward Island Association for Children with Learning Disabilities and a member of Eastern Star. Additionally, is is a member of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation and chair of the Advisory Committee for the Order of P. E. I. She received the Estelle Bowness Award from the University of Prince Edward Island for inspirational teaching. In 1992 she received the Canada 125 medallion and in 1995 she was invested in the Order of Canada. In 2005 into the Order of Prince Edward Island.

Born March 1, 1936, Rome, Italy. Died September 8, 2023, Ottawa, Ontario. Monique was born in Europe while her French-Canadian father was working overseas. The family escaped to Portugal and back to Canada at the breakout of World War ll (1939-1945). Monique earned a teacher's certificate and then went on to study sociology at the Université de Montreal before living in Paris, France, for two years. She began working as executive secretary to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women once back in Canada. She was the first woman from Québec to be elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa in 1972. She distinguished herself as the executive secretary-general of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. During her political Career she would serve as Minister of National Revenue, then as Minister of National Health and Welfare. She was responsible for increases in old-age supplements for needy senior citizens and the child tax credit and a new health law which strengthened the health insurance system. Leaving politics in 1984 Monique taught at the University of Ottawa. In 2004 she participated in a play celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Women's Press Club. In 2017 she earned the Maclean's magazine lifetime award at the Parliamentarian of the Year Awards. (2020)

née Beauchamp. Born August 11, 1932, Russell, Ontario. Died February 11, 2011, Dolbeau, Quebec. Suzanne attended Collège des Soeurs Grises de la Croix. She married Gaston Niquet and settled in Dolbeau, Quebec. Suzanne served as Mayor of Dolbeau, Quebec from 1977 until 1981. She was elected in 1980 to sit in the House of Commons from Roberval electoral district. She was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.  She was defeated in the 1984 election. (2023)

Born February 7, 1904, St. George, Ontario. Died November 12, 1956, Churchville, Ontario. Sybil graduated from the University of Toronto (U of T) and continued her studies as Osgoode Hall. She was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1930. In 1945 she became the fourth woman in the British Commonwealth to be named as a King's Counsel. She was one of the first women in the country to establish a private law practice setting up first in Brampton and then in Georgetown. She was a life member of the Independent Order of the Daughters of the Empire (I O D E). Sybil was also honorary president of Equesing Agricultural Society, a member of the Georgetown Business and Professional Women's Club, the Soroptimist Club, the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the Women's Law Association of Canada. In 1949 she ran for election for the Progressive Conservative Party but was defeated. In 1950 she served as president of the National Women's Progressive Conservative Association. In 1953 she was elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa as one of only four women members. Sadly she died while in office. Source: Obituary Georgetown Herald November 14, 1956 online (accessed 2023)

née Giroux. Born May 15, 1923, Sweetburg, Quebec. Died September 10, 1999. In 1944 she married Jean - Jacques Bertrand the future  Union Nationale Premier of Quebec from 1968-1970. In the 1984 federal election she won a seat in the House of Commons for Brome-Missisque electoral district in Quebec. She was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party and for tow years was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Health and Welfare and then a year as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. . She was re-elected in 1988. (2023)

Born December 31, 1957, Montreal. Died January 19, 2022, Montreal, Quebec. Sonya's mother was ostracized by her family when she married a black man in the 1950's. In was in the 1980's that she began appearing on stage. In 1990 she directed the play, My Mom Was on the Radio. She and her partner, Allan Patrick, were the organizers behind the Fool House Theatre Corporation. She also organized community events and concerts. It was in the 1990's that she also appeared in such movies as The Bone Collector. She worked with the leadership of Vision Montreal which was a municipal Montreal political Party. Elected to the Montreal City Council in 1998. In 2000 a one million dollar grant allowed the purchase and the founding of the non-profit Cinema VI Corporation as successor to the Fool House Theatre Corporation. By 2002 the project had run out of money. She lost her city seat in the 2001 election.  In 2005 she was defeated in a bid to become mayor of Coté-des-Néiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace. (2022)

née Rhein. Born January 13, 1908. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.  Died July 18, 1998. Florence graduated Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. In 1928 married journalist, John Bird. The couple settled in Montreal, Quebec in 1931 and moved in 1937 to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where John worked at the Winnipeg Tribune newspaper. Florence appeared on C B C Radio and Television as a pioneer broadcaster journalist using the name Anne Francis, a political analyst. Under the pen name of Anne Francis she was also an author. In 1967 she was appointed Chairperson of the Royal Commission of the Status of Women which produced its report in 1970. In 1971 she became a Companion of the Order of Canada. She was appointed to the Canadian Senate March 23, 1978 and served until January 15, 1983.  That same year she received the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case. Many of her papers are contained in the Manuscript Department of the Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa. (2024)

née Blais. Born March 2, 1936. Died June 13, 2017, Beaconsfield, Quebec. Suzanne  was educated at the University of Paris in France , Laval University, and McGill University in Montreal. She was married to Albert Grenierand the couple had two children Suzanne was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 1984 federal election representing the riding of Rosemont, Quebec as a progressive conservative.  Under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney she served as Minister of the Environment for one lacklustre year and then became Minister of State for Transportation. By the end of 1985 she was expelled from the Progressive Conservative Caucus after refusing to withdraw allegations about the Quebec wing of the PC Party. In the federal federal election in November 1988 she ran as an independent but was defeated. In 2002 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Golden Jubilee Medal. (2024).

Born 1949, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Margaret graduated from the University of Winnipeg, Manitoba prior to studying law at the University of Ottawa, Ontario. She was called to the bar in Ontario in 1979. She has served as Deputy Minister for the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness for Canada, as Deputy Minister of Transport and Associate Secretary for the Cabinet on the Privy Council Office. She is a member of the boards of the Hospice at May Court, the Community Foundation of Ottawa, World University Service of Canada and the Canadian Ditchley Foundation. In 2011 she was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada. She has also been presented the Public Service of Canada Outstanding Achievement Award, and the Vanier Medal of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. (2019)

Born March 25, 1951, Tulita, Northwest Territories. Ethel attended various schools including residential school and Grandin College Leadership Program at Fort Smith. She followed this with a teacher certificate from Arctic College prior to earning her Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta in 1974. She was one of the 1st accredited Aboriginal teachers in the North, teaching in Tuktoyaktuk, Délįnę, Fort Providence, and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. From 1984-1986, she served as a Senior Public Servant with the Public Service Commission in Ottawa and before returning to the north to join the Government of the Northwest Territories as Assistant Deputy Minister for Culture from 1986 to 1988 where she served on the Arctic Institute of North America for two terms as well as the Assembly of First Nations Language Committee and worked on the Special Committee on Education for the Government of the Northwest Territories. In 1988, Ethel was elected as a Liberal from the District of the Western Arctic to the Canadian Parliament, the 1st aboriginal woman elected to the House of Commons. She went on to win the next four federal elections in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. Under Prime Ministers Jean Chrètien and Paul Martin she would be appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State, then Minister of State for Children and Youth. She returned to the North to work as Chairperson for Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated the organization created by the Sahtu region’s seven land corporations to ensure the Sahtu land claim (signed in 1994) is properly implemented. Sources: Ethel Blondwin-Andrews. Canadian House of Commons. Online (accessed 2004) ; Ethel Blondwin-Andrews, Biography. Sahtu Secretariat INC. Online (accessed July 2015)

Born June 11, 1922,  Negritos, Peru. Died August 22, 2014, Ottawa, Ontario. Born while he parents lived and worked in Peru she grew up living in Cobourg, Ontario. She attended Alma College in St Thomas, Ontario prior to attending the University of Toronto for her BA. By 1953 she had earned her Master's and PhD from Radcliff College (sometimes reported as having a PhD from Harvard). She was one of the early women professors in fine art. She taught at Mount Holyoke from 1948-1952 and the University of California at Riverside from 1954 through 1962. In 1962 she worked a curator at the Art Gallery of Toronto. She became the 1st woman appointed to full professorship at George Washington University in St Louis in 1964. From 1976 through 1976 she served as the 1st woman and 5th directory of the National Gallery of Canada.  It was in the 1960’s that she brought art to Canadians through informative radio broadcasts. In 1973 she became an officer in the Order of Canada and in 1992 this was updated to the highest honor of Companion in the Order of Canada. From 1982 through 1985 she served as the Cashier and the Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Museums Construction Corporation that choose the sites, the architects and oversaw construction of the National Gallery of Canada and the National Museum of Man (now Canadian Museum of History) During her career she received 14 honorary degrees. From 1991 through 1993 she was senior advisor to the Andrew Mellon Foundation. An artist in her own right she never felt herself worthy as an artist. People who purchased her works promised never to show the works. When she moved into a retirement home she made sure that she had a view of the National Gallery. Sources: Obituary, Toronto Star, September 6, 2014; Diane Peters, ‘Visionary curator Jean Sutherland Boggs formed a legacy’. The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2014. (accessed 2015)

Born September 28, 1935, Standard, Alberta. Died July 27, 2014, Victoria, British Columbia. Tove had a 30 year career in Canada’s Foreign Services working at embassies, consulates and High Commissions in such places as Copenhagen, Los Angeles, Singapore, Bonne, Seattle and Trinidad. She retired in 1995. She was a tough and determined woman who made an impact on our Canadian perceptions of the Indochinese refugees at a time when Canada was doing very little. It was Tove who first used the term “boat people”, in a report in which she had to distinguish them from the “land people” (mainly refugees from Laos and Cambodia) who came over land and over the Mekong River to Thailand. whenever she went to a refugee camp, she took photographs and attached them to her trip reports. Those photos were the first images we at HQ saw of the camps in Malaysia and Thailand, and they were always rushed up the chain of command to the minister. Her reporting itself was amazingly descriptive. In one case, she reported arriving at a camp that seemed to be close to the mainland but was cut off by a shallow body of water. She described her revulsion at the state of the water but said there was nothing for it but to roll up her pant legs, put her shoes and her briefcase on her head and wade though the muck to the island so that she could get on with her interviews. Sadly a search of the holdings at the National Archives of Canada has not located any copies of her reports. Source: Malloy, Mike “Tove Bording” in  C I H S (Canadian Immigration Historical Society) Bulletin Issue #71 October 2014 ; Obituary. Calgary Herald, August 14, 2014. (accessed 2015)

Born October 16, 1918, Willemstad, Curacao, Dutch Antilles.  Died  March 1, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba. After high school in the Netherlands in 1937, she earned  a nursing diploma in nursing World War ll. In the 1940s she worked as a social worker at Unilever Corporation. She immigrated to Canada in 1951 and worked in Toronto and northern Ontario with the Canadian Red Cross. In 1957 she earned a BA from the University of Montreal and a MA degree in Economics, University of Toronto, 1964. She served as assistant professor of economics at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario and at the University of Winnipeg, 1966 to 1968. In 1962, she began working for the Government of Canada in various capacities with the Civil Service Commission, the Department of Industry, and with the Department of Manpower and Immigration as a research economist. She was a consultant for the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, 1967 to 1969. In 1972 she established a private practice as a consulting economist on manpower and social policy. In 1977, she was a recipient of the YWCA Woman of the Year Awards in the Business Category. In 1982 she began years of advisory service with the city and the province to develop transportation services for those with physical disabilities. In 1994 she was recognized by Winnipeg Transit for her contribution to the Task Force to Review Handi-Transit Issues. She served on the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, the YWCA and YWCA Boards, the Manitoba Board of the Canadian Paraplegic Association, and the Provincial Council of the Manitoba League of the Physically Handicapped. During her retirement, she lived in White Rock, BC for three years before returning to Winnipeg. Sources: Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 8 March 2008; Memorable Manitobans. Online (accessed December 2011)

Born September 20, 1950, Papineauville, Quebec. Jocelyne studied biology at the University of Montreal and went on to earn a degree in management from the University of Ottawa. She began her career in the public service of Canada when she was a summer student with the Department of Transport in 1974. She worked in several government departments including Consumer and Corporate Affairs (Industry), Cabinet Secretary for Federal-Provincial Relations, President of Canadian International Development Agency (C I D A), and Transport Canada. As Deputy Minister at Transport she worked to reform privatization of rail and airports. In 1994 she became Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Canadian Cabinet, the first woman to hold this position. She served as President of the Canadian Centre for Management Development from 1999 to 2003. In 1999 she received the Public Service Outstanding Achievement Award. In 2003 she became President Emeritus of the School for Public Service. In 2001 she was appointed to the Order of Canada and Ordre de la Pleiode. From 2003 to 2007 she served as ambassador for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). She is the leader of the New Synthesis Project which aspires to transform the way people think about the role of government. She is the author of A New Synthesis of Public Administration: Serving in the 21st Century. She has served as a member of the board of the Industrial Alliance Financial Group becoming Chair in 2017 as the 1st woman to hold this position.

Born March 26, 1946, Toronto, Ontario. Died October 11, 2022, Inverhuron, Ontario.  Marion graduated Glendon College, University Of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in English and History in 1968. in 1975/6 she helped with the York University's union contract. She went on to work as an executive director of the London Battered Women's Advocacy Clinic and served two terms with the London Status of Women Action Group. After several failed attempts to run for the Ontario Legislature she was elected to the Ontario Legislative Assembly in 1990 and served to 1999. She held several cabinet posts including Minister Responsible for Women's Issues and in February 3, 1993 Attorney-General for the Province of Ontario where she was responsible for Bill 167, that would have granted benefits to same-sex couples. The bill failed to pass until five years later.   She is the 1st woman and the 1st non lawyer to have been Ontario's Attorney General.  She has been honoured many times for her work on behalf of battered women, an area in which  she still serves with great zeal. In 2000 she was appointed chair to the Task Force on the Health Effects on Women Abuse. In the summer of 2004 she was asked by the Premier to investigate the issue the might allow for Muslim Sharia law to be applied to settling family disputes under the Arbitration Act. Her report concluded that no changes to the act were needed. (2023)

Born January 9, 1938, Ottawa, Ontario. Died February 16, 2013. She attended the University of Ottawa earning her BA and then her teacher’s Certificate. She would teach in area schools for 30 years. She married Jean-Robert Boyer and the couple raised three children. She was an active member of the Association des enseignants et des enseignants Franco-Ontariens, the Ontario Teachers’ Federation and the Canadian Teacher’s Federation. In 1982 she was elected as trustee to the Ottawa Board of Education where she served until 1986. With the establishment of a French Language School Board she joined the L ‘Association Canadienne-Française de l ‘Ontario. In 1990 through 1994 she served as President of the Ottawa –Vanier riding Association for the Liberal Party of Ontario. She ran unsuccessfully for provincial legislature in 1994. In 1999 she was successful and became Member of Provincial Parliament for Ottawa Vanier. She was the 1st woman francophone M P P in the Ontario Legislature. She was appointed by the Premier as Liberal Critic for Francophone Affairs. In 2001 she was removed from the Liberal Party and was forced to sit in the legislature as an independent after she became convicted of meddling in an accident case involving her husband. She retired from Politics in 2003.

Born June 8, 1932, Sherlock, Saskatchewan. Died January 5, 2012. As a ten year old with a sick father she took care of the house and her younger brother while her mother and older brother worked. After Business College she married and settled out of the province but returned with two daughters  when the marriage broke down. She began to work a Canadian Forces Base in Moose Jaw advancing to the base commander’s secretary. In 1967 she received the Centennial Medal for recognition of her work. She is credited with naming the newer flying group in 1971, the Snowbirds, and became the keeper of the Snowbirds culture and traditions. She had even accompanied her boss to Ottawa to help fight to maintain this rather expensive “frill” of the forces. She was there when the Snowbirds became a squadron. She moved to private industry then the Saskatchewan Water Corporation as executive assistant but she still remained loyal to her Snowbirds.  She was among the first “Honourary Snowbird” when the group was formed at the 25th anniversary of the flying group. Uniformed and Honorary Snowbirds formed an honour guard at her funeral and a line of sever Snowbird Jets, smoke on, performed a flyby. Source: Mother of the Snowbirds helped team take flight by Chris Ewing Weisz Globe and Mail January 17, 2010. Suggested by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario.

Born January 9, 1938. After her studies at the University of Ottawa she earned her teaching certificate and taught for many years. She was actively involved in the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-Ontariens, as well as both the Ontario Teachers’ Federation and the Canadian Teacher’s Federation. She has served as president of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Ontario Liberal party. On June 3, 1999 she was the first Franco-Ontarian woman to be elected to Queen’s Park, the Ontario Provincial Parliament (riding of Ottawa-Vanier). She served from June to September as a Liberal and from 2001-2003 as an Independent. In 2004 she was awarded the Prix anniversaire by the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-Ontariens for her service to the community. In 2006 she was included as one of the 100 personnalites franco-Ontariennes.  Sources: Women in Ottawa; Mentors and Milestones ( accessed June 2011.)

Born April 8, 1949, Moncton, New Brunswick. Died March 26, 2022, Moncton, New Brunswick. In the early 1970's Claudette married Douglas Bradshaw and the couple had two sons. In 1974 Claudette founded the Moncton Headstart Early Family Intervention Centre. She was elected to the House of Commons, Ottawa, in June 1997, and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Cooperation and Minister Responsible for the Francophonie. She would serve from 1998 though 2004 as Minister of Labour. In 2003-2004 she was also the Minister responsible for Homelessness. For the next two years she served as Minister of State for Human Resources Development. She did not run in the 2006 federal election. After retiring from politics she became an integral part of the ground-breaking At Home Chez-Soi program, the world's largest research and demonstration project of Housing First. In 2009 she was awarded the Order of New Brunswick. In 2020 she was presented with the Human Rights Award of the Province of New Brunswick. She served as co-chair on the Board for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness from 2017 through 2020. Source: A Tribute to Claudette Bradshaw, The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. online (accessed 2022)

née Parsons. Born September 4, 1929. Died August 30, 2011, Smith Falls, Ontario. Joyce married Lou Brennan and the couple had one son. In 1977 she was the 1st woman elected to the town Council of Smith Falls, Ontario.. She continued to be elected and served on council for 17 years. She was also a founding member of the Smith Falls Heritage House Museum and the Rideau Canal Museum. Sources: Obituaries, The Ottawa Citizen September 2011. ; Blair and Son Funeral Home, Smith Falls Ontario. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa.

née Mann. Born December 23, 1938, Ottawa, Ontario. After graduation from high school she attended the University of Toronto for a yea and then married John Brewin in 1958. The couple had four children. Living in Scarborough (now part of the greater Toronto area) she was elected as a school board member in the 1960's. In 1973 the family relocated to Victoria, British Columbia.  In 1979 she was successful in running for city council and in November 1985 she was elected Mayor of the City. She served until 1990 as the first woman Mayor of Victoria. Leaving municipal politics she was elected as the New Democratic Party (N D P) member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in 1991 and served for ten years. From spring 1998 through February 2000 she served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. She had also served as Minister for Children and Families. (2022)

Born January 10, 1940, Kimberly, British Columbia. Died January 4, 2009, Surry, British Columbia. Margaret was working as a police constable in London, England, when she took studies in psychiatric nursing in London and returned to Canada.  worked as a nurse administrator. Later she went on to earn her doctorate in nursing from the University of Saskatchewan.  In the 1993 federal election Margaret was elected as a member of the Reform Party Member representing the Surry North electoral district in British Columbia. She sat as a Reform Party member on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health and on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. She was was unsuccessful in her bid running in the riding of Surrey-Newton. After the 1997 federal election she returned to nursing. (2023)

née Waters. Born December 28, 1913, Piwawa, Manitoba. Died September 13, 2008. In 1936 Edythe earned her Bachelor Science degree in Home Economics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg. She then worked for the Extension Service of the Manitoba Department of Agriculture and was active working with community youth in local 4H groups. She also taught school on permit at Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba and Kenora, Northern Ontario. She served as Mayor of Lac du Bonnet from 1953 to 1957 and was said to be Manitoba’s 1st female Mayor. After the completion of her term, and the death of her husband Frank in 1959, she attended the University of Manitoba, served as Don of the Women’s Residence, and received a teaching certificate. She then returned to Lac du Bonnet as a high school teacher. Sources: Memorable Manitobans. Profile by Gordon Goldsborough. Online (accessed December 2011) (2022)

née Wedderburn. Born 1930, Kingston, Jamaica. Died April 26, 2003, Vancouver, British Columbia. Rosemary believed in justice for all and worked tirelessly to ease violence and poverty in Canada and internationally. On August 30,1972 she became the 1st Canadian Black women to be elected to public office when she was elected to the British Columbia Legislature. In 1975 she was the 1st woman to run for the head of a Canadian political party. On the last ballot she was second to Ed Broadbent of the New Democratic Party. She served as President of MATCH International, an international organization that supports women in the third world. She was a founding mother of the Canadian Women’s Foundation. Among her many awards are 15 honorary degrees from universities!  After retiring from Politics in 1988 she became a professor of women's studies at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. In 1989 she wrote her autobiography: Being Brown: a Very Public Life. In 1993 she was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. In 1995 she was inducted into the Order of British Columbia.  Dr Brown became an officer in the Order of Canada in 1996. She also served on the Order of Canada Advisory Committee from 1999-2003. June 17, 2005 a park in her former provincial riding of Vancouver-Burrard was dedicated  and named in her honour. February 2, 2009 Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp honouring Rosemary. There is a biography for youth to read by Lynette Roy, Brown Girl in the Ring: Rosemary Brown [Toronto: Sister Vision, 1992]

Born October 11, 1942, Bath, New Brunswick. Died July 11, 2017, Truro, Nova Scotia. Dianne Brushett earned a Master's Degree in Atlantic Canada Studies from St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was a co-founder and manager of Dominion Biologicals Ltd. until 1990. She married in 1966 and Later divorced Sam Brushett. The couple had two children. In 1993 she ran as a Member of the Liberal Party of Canada and was elected to the House of Commons to represent the electoral riding of Cumberland-Colchester.  While in Parliament she served as the Atlantic Canada Whip. She ran for election in 2000 and again in 2004 but was not successful. She received her Canadian Securities license after leaving politics. She served as president of the Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley Liberal Association until 2007.  Source: Obituary. online (accessed 2023)

née Aikenhead. Born February 3, 1923, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died March 23, 2009, Ottawa, Ontario. Helen earned her Bachelor degree from the University of Manitoba. Helen married Ken Buckley and later Bill Morrow and raised three children. She began working for the federal government as an economist in the 1940's and worked with various departments including, Statistics Canada, Manpower and Immigration and Finance. She had a profound interest in aboriginal culture and economics and was author of: From Wooden Ploughs to Welfare: Why Indian Policy Failed the Prairie Provinces. (2022)

Born January 9, 1956, Hamilton, Ontario. After earning her Bachelor of Arts at Carleton University, Ottawa, Alexandra earned her Master’s degree at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Ottawa. She became a Foreign Service Officer and in 1990 she was the 1st person to receive the Canadian Foreign Service Officer of the Year Award. In 2001 she organized the summit of the Americas for which in 2002 she received the Minister of Foreign Affairs Merit Award. That same year she became Executive Director of the International Policy Framework Task Force at the Privy Council Office. From 2003-07 she served as Ambassador to Cuba followed by working with the  Executive Co-ordinatior of the Americas Strategy  as Deputy Minister for Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2010 she served as Clerk of the Privy Council and in 2011 she was chief negotiator for the Canadian-European Union strategic Partnership Agreement. In September 2014 Alexandra concluded negotiations and signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement with the European Union.

Born May 1890, County Donegal, Ireland. Died February 15, 1961, Rosser, Manitoba. Evelyn  emigrated to Canada in 1906 with her husband James Burns, and took up farming south of Carberry, Manitoba. The couple had one daughter in 1907. In  1911, she divorced her husband and moved to Rosser, where she became employed as Assistant Secretary-Treasurer in the office of the Rural Municipality of Rosser. In 1926, when Secretary-Treasurer Walter Beachell passed away, she took his job, becoming one of the first female municipal officers in the province. She died at her desk, having worked for the municipality for a total of 48 years. A member of the Rosser Anglican Church, she was known to be always ready to give a helping hand when needed.

Born April 22, 1929, Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Died June 30, 2019, Weyburn, Saskatchewan. After graduating high school Isabelle took a commercial course in Weyburn and began a full time position with the Co-operative Association where she had worked part time as a student. In her 46 years of the company she would become General Manager from 1978 through 1991. In 1962 Isabelle was elected to the Weyburn City Council. By 1976 she had become the second woman in the province to be a Mayor of a city. She served as Mayor until 1982. She was at the forefront of the installation of the Tommy Douglas (1904-1986) Statue on the city boardwalk as well the Pioneer Women statues downtown. She served as president of the Saskatchewan Library Trustees Association, The Arthritis Society, the Hear and Stroke Foundation and the Special Care Homes Corporation. She also served on the Weyburn Arts Council, the Weyburn Community Health Council, The Chamber of Commerce, the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts Board, and the Public Service Appeal Board. She received the Order of Canada in 1979 and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 1998. In 2004 she was honoured with the Saskatchewan Library Trustees Association Merit Award. In 2013 she was awarded a place on the City's Walk of Fame. She maintained an active membership in the Rebekah Assembly and as a Quotarian. She was also devoted to her United Church. Source: The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan online (accessed 2022); Obituary. Legacy online (accessed 2022)

Born December 5, 1952, Grouard, Alberta. She earned her Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta and went on in studies for her Masters in Education from the University of Oregon. U.S.A. she worked to develop Cree language for elementary and adult education. She was the 1st woman to teach at a minimum security prison in Alberta. Her desire to improve education and social policy have led her to political positions such as Alberta Human Rights Commissioner, Member of the World Congress on Education, the Métis Nation of Alberta, and Alberta Minister Without Portfolio, Responsible for Children's Services. Her political achievements have earned her the privilege of being addressed as the Honourable Pearl Calhasen. She was elected to the Alberta Legislative Assembly in 1989 and served until 2015.She was the 1st Métis woman elected to Public office in Alberta. She held positions of Minister without Portfolio in charge of Children's Services, Associate Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. She sponsored the First Nations Sacred Ceremonial Objects Repatriation Act in 2000 which allowed for the repatriation of First Nations artifacts. The bill passed with full opposition support. (Updated July 2017)

Born July 26, 1939, Central Bedeque, Prince Edward Island. Catherine earned her Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mount Allison University, New Brunswick. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Education from Dalhousie University and worked as a business teacher in New Brunswick and Ontario prior to returning home to PEI to work in the family retail business. In 1974 she was elected to the provincial legislature and held various cabinet positions including Minister of Health and Social Service and Minister Responsible for Disabled Persons. She then worked 10 years in the family business before being elected in 1988 as a Liberal to the House of Commons in Ottawa. In January 1993 she ran for the leadership of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party and became Premier on January 25, 1993 becoming the 1st woman elected as a provincial Premier and the 2nd woman to be premier of a province in Canada. She resigned in October 1996. She was appointed to the Senate of Canada in September 1999 serving until the mandatory retirement age July 25, 2014. She is a Member of the Order of Canada.

née Hardy. Born October 18, 1932, Galiano Island, British Columbia. Died April 5, 2024, Vancouver, British Columbia. Iona began her working career as a broadcaster in her native British Columbia in 1965. She became very involved in her community, being head of the local school board, and alderman. In 1973 she was made a Member of the Order of Canada and promoted to the level of Officer in 2008.  She was elected as a Member of Parliament for Skeena from 1974 to 1979. In 1976 she came to the national spotlight when she became Minister of Fitness and Amateur Sport. In 1977 she was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth ll Silver Jubilee Medal. She returned to politics as the 1st woman President of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1982 to 1986. In 1992 she received the 125th Anniversary of Confederation of Canada Medal. As a private citizen she retained her interest in politics and can be seen and heard making political comment on major current topics. In 1992 she was elected as the founding Chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia. In 1998 she was inducted into the Order of British Columbia retiring in 1998. In 2001 she became the 1st woman to be appointed as Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. In 2002 she received the Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal In 2003 the Chief Herald of Canada granted her armorial bearings.  In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. (updated July 2017)

Born March 10, 1947, Port Alberni, British Columbia. Known as 'Kim' since a teen, she attended the University of British Columbia and went on to earn a Doctorate (PhD) at the London School of Economics, London England. Kim entered politics as a member of the Vancouver School Board from 1980-4. She moved to the British Columbia Provincial Legislature, 1986-88 and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1988. In 1989 she was appointed Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. The first woman to serve as Minister of Justice, February 1990, by January 1993, she also became the first woman Minister of Defense of a NATO country. In June 1993 she became the first woman elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and the 1st woman Prime Minister of Canada. She resigned after election defeat in, November 1993. Appointed Consul General to Los Angeles, California from 1996-2000, she was also chair, 1999 – 2003, for the Council of Women World Leaders. Working with a group of national leaders to strengthen democracy in the world, she was founder and acting President of the Club de Madrid, and was appointed Secretary General in 2004.  A lecturer of public policy at Harvard, she currently describes herself as a teacher and recovering politician. Sources: Canadian Encyclopedia Online (accessed 2004); Canadian Who's Who.

née Garnet. Born October 4, 1918, Westmorland, Prince Edward Island. Died December 31, 2000, Prince Edward Island. She attended school High School in in Cambridge, Massachusetts while her family lived there. She later attended Union Commercial College in Charlottetown, P.E.I. and the Lincoln School of Nursing in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. On June 30 1939 she married Parker Ellsworth Canfield. The couple had one daughter. She was chair of the management committee of the Crapaud Exhibition, a member of the Home and School Association, and secretary-treasurer of the Englewood School Board. Canfield was an organizer of the Community Schools, served as president and treasurer of the Crapaud Women's Institute, and was a secretary of the St. John's Anglican Church Women's Organization. Jean was an active member of the PEI Zonta Club, The Canadian Club, and the Chamber of Commerce of Crapaud and Victoria.  She ran in 1966 for provincial election but was not successful. She was first elected to the Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly in the May 11, 1970 provincial election as Assemblyman for First Queens becoming the 1st female member of the PEI Legislative Assembly and the 1st woman to serve on Executive Council.  In 1972 she served as Chairwoman of the Provincial Advisory Committee on the Status of Women in the Province of Prince Edward Island, 1972 to 1973. She was appointed as Minister without Portfolio and Minister Responsible for P.E.I. Housing Authority from October 10, 1972 to May 2, 1974. In 1977 she was a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. She served in the legislature until 1979. Source: Ella Jean Canfield, Prince Edward Island Legislative Documents Online. (accessed March 2016.)

Born May 20, 1944, Toronto, Ontario. In 1963 Eleanor married Mayer Wilfred Caplan and the couple have four children. After her studies a Centennial Community College, Toronto, Eleanor worked in real estate heading Eleanor Caplan and Associate from 1973-78. In 1978 she began a professional career in Politics becoming an alderman in the City of North York (now part of Toronto). In 1985 she left municipal politics to enter the provincial legislature as a Member representing a Toronto riding. While serving at the provincial level she held several cabinet appointments. From 1997 through 2003 she was elected to the federal parliament becoming parliamentary secretary to the minister of Health then being appointed Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 199 through 2002 and then Minister of National Revenue. She is the first Jewish woman to have served  as a member in cabinets at a provincial and federal level. In 2005 she completed a review of Ontario Home Care Procurement Policy known as the Caplan Report. Since 2007 she has taught at the Canada School of Public Service and is strategy coach for Leonard Domino & Associates. She has also served on numerous boards of directors and completed a project fo the World Health Organization (WHO) She is Chief Executive Officer of Canada Strategies Inc.  Source: Brown, Michael, Eleanor Caplan” Jewish women: a Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. March 1, 2009 Jewish Women’s Archive (accessed August 2011)

née O'Leary. Born June 1, 1944, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died April 19, 2020, Barrie, Ontario. Aileen earned her Bachelor of Arts from Sait Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1965. In 1969 she married lawyer, D. Kevin Carroll. The couple had two children. She earned a Bachelor of Education from York University, Toronto, Ontario in 1989. She worked as a partner for a small manufacturing and retail business. She entered politics at the municipal level being elected as a councilor for the City of Barrie, Ontario. In 1997 she won the federal election to  become a Libral Member of Parliament for the riding of Barrie-Simcoe-Bradford riding in Ontario. She was re-elected in 2004 in the new riding of Barrie. She served as Minister for International Cooperation, responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency under Prime Minister Paul Martin in 2003. She lost the federal election in 2004. In 2007 she ran as a Liberal in the provincial election in the riding of Barrie. She became Minister of Culture and Minister Responsible for Seniors under Premier Dalton McGinty. She did not run in the 2011 provincial election.

Born April 26, 1942, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Sharon holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and History from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and a M.A. in teaching from Smith College, Massachusetts. She also attended Georgetown University and the University of Calgary. She served as President of the Alberta Liberal Party from 1975 through 1977 while serving at the same time on the national executive of the Liberal Party of Canada.  She was first elected to the Manitoba Provincial Legislature in 1986 and was re-elected in 1988 and 1990. She was elected leader of Official Opposition in Manitoba from 1988 to 1990 and was appointed  the Senate September 15, 1994. In 1997 she was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate in 1997 becoming Leader of the Government in the Senate from January 2001 to December 2003. She also served as Minister with Special Responsibility for Palliative Care in the Liberal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrètien. April 2006 through December 2009 she served as chairperson of the Special Committee on Aging which issued a report that helped get Palliative care added to the core curriculum in Canadian medical schools  She retied  from the Senate in October 2011. She has accomplished her successful career with the support of her husband and two children. She is a member of the Order of Canada.

née Forget. Born July 10, 1896, Montreal, Quebec. Died November 2, 1981. She married Pierre-Francois Casgrain and the couple had four children. She is remembered for her campaign for women’s right to vote (suffrage) in the province of Québec before WW II. (Quebec, the last province to grant women the vote, passing  legislation only in 1940.) She founded the Provincial Franchise Committee in 1921. 1928 through 1942 she was the leader of the League for Women's Rights. In the 1930's she was host of the popular radio program Fémina. She continued a career in politics becoming the 1st Canadian woman to lead a provincial political party. She was the leader of the Quebec C C F Party from 1951-1957. She ran for a seat in the House of commons in Ottawa in 1952, 1953, 1957 and1958. She ran for a seat for the New Democratic Party in 1962 and 1963 in the federal general elections. In 1967 she was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in the Order in 1974. In 1969 she was elected president of the Consumer's Association of Canada in Quebec. In 1970 she was appointed to the Senate of Canada. In 1982 The Liberal Party established the Thérèse Casgrain Volunteer Award but the Conservative government discontinued the award only to have it reinstated in 2001 by the Liberal Party. In 2012 it was replaced as the Prime Minister's Volunteer Award by the Conservatives.. In 2016 the Liberal government renamed the award as the Thérèse Casgrain Lifetime Volunteer Achievement Award. In 1985 Canada Post issued a stamp in her honour. From 2004 to 2012 her image appeared on the reverse of the $50.00 banknote along with the Famous Five making her the first individual woman to appear on Canadian currency.  In 2012 a statue of her, Idola Saint-Jean (1880-1945), Marie-Claire Kirkland (1924-2016). She is considered a leading woman of 20th century Canada.

née Watt. Born October 18, 1888, Tara, Ontario. Died September 6, 1964, Edmonton, Alberta. Cora married Liberal Politician Frederick Casselman (1885-1941) in 1916. Cora Taylor Casselman. Upon the death of her husband she decided to enter politics herself and in the June 2, 1941 by-election Cora became the first woman of the Liberal Party of Canada to be elected to the House of Commons  and the fourth woman Member of Parliament.  On March 13, 1944 she became the first woman to be speaker of the House. Cora was part of the Canadian delegation founding the United Nations. She was defeated in the 1945 federal election. In 1955 she was unsuccessful in her bid to win a seat in the Alberta Legislature. Source: Find a Grave Canada online (accessed 2023)

Born September 16, 1920, Newton Robinson, Ontario. Died November 25, 2011, Prescott, Ontario. Jean married Azra Casselman who represented the Ontario electoral district of Grenville-Dundas, Ontario from 1925-1958. Jean was elected in 1958 and served in her husband’s riding in the House of Commons for ten years. She was the third woman to be elected to the Canadian Parliament. Her father was also a Member of Parliament, Earle Rowe and the became the only father daughter ever to sit in the same session of the Canadian Parliament. She was the first woman appointed to serve as Parliamentary Secretary. In 1961 she was the first woman appointed by the Canadian Government as a delegate to the United Nations. In 1979 she was the first woman to be appointed as Canadian High Commissioner to Great Britain. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau would credit her as one of the three key women along with Queen Elizabeth and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, responsible for the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution. In 1982 she received the Order of Canada. She was a strong supported of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the St Lawrence Shakespearian Festival. Suggested Reading: Prescott 1810-2010. Sources: Obituary. Ottawa Citizen December 3, 2011. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa.

née Fournier. Born August 25, 1930, Montreal, Quebec. Died January 20, 2018, Regina, Saskatchewan. In 1950 Irene married Alfred Charbot and the couple settled in Ferland, Saskatchewan where they would raise their five children.  Irene served on the board of C F R G French radio station from 1958 through 1970. She, along with her mother Pearl Fournier, expanded the Fédération de Femmes Canadiennes-Franccaises throughout western Canada. Irene would serve as the Fédération nation vice president in the 1970's. She was the first woman president of the Association culturelle Franco-Canadienne de la Saskatchewan from 1977-1983. She was also a member of the board and the executive of the Fédération des Francophones Hors-Québec. She served as a member of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. From 1983 thought 1996 she served as president of the Board of Gravelbourg's College-Matieu. In 2004 she was inducted into the Order of Canada and the following year into the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. Source: The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. online (accessed 2022);

Born April 6, 1980, Waterloo, Ontario. The Chagger family immigrated from Punjab, India to Waterloo, Ontario in the 1970's. At 13 she was a volunteer in the 1993 federal election for the local candidate in Waterloo. She attended the University of Waterloo and became an executive assistant the Waterloo Liberal member of parliament from 1993 to 2008. With her employer defeated in the 2008 election she became a director of special events for the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre. In 2013 she was elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa. November 4, 2015 she became Minister of Small Business and Tourism. August 19, 2016 she was sworn in as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the 1st woman to hold this position. She is an active volunteer with Interfaith Grand River, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Waterloo Rotary Club. Rotary Club. Bardish is the recipient of the Pink Attitude Evolution’s “Woman of the Year” award and the Waterloo Region Record’s “40 under 40” award.

Born February 8, 1929, Calgary, Alberta. Died September 22, 2017, St. Albert, Saskatchewan. Thelma did her post graduate studies at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and the Chicago School of Interior Design. She worked as a teacher and community organizer and was active in both local and national Métis communities. She was the winner of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1995. She was the mother of seven children and Grandmother to 30 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren! She was appointed to the Senate of Canada in November 26, 1997 becoming the First indigenous person to sit in the Canadian Senate. She served in the senate until February 8, 2004. After retiring from the senate she relocated to Alberta where she founded the Michif Cultural and Resource Institute, later called the Michif Cultural Connections in St. Albert, Alberta to preserve, protect and promote the rich Métis culture in northern Alberta.

Born July 17, 1939, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. Died June 6, 2020, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. In the 1960's Andrée became well know for playing the role of Donalda in the Television series Les Belles Histories de pays d'en haut. When the series closed in 1970 she opened her own casting agency. She also became involved in her community on the board of directors of the L'institute Québécois du Cinéma and L'Union des artistes.  She was also prominent in the found of Chez Nous des artistes, an artist retirement home. In 1984 she ran as a Progressive Conservative Party Candidate becoming a Member of Parliament for Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot. She served as Minister of State for Youth in the Cabinet. From 1986 to 1990 she was Assistant Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House and was Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons in 1990 to 1993. She was defeated in the 1993 federal general election. In 2005 she was appointed to the Senate of Canada retiring in 2014.  (2022)

Born May 14,1919, Montreal, Quebec  Died November 1, 2001, Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac, Masson, Quebec. Solange attended the Convent d'Outremont for her early education and then attended the Sorbonne and the Institut Catholic de Paris in France. In 1941 she married André Rolland. She began her working Career as a journalist for the CBC. In 1975 she was inducted as an Officer in the Order of Canada. Solange served as a member of the Canadian Task Force on Canadian Unity which was established in 1977 by the federal government in response to the election of a sovereignty-oriented Quebec government. Its purpose was to gather opinions about the problems of unity in the country, to publicize efforts being made to solve those problems  and to advise the government on how to strengthen national unity.  In 1979 she ran in a by-election. and was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec. She was not re-elected in 1981. In 1985 she was inducted as an Officer in the National Order of Quebec. In 1988 she was appointed to the Canadian Senate where she served until retiring in 1994. A  she served on the Federal Task Force on Canadian Unity. Between 1963 and 1996 she wrote 13 books.

née Sherbluk. Born January 23, 1935. Died April 19, 2016, Ottawa, Ontario. Darlene graduated from the University of Saskatchewan and in Saskatoon she worked as a radio broadcaster and went on to own her own public relations firm. She married Walter Allan Cherry and the couple had one child. Relocating to Ottawa, Ontario, Darlene worked at C J O H  TV as a producer then as a resource directoer at Stacey Personnel prior to becoming a civil servant working for various departments such as  the Foreign Investment Agency, Metric Commission, Energy Mines and Resources and Industry, Science and Technology. In 1984 she founded Dawa Publishing Ltd. She retired from the government to establish an international personal coaching business. She earned a Teacher's Certificate in 2006 and worked with the Carleton School Board, Carleton University and the Banff School of Fine Arts. She was a member of the International Coaches Federation, the International Council of Small Business, the International Association of Business Communicators, Ikebana International, and the Media Club of Ottawa (Formerly the Canadian Womens Press Club). Source: Obituary online (accessed 2022)

née Cameron. Born October 10, 1933. Ione's family relocated to Whitehorse in 1949. After graduating from High School in the Yukon she earned a business administration degree from the college of San Mateo in California., U.S.A.  She returned home and worked for the government of the Yukon Territories. After taking a short time to care for her pre-school children she returned to serve as Justice of the Peace, a Juvenile Court Judge and chair for the City of Whitehorse Planning Board as well as two terms as Mayor of Whitehorse and was director with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities before becoming Commissioner of the Yukon in 1979. After her term as Commissioner she continued to work for her beloved Yukon and what was best for its economy. She received the Order of Canada in 1994 and was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1999.

née Sze. Born March 24, 1957, Hong Kong. The family immigrated to Canada in the 1970’s. After learning English as a teen she attended the Ontario College of Art and earned a B.A. at the University of Guelph in 1979. In the 1980’s while working at grass roots level for the New Democratic Party she was smitten with politics. She persuaded relentlessly the need for adequate and reliable child care for families where both parents worked. In 1985 she was elected as a school trustee. She worked with the Canadian Auto workers’ Union to develop a national Children’s Agenda to promote early childhood development and care services. In 1991 she became an elected Toronto City Councilor. In 1998 she was Toronto’s first Children and Youth Advocate which created a Toronto Youth Cabinet to give young people a voice. In 1999 she was City Police Commissioner. She also supported the Toronto Cycling Committee, the Toronto Public Library Board, the Woman’s Abuse Council ,  the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Toronto Transit Commission by being a member of committees and boards. In 2006 she was elected as Member of Parliament to Ottawa from Toronto’s Trinity Spadina Ward. She was re-elected in 2008 and in 2011. In 2010 she was voted the best MP by Now Magazine and voted seven times best Toronto councilor. She has received the Consumer Choice Award as Woman of the Year . in 1988 she married  Jack Layton, Leader of the Canadian New Democratic Party. The couple have two children. June 26, 2023 she was elected mayor of the City of Toronto out of 102 candidates. (2023)

Born February 10 1939, Hong Kong.  Adrienne and her family immigrated to Canada in 1941 settling in Ottawa, Ontario. A television personality with the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC), she is also a journalist, a novelist, a public servant, and publisher.  She even had her own television show Adrienne Clarkson Presents. In 1981 she promoted Ontario culture in France and throughout Europe. In 1999 She was appointed Governor General of Canada, the 1st immigrant to hold this position. She served in this position until 2005. She is an officer in the Order of Canada. On October 3, 2005, Clarkson was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. She was the Colonel in Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light infantry and the founder of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.

née Murray. Born February 11, 1948, London, Ontario. Died December 9, 1998, Ottawa, Ontario. Shaughnessy graduated to earn her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and sociology at the University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario. At first she taught at St. Clair College and then returned to university to study law. She married Jerry Cohen in 1971. In 1979 she was called to the Bar in Ontario. After her first unsuccessful attempt to be elected in 1988 Shaughnessy was elected in 1993 to the House of Commons as a Liberal Party of Canada member for the electoral riding of Windsor-St. Clair, Ontario. She sat on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources and Development. In August 1994 she was appointed co-chair of a parliamentary sub committee to investigate allegations against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. In the fall of 1995 she was one of only a few MP's voting in support of a private member's bill to recognize same-sex marriages. In March 1996 she was named chair of the Standing Committee on Justice. She was re-elected in 1997. December 9, 1998 she collapsed in the House of Commons suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. She was the first M P to suffer a fatal health incident in the House of Commons chamber. While her husband Jerry ran to be the Liberal Party representative in the by election resulting from her death he was not successful. In 2000 the Writers' Trust of Canada established a literary award, the Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing in her memory. Susan Delacourt penned her biography called: Shaughnessy: the Passionate Politics of Shaughnessy Cohen in 2000. (2023)

Born August 12, 1943, Barbados. In 1957 she immigrated to Canada and settled with her family in Montreal. In the 1960’s she attended McGill University to earn her Bachelor of Arts. In 1969 she was involved in a 10 day sit in at George Williams University (Now Concordia University) and served a four month imprisonment as a result. In 1974 she relocated to Toronto where she founded the 1st shelter for abused women. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s she ran unsuccessfully as a Liberal candidate for a seat in the House of Commons. January 13, 1984 she was appointed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to the senate of Canada. She was the 1st Black woman in North America to hold a Senate seat. She was always strong minded and did not always agree on party lines and was not afraid to speak her mind. In 2004 she “crossed the floor’ and joined the Progressive Conservative party. ON June 25, 2007 she was removed from the Progressive Conservative Caucus for speaking out against Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the PC budget proposal. She became an independent in the senate. 

Born October 6,1934. A business woman who served as Vice President of a family-owned automobile dealership and a member of the management team with C J O N Radio and TV, and with Robert Simpson Eastern Ltd. of Halifax, she was appointed to the Senate of Canada March 6, 1998. 

née Hennessey. Born July 26, 1913, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Died March 20, 2020, Prince Edward Island. Dorothy attended the Prince of Wales College and then earned her Register Nurse from the School of Nursing at the Charlottetown School of Nursing in 1937. She married dentist, Dr. Ernest Corrigan and the couple had a son and daughter. She 1st ran for civic election in 1958 and ran a second time to be successful. She served as councilor and then as the first woman Mayor of Charlottetown from 1968 through 1971. During her tenure the City Hall became more open to its citizens. After 11 years in elected office she took a position in Public Relations. She continued her public duty through serving on numerous and various committees as well as three years on the Canada Council and president of the Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce. She became a member of the Order of Canada in 1978. Source: Outstanding women of Prince Edward Island Compiled by the Zonta Club of Charlottetown, 1981.

née Lachance. Born January 1, 1934, Rimouski, Quebec. Died June 7, 2019, Beaupré, Quebec. Eva first ran for election to sit in the house of Commons in the 1979 federal election but was not successful. The following year she ran again to represent Rimouski electoral district and served in Parliament until 1984 when she did not win re-election. (2023)

Born Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) Ontario. Coleen attended Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. In 1971 she worked as the Manpower Student Placement Director at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Metropolitan Toronto University). She was successful in writing the Foreign Service Officer exam with the Canadian government in June 1972 she was posted to Paris, France and the following year she was in London, England. Prior to being post as Consul to Los Angeles she married an American businessman. From 1081 through 1984 her ability in Spanish served her well as she was posted to Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1985-1987 she served in Sri Lanka and 1987 she was serving as Ambassador to Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire. Source: Margaret K. Weirs, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Dundurn Press, 1995)

Born April 30, 1915, Blythe, Ontario. Died December 6, 2008, Toronto, Ontario. When her father lost his job in the Great Depression this strong young woman sat for 25 cents an hour to help out with family finances. As a first profession she was a teacher in northern Ontario. She continued to support her parents and safe enough money from her teaching salary to attend the University of Toronto (U of T). In 1937 she entered the provincial public service. During World War ll (1939-1945), like other women of her generation, she found opportunity for advancement. She was Ontario's chief negotiator in the deliberations to create the Canadian Assistance Plan, a federal provincial shared cost program guaranteeing all Canadians equal access to social assistance. She would become the first woman appointed Deputy Minister in Ontario. In 1978 she headed Ontario's Human Rights Commission.  Carol Goar, writing for the Toronto Star newspaper says she is a leader who is largely forgotten because she was "too early to be a feminist and too crusty to be a beloved icon." Source: Obituary, Toronto Star (accessed 2021)

née Gilmore. Born February 15, 1926, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died January 17, 2011, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. At the age of 18 her political choices became evident when she joined the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (C C F) Association. After high school Eileen attended Normal School (teacher’s college) in Vancouver and taught at elementary school. In 1951 she married James Dailly. In 1955 she gave up her classroom to stay at home with her son. The following year she was elected as a trustee of the Burnaby School Board. In 1969 she was elected to the Provincial Parliament as a C.C.F. Member from Burnaby North. Re-elected again in 1972 she found herself appointed as minister of Education and she also became the first woman to be named as British Columbia’s Deputy Premier. As Minister of Education she is perhaps best remembered for her February 14, 1973 amendment to the School Act which abolished corporal punishment in BC public Schools. It was an event unprecedented in Canada and very controversial. However it has never been re-instated. She also introduced improved access to education for aboriginal children, introduced mandatory kindergarten across the province and eliminated grade twelve graduation examinations. The end of high school exams would be reinstated ten years later by the in power Social Credit government. She continued to represent North Burnaby after the C.C.F. party was no longer in power retiring in 1986. From 1988-1991 she provided a seniors program on Cable TV. Source: Yvette Drews, Eileen Dailly https://www2.vlu.ca/homeroom/content/topics/people/dailly (accessed July 2015)

Born April 19, 1901, Hudson, Quebec. Died September 18, 1978, East York (Toronto), Ontario. True graduated from the University of Toronto and like so many women of the era of limited professions she attended the Regina Normal School and became a teacher in the prairie provinces. In 1923 she returned to university to earn her Master's degree and taught in Toronto. She went on to write children’s books and wrote for the Globe and Mail and various Canadian magazines. Living in East York, near Toronto, she served 10 years on the East York school board from 1947-1957. She became an elected alderman serving ten years becoming reeve and then mayor. When East York merged with Leaside she was elected mayor retiring in 1972. Originally a member of the Commonwealth Cooperative Federation political party it was with the Liberal party that she ran unsuccessfully for provincial parliament in 1971. In 1973 she was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada. After politics she took on a weekly column with the Toronto Sun newspaper. She also authored several books including a brief history of East York. In 1977 she was presented with the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. After her death the True Davidson Collection of Literature was established after she had enrolled as a PhD student at the institution. In 1997 the East York council names its meeting place the True Davidson Chamber, along with a housing development, a city park and the local Meals-on-Wheels program.

Born February 27 1953, Aldershot, United Kingdom. In 1968 Libby immigrated to Canada with her family she settled in Vancouver, British Columbia. Libby dropped out of university to help her life partner Bruce Eriksen (   -1997)  found the Downtown Eastside Residents Association (D E R A), an influential low-income housing advocacy group. She was elected to the Vancouver City Council in 1982 and served until 1993. From 1994 through 1997 she worked for the Hospital employees union supporting her son. In 1997 she was elected to the Provincial Parliament and served until 2015. She served as House Leader for the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011, and the Deputy Leader of the national party from 2007 until 2015. In 2001, Davies became the first female Canadian Member of Parliament to reveal that she was in a same-sex relationship. In December 2007 she received the Justice Gerald Le Dain Award for achievement in the field of law for her work on the International Drug Policy Reform. In December 2016 she was named a Member of the Order of Canada.

Born 1886, Calabogie, Ontario. Died March 1962, Cochrane, Ontario. Emma and her family moved to the northern Ontario settlement of Cochrane in 1909. Emma worked in several town stores prior to becoming assistant to her father S. J. Dempsey who was serving as Crown Lands agent in the area. When her father retired she was appointed Crown Lands agent on November 1, 1931. In 1940 she was a successful candidate for council in the municipal election and served for three years. During her time on Council she would serve as the first woman to be mayor of the Town of Cochrane, Ontario. Although she ran for the position of mayor in 1943 she was not successful. By 1944 she was the Crown Lands supervisor, a job she retained until her retirement on August 27, 1955. Emma was an active member of the local Methodist church and after the 1925 amalgamation and creation of the United Church of Canada. She sang with the church choir and served as the church organist. Source: Obituary, Cochrane Northland Post, March 8, 1962.

Born 1959, Montreal, Quebec. Nathalie studied law at the University of Montreal and earned her Master’s of Law at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. She 1st practiced law in London, Ontario where she was also a professor of law at the University of Western Ontario. (now Western University) She took the role as dean of Civil Law at the University of Ottawa. From 2001-2008 she served on the Law Commission of Canada. In 2002 she co-authored the book Representing Victims of Sexual and Spousal Abuse. From 2009 through 2013 she was general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (C C L A). In 2011/2012 she was named one of Canada’s most influential lawyers in the professional journal Canadian Lawyer.  In 2012 she became a Member of the Order of Ontario and the following year she was inducted into the Order of Canada. November 2016 she ran successfully in an Ontario provincial by-election. She was re-elected to her seat in the provincial parliament in 2018. (2019)

née Bell. Born February 12, 1928, Montreal, Quebec. Died September 15, 2008, Ottawa, Ontario. Educated as a nurse at the University of Ottawa, Marion began her working career as a public health nurse. In the 1970's she turned to municipal politics in Ottawa. She was elected Mayor of Ottawa for three terms from 1978 through 1985. She believed that local action could serve the global cause and she spearheaded Operation 4000 that welcomed Vietnamese boat people to settle in Ottawa. She successfully promoted increases accessibility to child care, services to the elderly and disabled. rights of minorities and equal opportunities for women. She was co-host for the Women's Constitutional Conference calling for gender equality provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights. In 1985 she was elected president of the federal New Democratic Party and in 1997 was elected in a federal by-election  to the House of Commons. In 1989 she was executive director of the Canadian Council on Children and Youth and in 1995 continued serving social causes when she headed up Oxfam Canada. In May 2002, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

née  Keiver. Born August 9,1926, Moncton, New Brunswick. Died August 17, 2022, Moncton, Mew Brunswick. Mabel married Ralph DeWare (died 2005) in 1945. The couple had four children. Mabel enjoyed competitive curling and in 1963, as skip, she took her team to the provincial and Canadian championships where they became the 1st New Brunswick Canadian Ladies Curling Champions. In 1976 she was inducted into the New Brunswick Sport Hall of Fame and in 1987 the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame as a curler and a builder of the sport. Mabel was was elected the legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in 1978 and again in 1982. She served as a Minister of Labour and Manpower from 1978 through 1982, Minister of Community Colleges from 1983 to 1985 and Minister of Advanced Education from 1985 to 1987. She was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 1990 retiring when she turned 75. Several members of her family are active in the Girl Guide movement. She attended the dedication of the new Canadian Girl Guide Flag in the halls of Parliament Hill on February 22, 2000. She retired from the Senate August 9, 2001. (2024)

Born January 25,1936, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Died April 9, 1985, Manitoba. Mary Beth attended  Webster College, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. She was married from 1957-1966, and remarried 1966. She immigrated to Canada with her husband and family in 1968 and settled in Manitoba. She taught at Island Lake and Hodgson before moving to the Seven Oaks School Division in 1974 as a junior-high teacher of music and drama. Interested in what she could accomplish in politics she became involved with the New Democratic Party and ran successfully for Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in 1981. She served as Manitoba Minister of Labour and Manpower 1982-1985, Manitoba Minister of Urban Affairs 1983-1985, and Manitoba Minister Responsible for the Status of Women from 1982 to 1985. She was responsible for initiated pioneering reforms to pension legislation for women and reforms to labour legislation. After her death from breast cancer, her husband, Marty Dolin, was elected to sit in her former seat in the Manitoba Legislature where he served to 1988. The Mary Beth Dolin Meritorious Fire Service Medal was established in her honour in 1988. Source: Memorable Manitobans Online (accessed  2014)  (2024)

Born January 22, 1922, Toronto, Ontario. Died October 24, 2011, Brighton, Ontario. After High school Verna attended Western Technical Commercial School for business studies, graduating in 1938. During World War ll (1939-1945) she enlisted in the Women’s Royal Naval Service and in 1943 was posted in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She returned to Toronto at the end of the war, working clerical jobs. In 1956 after taking the Public Service exam she joined External Affairs of Canada and was headed for Cairo, Egypt, and in two year stints she moved on to Poland. After a year in Kuala Lumpur she returned to Ottawa. In 1965 she found herself serving in the Belgian Congo, and then Moscow, just at the height of the Cold War. She was certain that her apartment was bugged and that her housekeeper was likely KGB! In 1969 she was off to Laos as part of the Canadian delegation for the International Commission for Supervision and Control to implement the terms of the Geneva Convention at the end of the Vietnam War. She had an easier posting in London, England, before she found herself once again in Ottawa accepting a posting in Tehran. On November 4, 1979, Iranian students loyal to the Ayatollah Khomeini occupied the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 54 American diplomats hostage and setting in motion the 444-day Iran hostage crisis. Six Americans evaded capture and went into hiding in the residences of Ambassador Ken Taylor and John Sheardown, the head of the embassy’s immigration section. On Jan. 28, 1980, with the help of the CIA, the Canadians abetted the escape of the six U.S. diplomats. The convert Canadian Operation known as the “Canadian Caper”. The unflappable Laverna remained in Iran as an integral part of the embassy until the Americans were safely out of the country and the embassy was closed. The staff, including Laverna, received the Order of Canada in recognition of the “Canadian Caper”. She retired in 1983, settling in Brighton, Ontario, near family. Source: Remembering Laverna Dollimore a woman ahead of her time by Robert Wright. Ottawa Citizen November 4, 2011; She got more adventure than she bargained for in Tehran by Nora Ryell The Globe and Mail, December 13, 2011. Page R5.  Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa.

née Frecker. Born St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Shannie earned her Registered Nursing Diploma from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec and earned her Bachelor of Arts from Memorial University, Newfoundland before she became interested in politics. She Married Frank Duff and the couple have five children. Elected to the St. John’s City Council, Newfoundland in 1977 she became deputy Mayor in 1982. She ran and was elected to the provincial parliament in 1989 with the Progressive Conservative Party while still holding her city council seat. She exited provincial politics in 1990 to run for the office of Mayor of St John’s a position she held to 1993. In 1997 she was once again elected to city council. On March 29, 2003 she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. She was once again acting as Mayor from April through June 2008.  In 2009 she was elected deputy Mayor until she retired from politics in 2013. She has been praised for being a champion of architectural heritage and preservation in St John’s. She was the founding Chair of the Cabot Habitat for Humanity. She also holds the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Born April 18, 1960, Edmonton, Alberta. Pat studied Political Science at Carleton University in Ottawa. She served as a special assistant to then Member of Parliament, Erik Nielsen in his home constituency and she fell in love with the Canadian Northland. She moved to be Manager of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce and also owned a small business of her own. Married with two children, she was first elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in 1996 and in 1998 she became Yukon Liberal Party Leader. She was Sworn in as Premier of the Yukon in 2000. She won her personal riding of Porter Creek South in the 2002 election but the Liberal Party itself was defeated.

née Warren. Born February 1952, Burin Newfoundland & Labrador. Kathy began attending Memorial University of Newfoundland but dropped out of university to marry Captain Peter Dunderdale (d 2006) in 1972. The couple have two children. Kathy was a member of an action committee lobbing Fishery Products International to not close the Burin fish plant. She went on to work as a social worker with the provincial Department of Social Services. She was elected to serve on the Burin town council in 1985 and worked with the local school board and the Status of Women. She served as the 1st woman president of the of the Provincial Federation of Municipalities. She also served as president of the Progressive Conservative Provincial Party. After her husband retired from the sea they set up a consulting company. In 1995 the couple relocated to St John's. She has helped to found Women in Resource Development Corporation in 1997 to work getting women involved in trades and technology. In 2003 she was elected to the provincial House of Assembly and was appointed to cabinet as Minster of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development and Minister Responsible for the Rural Secretariat.  In 2006 she became Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifood Industry. In 2008 she was given the added responsibility of being  Deputy Premier and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women. February 1, 2010 for six weeks she was Acting Premier and on December 3, 2010 she was sworn in a the 1st woman Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. She was re-elected in 2011 holding the position until she resigned January 224, 2014. After politics she worked for the Gathering Place as volunteer coordinator. (2019)

née Britt Born February 22, 1928, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.  Died December 14, 2016, St John, New Brunswick. Shirley’s parents were visiting a cousin when she was born and the little family soon returned to Saint John, New Brunswick. After graduating from high school she attended the New Brunswick Teachers’ College and the University of New Brunswick. As a Beaverbrook Scholar she was able to study at the University of London in England. She taught at her local high school and in 1967 she became a member of the local school board. She married H. Eric Dysart and the couple had one son. In 1974 she became the woman of the Liberal Party to win a seat in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick,  a seat she held for 20 years, winning five consecutive elections. In 1976 she served on the Bi-Centennial Celebration Committee for the Province of New Brunswick. In 1985 she became the 1st woman to serve as interim Leader of the Opposition in the provincial legislature. In 1987 she was appointed Minister of Education, the 1st woman to hold the position. She introduced a province-wide Universal, full-day public kindergarten program. She also let community projects in St John including rebuilding of the Imperial Theatre. She was president of the Catholic Women’s League Council, president of the University of New Brunswick Alumni Council and was a active member of the Saint John Family Services and the Irish-Canadian Cultural Association. In 1991, Dysart was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the first woman to hold the position. She received the 1992 Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation. She retired from politics in 1995. In 2000 she received a Red Cross Humanitarian Award. 2015 saw her named a Champion of Public Education by the national educational charity, The Learning Partnership. In 2014 she became a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Born October 18, 1953, Exeter, Ontario. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in journalism at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. In 1985 she became Director of Culminations at the Ontario Treasury. She worked as a Government Relations Consultant with Public Affairs Management from 1987 to 1991. She was also Assistant Executive Director of the Ontario Provincial Progressive Conservative Party from 1985 to 1987. She was Director of Policy for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario from 1991 to 1995. In 1995 she was elected to the Ontario legislature for the riding of Durham West (just east of the city of Toronto). On August 16, 1996 she was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Community and Social Services. Re-elected in 1999 she was again in the cabinet this time as Minister of Education. She served as Government House Leader after February 8, 2001. April 15, 2002 she became Minister of Finance until the party and she herself  lost in the September 2003 provincial election. She works for the Tramor Group providing program management professionals services. She also teaches public administration at Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario. In 2005 she served as president of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance. In 2016 she was named to the Order of Canada in recognition of her leadership in the financial industry. In spring 2017 Postmedia Network Canada Corp., Canada’s largest newspaper company appointed Janet Ecker, to its board of directors.(2017)

née King. Born January 7, 1921, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died January 31, 1994, Victoria, British Columbia. Jean studied at the University of Manitoba graduating in 1942. That same year married pharmacist George Edmonds. The couple had two children. She would spend the first twenty years of her career as a journalist for the Financial Post newspaper working as assistant investor editor and features editor in Toronto and  as contributing editor, columnist and first to be the papers western editor while living in Winnipeg. Her byline was J. K. Edmonds to consol the conservative male world of finance. She also worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (C B C). In 1960 she was named Woman of the Year by the Winnipeg Woman's Advertising Club. In 1961 she was the only woman appointed to a Manitoba provincial committee of 37 men to examine the provinces economic future. In 1964 she joined the federal government public service as regional economist for the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (C M H C), Prairie Region. In 1966 she became the first woman executive in the federal government as an executive director with the Department of Manpower and Immigration. She would go on to the level of assistant Deputy Minister with the Department of Regional Economic Development. Jean retired from the Public Service July 12, 1985 and, on that same day was appointed Chair of Manitoba Telephone System. In 1988 she became chairperson of the Task Force on Barriers to Women in the Public Service and would publish the ground breaking report called Beneath the Veneer. The current Citizenship and Immigration Canada is headquartered in the Jean Edmonds Towers. In 2015 she was featured in a video tribute to female public servants, past and present, recognizing women's contributions, on the occasion of International Women's Day March 8. (2024)

Born November 6, 1939, Lethbridge, Alberta.  Joyce studied for a B.A. in Alberta and took her degree in journalism from Carleton University in 1961.  While at  Carleton she met Michael 'Mike' Gillian (1938-2002) and the pair became soul mates. The couple had four children. After working as  a journalist in the Parliamentary Press Gallery she became Legislative Assistant to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000) for 14 years. She also served at various positions in the Liberal Party of Canada. She was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1984. She is very proud to have been inducted into the Kainai Chieftainship of the Blood Nation and given the name of Morning Bird Woman. In 1993 she was appointed to the Privy Council of Canada and was the 1st woman to be named Leader of the Government in the Senate also serving as a Cabinet Minister with Special Responsibility for Literacy. Sadly in August 2012 she began indefinite sick leave from the senate due to the onset of Alzheimer's disease. She officially resigned leaving the Senate January 18, 2013. In 2015 she was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada. (2019)

née Cook. Born January 28, 1905, Hamilton, Ontario.  Died November 13, 2004.  Ellen Married Gordon David Henry Fairclough (1905-1997) in 1931 and the couple had one son. Ellen's first career was as a chartered accountant. She owned her own accounting firm when she was elected to Hamilton City council in 1946. In 1950 she was elected as a Member of Parliament to the House of Commons in Ottawa. She was the first woman to be appointed to the post of a Cabinet Minister in the Canadian Parliament in 1957.  She was also the first woman to be acting Prime Minister and the only woman to have held the position of Postmaster General of Canada. In 1989 she was presented with the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case. In 1992 the Queen invested her with the title "Right Honourable". She was made a Companion in the Order of Canada in 1995. You can read about her remarkable life in her memoirs which were published in 1995 under the title Saturday's Child. Source: Canadian Encyclopedia online; Find a grave online (accessed 2024)

Born May 5, 1927, Canora, Saskatchewan. Died September 26, 2012,  Saskatchewan. An excellent academic achiever she established her reputation for achievement in nuclear medical research early in her career. She was instrumental in the development of the first cobalt radiation unit which is now in side use as a chemotherapy treatment for cancer. She was the 1st woman named to the position of Chancellor at the University of Saskatchewan. and 1st woman Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan  She was also the 1st  woman trustee of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and in 1973 she was the 1st  woman appointed to the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada. She was Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan from 1988 to 1994. A balanced achiever she enjoys sports and is a member of Canada’s Curling Hall of fame. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1986. Sources: “Ex-lieutenant-governor a cancer-care pioneer” by Jennifer Graham The Globe and Mail September 28, 2012

Born March 22, 1935, Gull Island, Newfoundland. Died May 25, 2020, Calgary, Alberta. Charlotte served as a councillor and  and first woman in Alberta to become a reeve, when she served as reeve of Rocky View Country from 1974 through 1988. Charlotte won a seat in the Ottawa House of Commons in 1988 as a Progressive Conservative representing the newly formed Wild Rose electoral district, Alberta. She was actually the first woman born in Newfoundland to serve in the House of Commons. She was unsuccessful in her bid for re-election in 1993. Source: Obituary online (accessed 2023)

Born May 26, 1899, Shédiac, New Brunswick. Died April 11, 1997, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Muriel graduated from Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, in 1921. She became the fourth woman admitted to the Bar in New Brunswick. She married fellow lawyer Aubrey S. Fergusson and the couple settled In Grand Falls, New Brunswick. where she opened the Malabeam Tea Room and became involved in local groups such as founding the Grand Falls Literary Club.  In 1936 she became readmitted to the bar  to support her husband's law business when he was ill.  After the death in 1942 of her husband Muriel took over his law practice. She became the first woman probate-court judge in New Brunswick. As well she became clerk of the county court and the circuit court and the town solicitor for Grand Falls. In 1946 she worked to allow women the right to vote in municipal elections. She was an advocate for equal employment and lobbied the city of Fredericton to extend a $100.00 a year pay raise for make employees to include women. In 1950 she became the City of Fredericton first female councilor. In 1953 she became the first deputy mayor. That same year she was appointed to the Canadian Senate where she championed women in politics. She was the first woman to become Speaker of the Canadian Senate in 1972. She worked to have women recognized as possible appointees to government positions. She was one of the early women senators and is credited with pushing the government to revise the Criminal Code so women could sit on juries in criminal cases. Women could now plead rape charges with women on the jury! in 1972 she was the first woman to be appointed as Speaker in the Senate. Her home province is home to a Family Violence Research Centre named in her honour. Source: Canadian Encyclopedia. online :Meet Muriel McQueen Fergusson, The Senate speaker who 'blazed a trail through established conventions'. Senate. online (accessed 2024)

née Wainwright. Born 1943, Winnipeg, Manitoba. She graduated the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics in 1964. After graduation she worked as a social worker with the Children’s Aid of in Winnipeg. November 9, 1963 she married Gary Filmon, a future premier of Manitoba. The couple has four children Janice seems to have always been active in her community serving as President of the Junior League of Winnipeg 1980-1981, chair of the Festivals for 1999 Pan American Games, Chair of the Nellie McClung Foundation, President of the University of Manitoba Alumni Association, Chairwoman of the Foundations for Health, inaugural Chair of the Festival of Trees and a board member with the Manitoba Heart Foundation. In 2002 she received the Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal and in 2005 the University of Manitoba’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the Peter D. Curry Chancellor’s Award. 1n 2006 she received the Variety Gold Heart Humanitarian of the Year Award followed with the Order of Manitoba in 2007. In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal and was inducted into the Order of Canada. Janice has chaired the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, she is a board member of the Winnipeg,  Airports Authority and the founding chairwoman of Manitoba A. L. I. V. E. (A Leadership Initiative in Voluntary Efforts), which teaches selected high school students the skills needed in the voluntary sector. March 19, 2015 she was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. (2019)

Born January 28, 1927, Montreal, Quebec.  Died June 8, 2009, Ottawa, Ontario. Sheila earned her Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, Montreal, in 1947. Right after graduation she married Alan Finestone (1923-1997) and the couple had four sons. From 1977 to 1980 she was the president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec. By 1984 she had been elected in the federal election to sit as a Liberal Member of Parliament serving Mount Royal Riding. She served in the House of Commons until 199 and then was appointed to the Senate of Canada where she served until 2002. The Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians awarded her the Distinguished Service Award in 2008. Her son Peter had to accept the award on her behalf as she was ill. (2023)

née Church Born July 15, 1930, Timmins, Ontario. Died October 3, 2016 Iroquois Falls, Ontario. When she was 19 she was appointed to the Timmins Parks and Recreation Commission where she served as the only woman for 20 years. In the late 1970's she was the executive director of the the Ontario wing of the Liberal Party of Canada.  In 1976 she married Les Finnerty and the couple had three children. She blazed a trail for women in the field of political activism, earning a national and international recognition and respect for her skills. She made an indelible mark in the field of political organization at the federal and provincial levels. Her talent and her reputation have seen her invited to work or train others in every province in Canada. In 1994 she was invited to Benin, Africa, as an International Trainer of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. She was appointed a member of the Senate of Canada in 1999  serving on no less than ten standing committees. She retired July 15, 2005. 

Born Sydney, Nova Scotia. From 1966 through 1970 Maryann practiced her profession as a registered x-ray technologist. She then decided to earn her Bachelor of Arts at St. Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1972 she became a Human Rights Officer with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. In 1974 she received the Silver Plaque from the N S H R C for outstanding contribution to her chosen filed. She took time to earn her Masters of Public Administration from New York University in 1984. From August 1999 through July 2006 she served as the first woman permanent director of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. In 2000 she became the first woman appointed as Nova Scotia’s Ombudsman. She was the first African Canadian woman to head the Ontario Woman’s Directorate, a government organization supporting and celebrating the achievement of women. She served in this position from 1994 through July 1997. In 2006 Maryann Frances was appointed the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. Source: Office of Nova Scotia Lieutenant-Governor online. (accessed June 2011).

Born October 12, 1944. Joan earned a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec in 1965. She began her career as a cub reporter with The Gazette newspaper in Montreal and joined the Financial Times of Canada in 1967. In 1978 she returned to The Gazette as editorial page editor and in 1993 became Editor-in-Chief. She joined the Council of Canadian Unity in 1997/98. She has won several national newspaper awards for her editorial writing and four National Newspaper Award Citations of Merit. She was appointed as a member of the Senate of Canada and served until retirement February 2, 2018.

Born September 16, 1950, Dundee, Quebec. She studied for her Bachelor of Commerce at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. She worked as a Chartered Accountant with the company of Ernst & Young and worked her way to the level of partner in 1981. She joined the Office of the Auditor General of Canada as Deputy General, Audit Operations in 1999. She was appointed Auditor General of Canada for a ten year term beginning in 2001.

Born July 16, 1946, Montreal, Quebec. In 1970 she earned her BA from Université de Montréal. In 1978 she earned an advanced Master’s Degree from the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium. In 1971 she began her career at the Canadian Department of External Affairs. Her 1st posting as a diplomat was in Athens, Greece and in 1978 she joined the Canadian delegation at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1985 she was a three point Canadian Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The government of Canada was impressed by her secret mission to Cuba in 1989 that she was named as the 1st female Canadian ambassador to the United Nations in 1992. Leaving the diplomatic corps in 1995 she became assistant Deputy Minister  of National Defence, again the 1st woman to hold such a position. March 2, 1998, she was the 1st person to be appointed to the position of Deputy Secretary General, a position she held until March 31, 2006. That same year she was inducted into the Order of Canada. She is a member of the Global Leadership Foundation and the International Advisory Board at the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Source: Former Deputy-Secretary-General,  (accessed September 2010.); Margaret Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Toronto: Dundurn, 1995)

née Hill. Born June 8, 1926, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died April 30, 2001, England. Elaine graduated from high school in 1942 and then she trained as a fashion illustrator. She soon married Solomon Grand but by 1953 she was a widow. She began working with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (C B C) and became an interviewer on the program Tabloid from 1953 for three years becoming one of the best know TV personalities in the country. In 1956 she relocated to England working for ITV. She did however, continue to work for Canadian TV on the program Chrysler Festival in 1957. In 1960 she married a Canadian playwright, Reuben Ship.  Elaine began producing documentaries such as Unmarried Mothers in 1963. For the next two decades she returned to being an interviewer for the Thames Television daytime show Afternoon Plus. Her intelligent and serious interviews became popular with British fans as she had discussions with politicians, writers and other well known persons of the era. Holtzman Born May 17, 1949, St. John New Brunswick. As a youth she showed her potential leadership skills at school, synagogue, Y.W.C.A and in Girl Guides. She studied for her BA (1970) and her Bachelor of Education (1971) at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She began her career as a teacher with the Halifax District School System. Married to Lawrence , the couple had three children. She still found time to continue as an adult the commitment to community service she had learned in her youth. The List of boards and foundations she served with includes the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, the Atlantic Theatre Foundation, the Kidney Foundation, the Canadian Jewish Congress and C R B Foundation Gift of Israel Program. Her energies for serving did not stop there. In 1990 she was Festival Chair for the World Figure Skating Championships in Halifax and in 1995 she served as Manager of the Spousal Program for the Halifax G-7 Summit. She was the first woman to be appointed as Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Nova Scotia, appointed in 2000. In 2002 she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal. In 2003 she became an Honourary Captain in the Maritime Forces and was considered on of Canada’s most powerful top 100 women by the Women’s Executive Network. In 2008 she was inducted as a member of the Order of Canada. Source: Canadian Who’s Who (University of Toronto Press) 2006 : Past Lieutenant Governors of Nova Scotia Online (accessed June 2011.)

Born January 7, 1957, Manitoba. Raymonde worked as an academic for over 35 years. She began her career as a high school teacher, became a high school principal and also served as a consultant in regional and industrial expansion for the province of New Brunswick.  She worked as Director of New Programs, Director of the Community College and helped the college to be recognized as a University. She worked as Continuing Education Division Chair as well as being a professor of Business Education. She served as President of the Université de Sainte-Boniface, Winnipeg, Manitoba from 2003-2014. It was during this time that she also served as a member of the Council of Presidents of Universities of Manitoba.  She held the position of President of the Association des universities de la francophonie canadienne from 2005 through 2009. She has received the Prix Riel and in 2012 she earned the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.  In May 2014 she was awarded the Order of Manitoba and on September 23, 2015 she was invested into the Order of Canada. She was named to the Canadian Senate on March 18, 2016. (2017)

née Rolinson. Born December 29, 1876, West Midlands, England. Died August 7, 1970, Vancouver, British Columbia. Although she qualified to study at Oxford University in England she began working in the family business instead of going to university. In 1901 Annie, as she was known, married and engineer, William Gale. In 1912 the young couple along with their two sons immigrated to Calgary Alberta. Annie became involved in community life. She enjoyed sports and was captain of the women’s cricket team. She organized Canada’s 1st Women’s Ratepayers Association and in December 10, 1917 she ran successfully for municipal elections supported by the Women’s Ratepayers. She was one of the 1st women in the British Empire to become an alderman. In 1918 she was elected by fellow councillors as acting mayor and became the one of the 1st woman mayors in the British Empire. In 1921 she was unsuccessful in her attempt to be elected to the Alberta provincial legislature. Annie retired from council after three successful terms in office in 1923. In 1925 she moved to Vancouver for her husband’s health. In 1983 a new school, the Annie Gale Junior High School was opened in Calgary. Source Merna Forster, Annie Gale (1876-1970) Heroines (accessed May 2015) ; Annie Gale, Alberta Champions Online (accessed May 2015) Book: Judith Lishman, Alderman Mrs. Annie Gale (Ottawa, 1985) Suggestion submitted by Mrs. Frances J. Welwood, Nelson, British Columbia

née Thacker. Born May 23, 1903, Ottawa, Ontario. . Died January 28, 2003, Shawville, Quebec. On October 25, 1920 Elsie married George Gibbons and the couple had one son. Elsie wrote for local Ontario newspapers including the Pembroke Observer and the Renfrew Mercury. To help family finances she did sowing and worked as a cook or a maid. Their uninsured hose was burned down and Elsie worked on the Hiram Robinson steamship as a cook for eleven men. She and her husband opened a small grocery store in Portage-du-Fort in 1930. The business picked up from 1948 through 1953 when a local Ontario hydro generating station was being built. The couple even built a restaurant to accommodate the needs of the 1200 workers. With no bank in the area she charged 25 cents to cash work cheques. Elsie became mayor of Portage-du-fort in May of 1953 becoming the first woman to be elected mayor of a municipality in Quebec. In 1956 she sold the family store in 1956.She served as warden of Pontiac County from 1959 through 1961. She was also an organist for her Anglican church and served on the Order of the Eastern Star, the Rebekahs and the Western Quebec Economic Council. In February 1967 she became the first woman delegated to the Ottawa General Anglican Synod. She was a director for a local home for the aged and was a member of the Perpetual Care Committee for the Protestant Community. She lost the mayoral election in 1971 by seven votes. By 1973 she was an elected councilor and returned to being Mayor from 1975-1977. The Fédération Québecoise des Municipalités in 2017 the Elsie Gibbons Award recognizing women's work in municipal politics. The Archives of Shawville Quebec holds to albums about her municipal career. (2022)

Born November 26, 1946, Moose Lake, Yukon. Judy was the founding Director of the Yukon Native Brotherhood in 1969.In 1980 she was elected President of the Yukon Development Corporation.  For the next two decades she served on the executive council of the Yukon Indian Women's Association and was a founding Director of Northern Native Broadcasting. From 1989 through 1995 she served as the Chair for the Council for Yukon Indians. In 1995 she was appointed as the 1st Aboriginal Commissioner of the Yukon. After she retired in 2000 she ran unsuccessfully in the Yukon general election. In 2008 she was President of Kwanlin Development Corporation. Judy married Donald Gingell and the couple have two children. In 2009 she became a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of her promotion and advancement of Aboriginal rights. (2019)

Born March 6, 1918, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died September 5, 2008, Mayo, Yukon. Jean Married Wif Gordon and in 1938 the couple settled in Dawson where they trapped, raised three bear cubs and caught and used a wolf in their dog sled team. To allow their daughter to attend school they relocated to Mayo in 1945. Jean became an active community volunteer serving as secretary and treasurer of the Mayo Community Club and treasurer of the Community Theatre. Jean also wrote wrote a weekly column for the Whitehorse Star newspaper and held a job working as an insurance agent.  September 11, 1967 she is the 1st woman elected to the Yukon Territorial Council. She serves until 1970. After she left the Council she worked for Canada Manpower and at the local post office. She founded the 1st Mayo Outreach Office and was a member of the Yukon Territory Water Board for ten years. Sources for further reading: Hayden, Joyce.  -  "Gertrude Jean Gordon".  -  Yukon’s women of power.  -  Whitehorse : Windwalker Press, 1999.  -  P. 55-85

Born 1947, Montreal, Quebec. In 1972 she moved to British Columbia. Judith married Lawrence Guichon who sadly was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2003. The couple owned and operated the Gerard Guichon Ranch in the Nicola Valley of British Columbia where they raised their four children. She was involved in her community serving on the local hospital board and Community Health Council and the Community Health Foundation. She was a 4-H Leader and started a recycling society in Merritt, British Columbia. She also served as a director for the Fraser Basin Council of British Columbia as a director of the Grasslands Conservation Council of British Columbia. Fond of music, she played flute in the Nicola Valley Community Band. Working with the Provincial Government she served on the Task Force on Species at Risk and was president of the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association. She also worked as part of the Ranching Task Force for the province and the BC Agri-Food Trade Advisory Council. Judith married a second time to Bruno Mailloux. In 2012 she was inducted into the Order of British Columbia and was presented with the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. On November 2, 2012 she was sworn in as the 29th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

née Garrison. Born April 28, 1941, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died August 24, 2020, Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Nancy attended Halifax Vocational School and then trained at the Victoria General Hospital.  She married L. R. Gregg Guptill in 1964 and the couple had three daughters. In 1975 the family relocated to Bedeque, Prince Edward Island. Nancy would be elected twice to the Summerside Town Council. She was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of P E I in 1987 and sat in the House until 2000. She served as Minister of Tourism and Parks from 1989 through 1991 and was the Minister of Labour and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women from 1991 to 1993.  She was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of P E I from 1993 through 1996. She retired in September 1999. After a life in politics she served as the chair of the Workers Compensation Board of P E I. Source: P E I Famous Five online (accessed 2022)

née Woolcott. Born April 29, 1929, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Died March 14, 2012, Toronto, Ontario. Doris attended the University of Western Ontario, London, (now Western University) and the University of Toronto (U of T) earning a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Social Work, and her Doctorate (PhD). She married Glenn Guyatt and the couple raised four children. She worked for various ministries in the government of Ontario, in research and policy planning positions. She served in voluntary positions on the boards of many communities. provincial and national organizations including president of the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs 1990-1992 and President of the Canadian Intelligence and Security Association and president of the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Association of Social Workers. She was a director of the Atlantic Council of Canada and a member of the Board of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center. She served for 27 years as Military Aide de Camp to seven Lieutenant Governors of Ontario. She received Canada 125 Commemorative Medal and the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires Long Service Medal. She was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal,  Honorary Colonel of the 25th Toronto Field Ambulance, the Woman of Distinction Award from the Metro Toronto YWCA and the Arbor Award from the University of Toronto. She also received a Vice-regal Commendation, the Lieutenant Governor’s Volunteer Medal and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. Source: Obituary, Toronto Star Online March 16, 2012

Born 1946, Ottawa, Ontario. Barbara attended the University of Victoria, British Columbia, but left without obtaining the last two credits for her degree. She moved to Nova Scotia to work with the rural Black families with the Company of Young Canadians. In 1967, back in Ontario she worked with Toronto youth and co-founded an alternative school. After this she worked a shot time as a probation officer in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. Back again in Canada she studied law at Osgood Hall, York University, Toronto and took the bar in 1980. In 1885 she ran unsuccessfully with the New Democratic Party (N D P) for the Ontario provincial legislature but did win a seat that year on Toronto City Council. In 1994 she was elected as the 61st mayor of Toronto and became the 1st Mayor of Toronto to march in a Pride Parade. In 1997 she lost in her bid to continue as Mayor of the new mega City of Toronto. She tried to gain the mayoral position again in 2003 without success. In November 2005 she was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. On March 16, 2015 she was appointed to a panel to conduct public contributions on the governance of the Toronto District School Board. (2023)

Born Montreal  After completing her Master of Art studies at McGill University in Montreal, she wrote the Foreign Service exam and joined the federal Department of External Affairs in 1968. She was posted to New York City and then to the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. U.S.A. In 1976 she was married and unlike many Foreign Service women who married she remained at work. The couple knew that they might find themselves separated with different postings and accepted this fact.  When she became pregnant with her 1st child she also remained working even though this was not the norm. During her maternity leave she made double contributions to her pension fund and paid her own health insurance in order to make sure she would have a job to return to at the end of her leave. Foreign Service women did not return to their jobs after a birth but Ingrid chose to after the birth of both her children. In 1979 she served in the Philippines and then back to Ottawa where she worked towards obtaining her goal to be in charge of a post. She had to convince not only the powers at be in Ottawa but also the government of the place she would be posted. She wanted to serve in Indonesia and she had to convince this  Muslim, military and male dominated country. From 1989 through 1992 she was Ambassador to Indonesia in Jakarta. She was the 1st woman from any country to become ambassador to Indonesia. She set up an informal woman’s network for External Affairs and reveled in the fact that younger woman in the foreign service were having wider career opportunities. She also headed the Canadian Foreign Service Institute and worked on the domestic side of government in the Privy Council Office Machinery of Government. Ingrid  took up her current assignment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Austria and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations Organizations in Vienna in October 2001. She is the Chair of the Board of Governors  of the International Atomic Energy Agency for 2004-2005 is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative from Canada. Sources: Margaret K. Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service. (Toronto; Dundurn, 1995);

Born 1862, Yorkshire, England. Died 1945 Toronto, Ontario . Constance migrated to Canada in 1888 with her family. The family settled in Vancouver where Constance met and married  A Canadian Pacific Railroad manager, Lauchlan Alexander Hamilton (1852-1941). The couple were transferred first to Winnipeg and then in 1899 to Toronto. She was a staunch supporter of women’s suffrage and was president of the Equal Rights League of Toronto. She frequently represented Canadian Suffragists in other countries. She was an active volunteer with numerous associations including the Big Sisters  and the YWCA. She chaired the Toronto Branch of the National Refugee Committee and worked with the National Council of Women as chair of the Agricultural Committee. Once women had the right to vote and could run for municipal office she became the first woman elected to the Toronto City Council. She was sworn in on January 12, 1920 with no cameras to record the event and no mention in the mayor’s inaugural address. She was re-elected in 1921. After two years in  public office she retired to continue her campaign work for the rights of women, underprivileged people, including immigrants and refugees to the city. She also served on the board of Women’s Century Magazine.  In 1979 The Toronto City Council established an award in her name commemorating the Privy Council Decision of 1929 requiring the federal government to recognize women as “persons”. The women members of Toronto City Council select the recipient's) of the Constance E. Hamilton Award.  Source: City of Toronto online (accessed 2010) ; “Toronto Pioneer mostly forgotten” by Mark Mahoney, Toronto Star, March 10, 2007.

née Smith. Born March 2, 1882, Magnetawan, Ontario. Died January 26, 1959, Sudbury, Ontario. Barbara attended the North Bay Normal School (teachers' College) and worked as a teacher in Trout Creek and Chetwynd, Ontario prior to relocating to Webbwood in 1908 which is located some 70m outside of the City of Sudbury in Northern Ontario. On August 27, 1913 she married Joseph Hanley, a railway foreman. Ten years later she served as a Trustee on the Public School Board from 1923 though to 1935 followed by being a town councilor for a year. On January 6, 1936, with a margin of 13 votes (82 to 69 votes), Mrs. Hanley became the first woman to be elected to the position of mayor of a town in Canada. The first thing she did as the Mayor was to suspend salaries the mayor and council in order to help purchase Christmas turkeys for families in need. She also make sure the jail was repaired and saw to the installation of the town's first traffic light and closed the local dog pound all in her first year in office. Barbara was one of the New York Sun newspaper's Outstanding Women of the Year. She was also the cofounder of a the Webbwood Dramatic Society. The voters must have felt that she was a good mayor as she was elected to eight consecutive terms as mayor serving through to 1944. In 1941 she ran against another woman in the mayoral election. During World War ll, 1939-1945, she served as chair of the local rations chapter of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. From 1946 through 1950 she served as town clerk. After retiring from politics Mrs. Hanley would fight to ensure proper homes for the aged in Sudbury spoke out against forced sterilization of people with developmental disabilities and encouraged young women to go after professional careers. A community billboard on Highway 17 coming into Webbwood commemorates her election. In 2015 an article about her was included in the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Born 1956, Aklavik Northwest Territories.  In 1990 she was hired as an executive assistant by David Storr and Sons Contracting Ltd., Inuvik and by 1996 she was general manager of the firm. Glenna feels strongly about being involved in her community and has served as Chairperson of Aklavik Education Advisory Board and the Inuvik Regional Educational Board. In her business community she was a member of the boards of the Inuvik Community Corporation and Western Artic Business Development Services. She served on the Boards of directors of the Inuvialuit Investment Corporation and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation on behalf of her people. She was unsuccessful in her run for a seat in the Northwest Territories in 1999. In April 1 2000 she was appointed the 14th Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, the 1st person of Inuvialuit descent to hold the position. She held this position until 2005.  The position is largely ceremonial akin to that of the lieutenant-governor of a province. She ran again for the legislature in 2011 but was defeated.

Born May 11, 1929, Denmark. Died September 28, 2013, Ottawa, Ontario. Inger grew up in Denmark during the German occupation of her country. After WW ll (1939-1945) she travelled about Europe and had her first trip to Canada in 1950. She immigrated to Canada an studied law at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. After her 1960 graduation she remained in British Columbia to practice law. Later she joined the Canadian Civil Service working in the Department of Justice. She became the 1st Ombudsman for penitentiaries. In 1977 she was the 1st Canadian Privacy Commissioner working with the Human Rights Commission. Shortly after she became Canada’s 1st Information Commissioner. She was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice in 1991. She was awarded the Order of Commander of Dannebrog, the highest civil honour from Denmark in 2000. She had a life long love of learning and in 1996 she earned her Master’s degree in Public Administration from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. Source: Justice Inger Hansen, Obituary in the Globe and Mail, October 2, 2013. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario.

Born February 4, 1916, Toronto, Ontario. Died November 14, 2006, White Rock, British Columbia. Tibi married Merv Hardie (1918-1962) a politician who died in office as a Member of the Canadian Parliament. Tibi replaced her husband in parliament after his death. She ran for election for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 1962 federal election and was elected. She also ran in the 1963 federal election but was defeated.  (2023)

née Armstrong. Born 1900, Markdale, Ontario. Died May 23, 1998, Toronto, Ontario. After graduating university Grace attended the Ontario College of Education for her Bachelor of Education with the purpose of teaching languages at High School. She married George Hartman in 1938 and the pair settled in Sudbury, Ontario. On top of her teaching she supported community activities. In 1943 she was president of the Sudbury Women’s Canadian Club. In 1945 she became the first woman appointed to the Sudbury School Board. She was also on the Board of the YWCA, the Library Board, the Sudbury and District Home for the Ages, and the Sudbury Business and Professional Women’s Club. She was also president of the Ontario Municipal Association. She first ran for City Council in 1950 and served for 17 years as councilor. She was the first woman to be Deputy Mayor and October 5, 1966, after the death of the serving mayor, she was elected by her fellow Councilors as mayor presiding over the City’s Canada Centennial year. After the death of her Husband in 1960 she remarried in 1969 Arthur Grout. The couple retired to Toronto in the mid 1970’s. In 1975, International Women’s year she was designated one of Ontario’s 25 Leading Women.

née Ham. Born September 16, 1948, Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Lynda left high school as a youth and was as an adult when she completed her secondary school education. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor in Education, a Master's of Education degree and a PhD in clinical Psychology. She taught at university in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. In 1987 she received the Triple ‘E’ Award of Excellence for her work in psychology at the University of Saskatchewan. She Married Harley Olsen and the couple had four children. She established innovative education programs for disabled students and chronically truant teens. She wrote numerous articles for journals, and magazines including the handbook Fighting the Farm Crisis and he book Safety and Health in Agriculture. Interested in politics she became the forefront of the provincial Liberal becoming the 1st woman in Saskatchewan to lead a political party. In 1997 she joined the Saskatchewan Party. After retiring from politics she worked for a short time as a radio host. She was sworn in the office as the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan on February 21, 2000 serving until July31, 2006. In 2007 she was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Saskatchewan. Lynda holds the Order of Canada (2007) and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.

Born 1887, Saint John, New Brunswick. Died July 21, 1987, Saint John, New Brunswick. It was not common for all girls to graduate from high school let along a Black girl. After High School, Anna attended Norman School in Halifax to earn her teaching certificate. She was only allowed to teach in the Black community. She returned to school to study at business College. She then tried the Civil Service examinations and placed third over all those writing the exam. In 1912 she became the 1st Black Canadian appointed the permanent federal civil Service. She began with working at the Dominion Lands Branch of the Department of the Interior. In 1938 she was the principal clerk in the Immigration Branch of the Department of Mines and Resources. She enjoyed writing poetry in her time off work. She had her verse published in various Canadian magazines and she also  had an occasional column in the Ottawa Journal called Citadel which was dedicated to poetry. She retired from the federal Civil Service in 1945 and returned from Ottawa to Saint John, New Brunswick where she worked as a stenographer in a law firm and for awhile worked in Washington D.C. In 1967 she published a chapbook of her Citadel Columns from the newspaper and this may indeed be the 1st collection of poems published by an Afro-Canadian woman. She continued her formal learning after her retirement by taking creative writing courses at the University of New Brunswick.  Source: Herstory: The Canadian Women's calendar. 2008  (Saskatoon Women's Calendar Collective / Coteau Books, 2007)

Nora Frances Henderson

Municipal Councillor

Born March 9, 1897, Bicester, England. Died March 23, 1949, Hamilton, Ontario. In 1913 Nora moved with her family to Winona, Ontario. And finally to Hamilton, Ontario in 1917. Thinking she wanted to try writing as a career in 1918, she took a portfolio to the Hamilton Herald where she would work as a reporter. In 1921, she was made Womens Editor and she urged local women to take an active interest in community political affairs. As a result, for the 1st time, in 1919, women were appointed to the Hamilton Hospital Board. In 1931, she became the First woman elected to Hamilton's City Council. In 1934 she became the 1st woman in Canada elected to a city Board of Control. In her first year as a controller she sponsored a meeting which created Charter of Municipal Rights. She chaired the Relief Board which acted as a court of appeal to decisions handed down by relief officials and often handed out civic relief deficiencies from her own pocket. She was elected to city council 16 consecutive times. She headed the polls for Board of Control, becoming Acting Mayor during the mayor's absence. In 1946 she caused controversy when she crossed picket lines during the Stelco strike. In 1947, she retired to become Executive Secretary of the Association of Children's Aid Societies of Ontario. She authored a book, The Citizens of Tomorrow and a play Pageant of Motherhood. Up to 2006 Hamilton’s hospital was named in her honour. In 2008 the new Juravinski for $8.00 a week. Hospital created a Life of Service Display on the main floor for Henderson. She was inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction in 1990. In 2016 the Frances Henderson Secondary High School was opened. Source: thanks to Hamilton Public Library for information supplied. February 2016.

Born 1945. Married and a mother of three children Victoria combined a career and her love of art. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Fine Arts. She went on to earn her Master’s Degree from Carleton University, Ottawa, in Canadian Studies. From 1967 to 1995 she worked in India and Zambia. Returning to Ottawa in 1975 she opened the Ufundi Gallery that she operated until 1992. She was a curator and director at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Her spare time was used to produce books such as A Slice of Life: Betty Davison and through her work at the Museum From Icebergs to Ice Tea. In 1999 she was appointed as Director of the Canada Council Art Bank, a position she held until retirement in 2015. She has received the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Member British Columbia Legislature & Senator

Born October 28, 1888, London, England. Died December 15, 1969, British Columbia. Nancy graduated from King's College at the University of London, England and began her career as a journalist. In 1912 she immigrated to Canada with her husband Harry Percival Hodges. The couple settled Kamloops, British Columbia where they edited the Inland Sentinel newspaper. She ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the provincial legislature in 1937. Running again in1941 she was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. She was re-elected in 1945 and again in 1949 and 1952. She is said to have been a skilled debater and a stanch supporter of women's rights. In 1950 she was elected Speaker of the Legislature becoming the 1st woman in Canada and in the British Commonwealth to hold such an office. That year she went on a speaking tour across North America speaking to California Business and Professional Clubs, the Canadian Federation of Liberal Women and the Women's Canadian Clubs. Nancy was appointed to the Canadian Senate in Ottawa in 1953, the 1st woman from British Columbia to become a Canadian Senator. She served until her resignation in 1965.

Born September 6, 1920, Acme, Alberta. Died October 22, 2012, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. Helen began a career as a telephone operator. During World War ll (1939-1945) she served overseas in the Canadian Army Corps. Back home she would become the owner and operator of an International Harvester franchise and an insurance business. From 1960 through 1966 she served as a town councillor prior to becoming Mayor of Rocky Mountain House. In 1971 she was elected to the provincial legislature serving as Minister Without Portfolio from 1971-1973 and as the 1st woman to serve as Solicitor-General,1973-1975. She also served as Minister of Social Services and Community Health from 1975 until she retired in 1979. June 1980 she was appointed chair of the Alberta Mental Health Advisory Council and went on to serve on the Alberta 75th Anniversary Commission.  In the mid 1980's she was president of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party. January 22, 1985 she became Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta, the 1st woman to hold this post. In 1992 she was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada. (2020)

née Macdonald. Born December 5, 1891, West River, Prince Edward Island. Died May 31, 1986, Ottawa, Ontario. Elsie married George Strong Inman (died 1937) , a Charlottetown lawyer in 1910.  The couple had four sons. She was owner of the Poole House Inn, Montague and served as vice president of the Inn's Association. She was active in the Imperial Daughters of the Empire (I O D E)  and worked with the Red Cross Movement where she was responsible for the Blood Donor Clinic set up in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Elsie was a supporter of her husband's political career aspirations and was an advocate for women's rights including the right to vote. .  Elsie was appointed as a Liberal Member of the Senate July 28, 1955 as the first woman Senator from Prince Edward Island. In 1985 she was the oldest service Canadian senator. (2023)

Born August 20, 1949, Kampala, Uganda. In 1972 Mobina earned a Bachelor of Law at London University, London, England. After immigrating to Canada she was called to the bar in British Columbia where she opened her own practice. She is married and the couple have two children. She was appointed Queens Counsel in 1993. She ran unsuccessfully for a position in the Canadian Parliament in a Vancouver riding in 1993 and also in 1997. 1994 through 1998 she was Vice President of the Liberal Party of Canada. From 1998 to 2003 she was President of the National Women’s Liberal Commission. She was appointed the Senate of Canada on June 13, 2001 by Prime Minister Jean Creitien. She is the 1st Muslim Senator in Canada and the 1st of Asian descent. From 2002 through 2006 she was Canada’s Special Envoy in Sudan. 2002-2005 she served as Chair on the Canadian Committee on women, peace and security. 2003 and again in 2004 she was on the list of Canada’s Top 100 most powerful women. Source: Canada. Senate of Canada. Mabina Jaffer. Online (accessed May 2013.)

Born April 27, 1946, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1968 Janis graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts in Political science. She received the Velia Stern Outstanding Student Award when she graduated. After university she worked in the office of the Hon. Roberts Stanfield and was a political organizer in Ontario, western Canada and Newfoundland & Labrador for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. In 1973 she married Frank Moores the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. The couple had 1 son.  In 1977 her volunteer efforts were recognized with the Queen's Jubilee Medal. By 1979 she was back in Manitoba where she was a businesswoman as head of Janis Johnson and Associates a public policy and communications group in Winnipeg. In 1981 she was a founding member of the Manitoba Special Olympics and went on to serve as Director of Special Olympics Canada. From 1986-1991 she was the 1st woman to be appointed to the CN Board of Directors and helped establish the 1st onsite child care facility within a Canadian Crown Corporation. She also served in 1984 as the 1st woman as National Director of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. She also served and the advisory Board of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Prairie Theatre Exchange of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. On September 27, 1990 she was appointed to the Senate of Canada. In 1993 she received the Canada 125 Medal and in 1995 she received the Business and Professional Women’s Award. In 1994 the Special Olympics presented her with its Volunteer Award.  In 2000 she was a founding member and chair of the Gimli Film Festival and the country of Iceland presented her with the Order of the Falcon for working promoting Canadian-Icelandic relations.  In 2003 she received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and in 2009 she was the Outstanding Alumni of the University of Manitoba. In 2012 she was recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award.

née Tick. Born August 31,1932, Wales, United Kingdom. Died June 26, 2019, Toronto, Ontario. Anne studied at the London School of Occupational Therapy in England. Anne immigrated to Canada in the 1950's and settled first in Montreal, Quebec where she worked as a psychiatric hospital.  In 1957 she married Malcolm Johnston and the couple had five children in Toronto. When the children were grown she worked at the Queen Street Mental Health Centre. . Anne was firs elected to the Toronto City council in 1972 serving until 1985. In 1978 she was a candidate for Mayor and in 1985 she tried again to run for mayor. In 1981 she had been a candidate for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.  In 1988 she was elected to the Metro Toronto Council which was the first election where Metro Councilors were directly elected. She served Metro Toronto tuntil 1997 when Toronto was amalgamated into the larger city and she was elected to the new city council serving until 2003. The Anne Johnston Health Station is named in her honour. Source: Obituary June 2019. Online (accessed 2023)

Anne Jones

Municipal Councilor

née MacPherson. Born Edinburgh, Scotland. Anne married the Rev. Aubrey R. Jones and the couple settled in Hamilton, Ontario in 1949. She studied and graduated from the University of Toronto. By 1962, Anne had become an independent agent for the Canada Life Assurance Company and began 22 years of political life by topping the polls in her bid for an aldermanic seat in Ward 1, Hamilton, Ontario.  She served on Hamilton's Board of Control and on July 31st, 1973, she was appointed as the 1st Chairperson of the Hamilton-Wentworth Region a position she maintained for 12 years. She stepped down in 1985. Shortly after leaving the Region's top job she became the Chairman of the Ontario Film Board. She retired after a three year term and went on to head a major fundraising campaign for Hamilton's YWCA. She is also a freelance writer. Anne was inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction in 1994.

née Shaver. Born September 7, 1917, Avanmore, Ontario. Died March 8, 2004, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Eloise was a local psychiatrist when her husband Henry Frank Jones (1920-1964) died while serving as a Member of Parliament representing Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Eloise won his parliamentary seat in a June 22, 1964 by-election running on the Progressive Conservative ticket. She served until November 7, 1965 but did not run in the 1965 election. Eloise and Frank had four children.

Born April 3, 1898, Wainfleet Township, Ontario. Died December 29, 1991,. Mary enjoyed playing hockey and sewing her own clothes all her life. Always active in her community she became an executive member of the Ontario Hospital Auxiliaries Association in the 1950’s. A liberal in politics she served as president of the National Federation of Liberal Women from 1959 through 1963. In 1967 she was appointed by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson to the Senate of Canada. She served to 1973 when she retired at 75 years of age. Source: Obituary, New York Times, December 28, 1991. ; Senate of Canada Biographies Online (accessed July 2014)

née Kirkland. Born September 8, 1924, Palmer, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Died March 24, 2016, Montreal, Quebec. After attending McGill University and, graduating in 1947, she studied law. In 1952 she became a lawyer and practiced law in Montreal. In the early 1960s she was an advisor to the Young Liberals in the Jacques-Cartier riding, she was president of the Mariana B. Jodoin Club's Constitution Committee and the Fédération des femmes libérales du Québec. She was also the founding member of the Association des femmes avocates de la province de Québec. As if were not enough she was also and contributing writer for Châtelaine magazine. She married P. Casgrain and the couple had three children before they divorced.  Marie-Claire was first elected to the Quebec Legislature as member for the Jacques-Cartier riding during the December 14, 1961 by-election, and later for the Marguerite-Bourgeois riding. On December 5, 1962 she became the first woman appointed to the Quebec provincial cabinet when she was appointed the Quebec Cabinet as minister without portfolio. On November 25, 1964 she was appointed Minister of Transportation and Communications. From May 12, 1970 to February 15, 1972 she served as Minister of Tourism, Game and Fishing and as Minister of Cultural Affairs from February 2, 1972 to February 14, 1973. She was the only female member of the Quebec provincial government from 1961-1973 and She was also the first woman ever appointed as interim Premier of a provincial government during the absence of its representative in 1972. She played an outstanding role in the defence of women's issues and the adoption of several laws: in 1964, the renowned Bill 16 on the legal status of married women; in 1969, the bill governing matrimonial regimes and establishing sociétées d'acquêts, and in 1973, the bill establishing the Conseil du statut de la femme. In February 14, 1973 she was appointed as a provincial court judge and president of the Minimum Wage Commission. On June 26, 1985 she became a Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Québec. She withdrew from politics and worked as a judge in Montreal until she retired in 1991. In 1992 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. Her work for the advancement of women’s issues was recognized in 1993 when she was presented with the Governor’s General Commemorative Award for the Persons Case.  She is also a Grande dame de l'Ordre de Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem. In 2012, a statue was erected near the Quebec National Assembly to honour Marie Claire Kirkland-Casgrain as well as Idola Saint-Jean (1880-1945), Marie Gérin-Lajoie (1867-1945), and Thérèse Casgrain (1896-1981). These women were all political pioneers who fought for women’s rights and for improvements in women’s social and economic conditions to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kirkland being made the first female Cabinet minister in Quebec.

née Rogers. Born April 30, 1899, Winnipeg, Manitoba. . Died May 11, 1967, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Margaret's mother Edith Rogers (1876-1947) was the first woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. She attended school in Toronto and New York, U.S.A.  February 11, 1922 Margaret married Gordon Edward Konantz. The couple had three children. Margaret was  volunteered with the Patriotic Salvage Corps, the Bundles for Britain and the Women's Volunteer Services and represented Canadian Britain with the Woman's Volunteer Service. After the death of her husband in 1954 she traveled with UNICEF to multiple countries. In 1962 she was the Liberal Party Candidate but was unsuccessful. The following year she was elected to sit in the House of Commons in Ottawa as Manitoba's first woman Member of Parliament.  She was the only woman on a committee that selected the new Maple leaf flag for Canada. In 1963 she was an official delegate to the United Nations Committee on Social Economic and Humanitarian Problems and toured Canadian reserves. She was defeated in the 1965 federal election and Served as the National Chair for UNICEF Canada. She was awarded posthumously the Order of the British Empire. Her papers are maintained at the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections. Source: Memorable Manitobans online (accessed 2023)

Born October 19, 1954, Hong Kong. Died October 21, 2022, Toronto, Ontario. Cynthia immigrated to Canada in 1972 and settled in Toronto.  She worked as a realtor and  as the first Chinese-Canadian woman to serve as president of the Toronto Real Estate Board. She received the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Medal and the Queen Elizabeth ll Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. In the fall of 2018 she was elected to the Toronto City Council to represent Scarborough North Ward. She served on the Budget and Economic and Community Development Committees and was a T T C Commissioner . As well she served as the Mayor's designate on the Toronto Zoo Board of Management.  She received the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Medal and the Queen Elizabeth ll Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. She was hospitalized during her election campaign in 2022 and died of gallbladder cancer.(2023) 

née Rochon. Born April 15, 1939, Rockland, Ontario. Hugette graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Master of Education and a Doctor of Philosophy in Education. This nursing teacher was one of the few women of her generation to achieve senior administrative status with the federal government.  She was appointed to nursing's highest administrative position as Principal Nursing Officer at Health and Welfare Canada in 1973.  1973 to 1980 she held various senior management posts with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. From 1985 for five years she was chairperson of the Public Service Commission of Canada and in 1990 for three years she was the 1st francophone woman to be a Deputy Minister. In 1998 she received the Outstanding Achievement Award of the Public Service of Canada. In 1999 she was awarded the Vanier Medal from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. She also served as President of the Canadian International Development Agency. In 1984 she became Chancellor at the University of Ottawa serving in that position until 2012. She would serve as the 1st woman President of the Canadian Red Cross. Huguette has served as President, Vice-President, chairperson or sat on the board of numerous organizations including;  the Ottawa General Hospital, the Ottawa Health Sciences Centre Inc., the Transportation Association of Canada, Algonquin College, Ottawa-Carleton United Way, the Management Consulting Institute and the Canadian Nurses Association, the China Council for the International Co-operation on Environment and Development, the World Health Organization\'s Working Group on Health and Development Policies, vice-president of the Canadian Safety Council, World Health Organization\'s Expert Committee on Health Manpower Management Systems, Board of Governors of the International Development Research Centre, the Export Development Corporation, the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, Carleton University, McGill University, the International Aviation Management Training Institute, the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation, the Public Policy Forum, the Collegium of Work and Learning, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Collaboration International Health, as well as the Institute for Public Administration of Canada. She was also a member of the organizing committee for the Summit for youth employment. Environment and Development, the World Health Organization\'s Working Group on Health and Development Policies, vice-president of the Canadian Safety Council, World Health Organization\'s Expert Committee on Health Manpower Management Systems, Board of Governors of the International Development Research Centre, the Export Development Corporation, the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, Carleton University, McGill University, the International Aviation Management Training Institute, the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation, the Public Policy Forum, the Collegium of Work and Learning, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Collaboration International Health, as well as the Institute for Public Administration of Canada. She was also a member of the organizing committee for the Summit for youth employment.  In 2001 Hugette became an officer of the Order de la Pleiade and a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2007 she was one of 15 Trailblazers and Trendsetters  by the Woman's Exchange Network.  On January 19, 2016, she was appointed to Chair the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, to advise the Prime Minister on Senate appointments. (2019)

née Deschamps Born June 28, 1933, Eastview (Now Vanier), Ontario. Gisèle was a bright student who had skipped ahead three grades to be in grade 8. She earned her teaching certificate from the University of Ottawa and taught in the city from 1951-1973. She married Gilles Lalande. In 1965 she became the 1st woman to be a school board trustee in the area. In 1977, after having served as executive director of the Ottawa-based Centre franco-ontarien de ressources pédagogiques, a francophone teachers’ resource centre Lalonde founded she ran provincially for the Progressive Conservatives in Ottawa-East. She did not win that election but she did earn the respect of the Progressive Conservative Party in the province and she served as an advisor on the subject of francophone education for the Ontario Ministry of Education and chaired a council to advise the Provincial premier.  In 1985 she was elected mayor of the city of Vanier. In 1988, she founded and was the first president of l'Association française des municipalités de l'Ontario. She served as a leader in the five year effort to stop the closing of the Montfort Hospital, the only Francophone hospital in the Ottawa. Gisèle was also a staunch supporter of the local Scout district of Ottawa. In 2003 she was made a Member of the Order of Canada and in 2006 she was inducted into the Order of Ontario. (2019)

Born August 24, 1940. Died January 17, 2014, Montreal, Quebec. In 1985 she was appointed as a non-elected Minister of the Status of Women by René Levesque however, she resigned within 6 months when she did not win a seat in elections. She became a member of the Bloc Quebecois Member of Parliament in Ottawa in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 and again in 2008 for ridings in Montreal. In June 2005 she introduced to the Canadian parliament a bill proposing legalization of assisted suicide. This private members bill was defeated but it did open up wide debate on the topic. She would introduce the bill again in June 2008 and in May 2009 and suffered defeat both times. She died from cancer just months prior to the Quebec provincial legislature passed a bill on this subject. Source: Stephanie Marin, Francine Lalande, former Bloc MP dies of cancer at 73. Huffington Post January 17, 2014. (accessed 2014)

Diane earned her Bachelor degree in pharmacology from the Université de Montréal and went on to earn her Master's in 2003. In 2001 she taught at the Université de Montréal. Diane served as the President of the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec. In 2014 Diane was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec. Diane is a Member of the Order of Canada.

Born December 20, 1924, Chatham, Ontario. Died October 27, 1980. Like many women of her generation Judy attended Normal School to train as a teacher. Instead of teaching she joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps and served from 1943-1946. After her military service Judy attended the University of Toronto for her B.A. and then attended Osgoode Hall and was called to the bar as a lawyer in 1950. As a politician she was elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa in a by-election in the fall of 1960. In 1963 she became the second woman to be appointed to a Cabinet position in the Canadian government. This colourful, flamboyant woman, as Minister of Health and Welfare, introduced the Canada Pension Plan and supervised the drafting of what became Canada’s Medicare system. She became the 1st official in the western world government to oppose tobacco smoking publicly. As Secretary of State for Canada she presided over the 1967 Centennial Year celebrations for Canada with great flair.  She also established the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. She left politics after Canada’s Centennial Year using her time in retirement to author 3 books including her autobiography, Memoirs of a Bird in a Gilded Cage in 1969. She became a broadcaster and hosted own weekday radio program on CBC Radio. She returned to work as a lawyer and in 1974 defended the Brunswick Four in a prominent LGBT Case. In April 1975 she headed the Ontario Royal Commission on Violence in the Communications Industry.  Ill with pancreatic cancer she was inducted into the Order of Canada from her hospital bed on July 22, 1980. The Government of Canada Building in Chatham, Ontario is known as the Judy LaMarsh Building. Sources: Judy LaMarsh, Making Medicare: the history of health care in Canada 1914-2007, www.historymuseum.ca (Accessed 2007); Canadian Encyclopedia Online (accessed 2004)

née Beaulieu. Born 1836, Salt River Region, North West Territories. Died 1918, Fort Providence, Northwest Territories. Catherine was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church at Portage la Loche, Saskatchewan. Between 1848 and 1852 she attended the Grey Nuns’ school in St. Boniface, Red River. At 16 in 1852 she married Joseph Bouvier (d1877) and the couple had five children. She was known for driving her dog team 150 miles along her own trail to old Fort Rae to visit family members and deliver mail. The Mackenzie Highway now follows her travel route. She also snowshoes out in spring to gather birch sap to make her Birch syrup. In 1879 she married Jean-Baptiste Lamoureaux (d 1918) While they lived in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories she help established the Sacred Heart Hospital and worked with the Grey Nuns to establish a school. She was a strong believer of preserving her Métis culture and language. She was known as Kukum Baie which meant grandmother of us all, one who gives and sustains life. In 2011 the Canadian Sites and Monuments Board declared her a Historical Person, the 1st Métis woman of the Northwest Territories to receive this distinction.

née Playter. Born January 21, 1869, Schomberg, Ontario. Died November 20, Ottawa, Ontario. In 1884 Maud's widowed father remarried and moved his family to Ottawa where they lived in Sandy Hill.  In 1885 she met the young poet Archibald Lampman (1861-1899).  Emma married her poet  September 3, 1887. She would finance the publication of his first book of poetry, Among the Millet. In 1894 she suffered the death of her 3 month old son and herself suffered from ill health. Many years later it came to light that Archibald had had an undefined affair with a Katherine Waldell who had worked at the Post Office Department with him at the time of his wife's illness. To provide for herself and her two other children she was forced to find employment. Colleagues of he husband had posthumously published a book of Archibald Lampman's poems from which all proceeds were given to Maud. She  approached Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) then Prime Minister of Canada and was able to obtain temporary employment at the Privy Council Office. She wrote the tow day Civil Service exam in the hopes of obtaining a permanent position. Her temporary work did not provide a good living wage.  In 1903 she became the first woman to earn a permanent position on Parliament Hill where she worked in the Library of Parliament. She earned a lucrative $800.00 a year. She was one of seven women holding a permanent position in the Government. Maud died of heart failure at her desk in the library. She was buried in the Lampman family plot at Beachwood Cemetery without a headstone. Source: Diane Brydon, A Genteel Woman in Need: Emma Maud Lampman, First Woman Appointed on Parliament Hill. Historical Society of Ottawa, 2022.

née Lanteigne. Born December 27, 1945, Sainte-Cécile, New Brunswick. Aldéa earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Université de Moncton and her law degree from the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton. She graduated from the Directors Education Program offered by the ICD Corporate Governance College and the Rotman's School of Business, as well as of the Governance Essentials for Directors of Non-Profit Organizations and of the Financial Literacy Program for Directors and Executives. She began her career as legal counsel with the New Brunswick Department of Justice  and from 1977 for ten years she worked in private practice. In 1987 she was appointed Queen's Council. From 1987 - 1991 as a Member of the Legislative Assembly she served as President of the Executive Council while serving as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. She also served as Deputy Premier from 1987-1991.  In 1993, Landry became President of Landal Inc.  She is vice-president of Diversis Inc., specializing in immigration and diversity, a co-owner of Boutique ProWeb, a specialist in e-commerce and e-marketing, and a partner/investor in several start-ups. Aldéa is a former chair of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Canada from 1995 to 2005 and of the Security Intelligence Review Committee from 2005 to 2008. In 2003, she was chosen by Progress Magazine as one of 20 Atlantic Canadians who represent the spirit of progress in Atlantic Canada. She sits on the Boards of several corporations, national and community level organizations including Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and the Canadian University of Dubai and has served as Chancellor of Université Sainte-Anne of Nova-Scotia. In 2005 she was appointed to the Privy Council of Canada and the following year she was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2009 she earned the Muriel Fergusson Award from the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce.  In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2009 and in 2010, she was named Top 100: Canada's Most Powerful Women by the Women's Executive Network. She is the first recipient of the Brunswick Muriel Corkery-Ryan Women Lawyers Forum Leadership award. In 2013, she was inducted in the New Brunswick Business Hall of Fame and was awarded the Order of Moncton in 2014. (2019)

Born January 23, 1943, Rossland, British Columbia. Died July 30, 2009, Port Moody, British Columbia. Joy was proud of her career as a journalist and writer. She was also a social activist. In 1988 she was elected to the Canadian House of Commons representing Mission-Coquitlam electoral district. She sat in the House of Commons for the New Democratic Party. She ran again for election in 1993  and again in 1997 but was not successful in winning. (2022)

née Lavoie. Born March 12, 1928, Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec. Died January 31, 2009, Montreal, Quebec. Thérèse went to school and studied to be a social worker and therapist at the University of Montreal where in 1951 she earned her doctorate (PhD). In 1961 she married Lucien Roux and the couple had four children. In 1976 she was elected to the Quebec provincial National Assembly and was re-elected serving until 1989. She was a member of the provincial cabinet as Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister of Health and Welfare, Minister Responsible for Family Policies, and Minister for the Office for the Handicapped. In 1990 she was appointed to the Canadian Senate retiring in 2001. (2018)

Born January 3, 1912, Disraeli, Quebec. Died May 11, 2002, Ottawa, Ontario. Louise studied music, literature, languages, and sociology all preparing her to become a world class journalist. She was one of the early women to embrace her profession working in the 1940’s and 1950’s at Le Soleil in Quebec City. In 1959 she had become one of the first women reporters at LaPresse in Montreal to have her name on mayor by-lines not necessarily appearing on the Women’s Pages. From her interviews she wrote a book: L’histoire bouleversante de Monseigneur Charbonneau (Editions du jour, 1962) which was so popular it became the basis for a well accepted play. She was also a correspondent for Time and Life magazines as well as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (C B C) International Service. In 1965 she was Canadian Journalist of the Year. In 1971 Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau appointed her to the Senate of Canada. She worked on Senate reform, old age security, bilingualism, and the United Nations. Renaude became the first Franco Canadian Woman to be speaker of the Senate in 1974 and only the second woman in the history of the Senate. She retired from the Senate in 1979. In 1989 she was appointed to the Order of Canada. Sources: Canada. Senate. Debates of the Senate. The Late Renaude Lapointe. Tuesday May 28, 2002. ; Women in Ottawa; Mentors and Milestones. Online (accessed August 2011).

Born September 27, 1956. Died December 29, 2021, Hawkesbury, Ontario. Judith earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in political Science at Carleton University, Ottawa, in 1979. She would return to Carleton University to earn a Master of Arts degree in public Administration in 1992. She went on to received a degree from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. During her working career she served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of Nature, on the Board of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Board of the Hawkesbury General Hospital, vice-chair and interim chair of the C R T C. In 1991 she married André Lavoie. Her public service career began with the Public Service Commission of Canada. She would work at the Prime Minister's Office, the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, the Government House Leader, the president of the Queen's Privy Council, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and the Minister of State for Federal- Provincial Relations. She served as Secretary to the Governor Genera from 1990 through 2000. She also had leadership roles with the Department of Canadian Heritage as Deputy Minister from 2002 through 2010. As a diplomat she represented Canada as Ambassador to the O E C D in Paris, France from 2010 through 2015.  Source: Obituary Ottawa Citizen (accessed 2022)

Born January 23, 1954, Montreal, Quebec. Died March 26, 2021, Montreal, Quebec. Carole was a businesswoman, communication consultant, communicator, and journalist. In the 2004 federal election she was elected as a member of the Bloc Québécois to the House of Commons in Ottawa representing the Saint-Bruno-Saint Hubert riding in Quebec. She was appointed party critic for labour. She was defeated in the 2011 federal election. (2023)

Born June 29, 1929/1930, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Viola studied for her Ba and then her Bachelor in Education at the Université de Moncton, New Brunswick. It was during her university studies that she met her life partner, playwright Antonine Maillet. Her 1st career was as a teacher. When she was in her late 30’s she studied at Boston University, Massachusetts, U.S.A. graduating in theater arts and then she studied in Paris, France. In 1971 she performed in La Sagouine a one person show that  she brought to life in both French and English. In 1976 she was awarded the Prix Littéaire de La Press. In 1978 she was named Chevalier de L’Ordre de la Pleaide and  won a Dora Mavor Moore Award. In 1987 she earned the Medaille du Conseil de la Vie Française en Amerique.  October 23, 1989 she was inducted as an officer of the Order of Canada. In 1991 she became a Chevalier de l’Ordre française des Arts et des Lettres. Again in 2001 the role garnered her a Masque Award.    In 2001 she was also appointed to the senate of Canada. In 2007 she was inducted into the Order of New Brunswick. In 2013 she earned the Governor General’s Award in the Performing Arts for lifetime achievement.

Born 1952, Quebec City, Quebec. Anne earned her B.A. at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario and her M.A. at the University of Toronto. She entered the civil service of Canada to become a career diplomat. In 1974-1976 she worked with the European Economic Community in Brussels, Belgium. In 1980 she was posted to the Canadian Embassy in Moscow, USSR. In 1982 she was back in Europe working at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France.  In 1989 she was appointed Canada’s Ambassador in the Cameroon Central African Republic. From there she would go to Chad, Poland, Russia, Armenia, Uzbekistan and Belarus. In 1999 she was back in Canada where she was Diplomat in Residence at York University, Toronto. In 2000 to 2002 she worked as Federal Government Coordinator for World Youth Day In Toronto. It was the largest youth event ever held in Canada. From 2008 through 2012 she was Canada’s Ambassador to the Holy Sea better known as the Vatican. Returning home she began teaching at McGill University.

Oryssia received her BA at the University of Alberta in 1969.Oryssia worked in the Alberta provincial government for 26 years serving  as Deputy Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs from 1990 to 1997. November 1, 1997 she was appointed as Deputy Minister for Western Economic Diversification Canada. That same years she was the YWCA Woman of Distinction in Edmonton, Alberta.  Oryssia has received the Peter Lougheed Award for Leadership and in 2002 she received the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta's Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Public Administration. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the Canada West Foundation which explores public policy issues of interest to Western Canadians. She retired in 2009 and continued working as a volunteer in her community and public policy organizations. In 2015 she received the Alumni of Honour Award from the University of Alberta. In December of 2016 she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2017 she was appointed to the Board of Directors of Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko. (2019)

After having served as Town Manager for the Town Council of Nain for a year in  2006 Sarah was elected AngajukKak (mayor) of the Nain Inuit Community Government in Newfoundland and Labrador. She also served on VO North Coast Combined Councils of Labrador. In 2010 for two years Sara worked as the Executive Director of the OKalakatiget Society. Sarah was elected as President of Nunatsiavut in 2012 and served in that position through 2016 an autonomous Inuit region of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2016 she worked for nine months as Aboriginal Affairs Superintendent at Vale mining. In 2017 she became Vice President Corporate Development of the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies.

Born July 25, 1933, Wuxi, China. Sophia is a business consultant and a medical social worker in Vancouver hospitals. She has also taught at the University of British Columbia. . An active volunteer she has served as a Board member for 20 arts, business and community organizations.  she became a Member of the Order of Canada in 1994.  In 1997 she became the 1st Chinese woman elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa representing Vancouver-Kingsway, British Columbia. (2019)

Born 1914, Calgary, Alberta. Died June 6, 1990, Vancouver, British Columbia.  A Vancouver alderman, first elected in 1961. She served as the chair of numerous committees Which were concerned with everything from the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to city sewers. In 1963 she served as the Chair of British Columbia Aviation Council. She served five terms to 1974. She was the only woman member of Canada's 1967 Centennial Commission. She worked as Director and columnist for the Vancouver Sun's Edith Adams' Cottage, an extremely popular column.  She ran unsuccessfully as a Progressive Conservative candidate for the provincial legislative Assemble in 1972 but became the PC spokesperson for small business, municipal affairs and the lowly but voting housewife. Source: The Vancouver Hall of Fame online (accessed November 2012)

Born June 18, 1937, Tracadie, New Brunswick. A teacher by profession, she taught for 20 years at Ecole secondaire Nepisiguit in Bathurst, New Brunswick. She was elected the 1st woman president of the Association des enseignantes et enseignants francophone du Nouveau-Brunswick in 1983 and has sat on the board of directors of the Canadian Teachers' Federation. She was Teacher of the Year in New Brunswick in 1993. She entered into politics by serving on several provincial and federal committees including the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women.  She was appointed to the Senate of Canada March 21, 1995 retiring June 18, 2012. In January 2004 she served as Government Whip, the 1st woman to hold this position.

Born 1943, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Died January 26, 2013, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Daurene was proud of her maritime black history roots which reached back to USA revolutionary slaves escaping to Nova Scotia. Her family strongly believed in education for their children. Daurene studied Nursing at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She worked for a short time in Toronto before returning home to care for her ill mother. Her mother was an accomplished weaver and Daurene learned from her making weaving her avocation and opening her own artistic studio. In 1979 she realized that in order to advocate needed change she must get involved and she became the 1st Black woman to run for Annapolis Town Council. In 1982 she was appointed town mayor.  And became the 1st Black woman in Canada to become a mayor in 1984. She did not want her ethnicity to be her legacy and worked hard to move the town ahead. After her term as mayor in 1988 she became the 1st Black woman in Nova Scotia to run in a provincial election. She was not successful in her bid for the provincial assembly and left politics. She worked in education of the arts and became principal of the two Nova Scotia Community College campuses. Helping to open a new campus in Dartmouth. She earned a masters degree in Business Administration at St. Mary’s University in Halifax and served as executive director of Mount St Vincent University Centre for Women in Business. In 2002 she was recognized for her works with the Order of Canada. She would serve on the Premier’s Council on the Economy, chair the Africville Heritage Trust where she was instrumental in building a replica of Halifax’s Africville Church. Source: “She was Canada’s 1st Black female Mayor”. by Allison Lawlor, The Globe and Mail, February 12, 2013 Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario

Born 1937, Montreal, Quebec. She attended the Université de Paris, France for her BA and then went on to earn a degree in civil law at McGill University, Montreal. Her MA was earned in international law at the Institut des hautes etudes internationals, Paris. For her PhD she studied at the University of Navarra, Spain. She was called to the Bar in Quebec in 1960. In 1965 she was working for the Quebec Department of Education. Relocating to Ottawa in 1970 she worked in the Constitutional Review Section of the Privy Council of Canada. By 1972 she was working at External Affairs but while she would have liked a position in the Foreign Services, it would have meant a substantial cut in pay. She worked in the United States Relations Division dealing with boundary waters where she earned the nickname ‘Miss Bridges’. She also worked with the International Joint Commission Canada/U.S.A. In 1976 she was the 1st Co-ordinator for the Status of Women while also dealing with the United Nations during the UN Decade of the Woman. In 1978 she was Canadian Consul General in Strasbourg, Germany. Reassigned in 1985 she returned Ottawa as Director of UN Social and Humanitarian Affairs Division. In 1986 she polished her Spanish language skills and served as Ambassador to Spain and in 1992 she was Ambassador to Cuba. Source: Margaret K. Weirs, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Dundurn Press, 1995)

née Morrison. Born October 15, 1893, Arthur, Ontario. Died January 24, 1972. In 1914 she married tool-and-die maker Richard Luckock and the couple settled in Toronto. A seamstress by profession she found it difficult to find work during the Depression Years. It was also during this time that her young daughter died of scarlet fever. Rae became a lifelong proponent of social programs to help the poor. In 1932 she joined the newly formed Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (C.C.F. forerunner of the New Democratic Party NDP) On December 6, 1943 she and Agnes Macphail (1880-1954) became the 1st women to be elected to the Ontario Provincial Legislature. Both women were defeated in the election of 1945. In 1942-43 she served as president of the Housewives and Consumers Association and was an organizer of the HCA 1948 March of a Million Names that petitioned the Canadian Government to lower prices of consumer goods. The federal government did take some action against milling and baking companies who had artificially fixed the price of bread. In 1950 the HCA and other groups formed the Canadian Congress of Women (C C W) with Rae as the founding President.  She visited Communist China and asked Russian women to visit Canada to talk to the CCW which meant she would be denied entrance in the U.S. The last years of her life were spent fighting Parkinson’s Disease.  Source: Margarette Rae Morrison Luckock. Collections Canada. National Library of Canada (accessed 2005); Rae Luckock, M P P. Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Born July 21, 1880, Sarnia, Ontario. Died December 16, 1959, Calgary, Alberta. Roberta graduated in 1911 from the Macdonald Institute for Domestic Science, Guelph, Ontario. After graduation she worked for the Alberta government helping rural women of the province learn home economics. Her findings during this time would be the basis for the creation of the Alberta Women's Institutes. In 1912 she became the Supervisor of Household Science for the Edmonton Public Schools. In 1916, desiring to help with the World War l effort she was commissioned as a Lieutenant with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (C A M C) even though she was not a registered nurse. She was the staff dietitian at the Ontario Military Hospital in Orpington, England where she saw to the serving of 3,500 meals each day to patients and staff. In 1917 the Alberta Military Representation Act allowed for the election of two at-large members of the Legislative Assembly who would represent the service members from alberta who were service over seas. Roberta became elected to the Alberta legislature as an independent becoming the second woman to service in the legislature and the second elected anywhere in the British Commonwealth. Patricia became the first woman in the British Empire to introduce and have successfully passed a piece of legislature in the British Empire, the Act to Incorporate the Great War Next of Kin Association, April 13, 1918. She went on to join the staff of Khaki University which provided extension programs for soldiers. She was a chaperone for British War Brides  and helped these new immigrants though her work with the Alberta Soldier Settlement Board. In 1920 she married married a lawyer, Harvey Stinson Price and opted to retire from politics. The couple had one son. In 1967 her portrait was presented to hand in the Alberta legislative building. The Roberta MacAdams School, Edmonton, opened in September 2016.  Her biography, Give your other Vote to a Sister: A woman's Journey into the Great War by Debbie Marshall was published in 2007 by the University of Calgary Press. (2023)

Born Jun 30, 1895, Marash, Turkey. Died June 12, 1985. Elizabeth’s parents were Canadian Presbyterian missionaries serving in Turkey. The family returned to Canada when Elizabeth was a teenager. After high school she attended Normal School (Teacher’s College) in Calgary and from 1915-1917 she worked teaching at prairie schools before enrolling at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. By 1919 she had earned her Master’s Degree. She attend Columbia  University in New York City, New York, U.S.A.  From 1925 through 1931 she worked at New York’s Foreign Policy Association researching and writing reports and monographs on the Middle East. In 1931 she retreated to a 2 acre market garden in Uxbridge, Ontario to recharge her batteries and to give herself some relief for the intensity of concentration requiring the wearing of hearing aids. In 1935 she wrote the book Rivalries in Ethiopia and also gave radio talks on the subject of the Middle East.  By 1936 she was back in Ottawa working for the League of Nations and later at the Canadian Legion’s Educational Department. In 1942 she began her career at External Affairs Department, still focusing on the Middle East, her work was given the highest considerations. She proposed a division of Palestine into 2 states – one Jewish, one Arab which was sent up to Prime Minister William Lion Mackenzie King. It was in 1947 that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the partitioning of Palestine and 6 months later the State of Israel was formed.  In 1947 the Canadian government ban against women serving as foreign officers was lifted and Elizabeth became the foreign officer of the unofficial Middle East Division. In 1954 -1956 Elizabeth became the 1st woman to go abroad as a head of a posting at the New Canadian Legation in Beirut, Lebanon  where she had the title of Madame Le Chargé and where she was the 1st woman to head a diplomatic mission in Lebanon. Her deafness bothered  her to the extent that in 1956 she returned to Ottawa to head the new Official Middle East Division. She officially retired for health reasons in 1958 but returned, upon request,  until June 30, 1960. Even then she occasionally worked through to 1977. At 82 she was a volunteer at the Ottawa Civic Hospital working with the hearing impaired.  In 1967 she received the Medal of Service of the Order of Canada and later she became an Officer of the Order of Canada. Sadly she never got around to writing her memoirs. Source: Margaret Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Toronto: Dundurn, 1995)  

Born June 3, 1926, Sydney, Nova Scotia. Died July 26, 2015, Ottawa, Ontario.  After having worked several years behind the scenes of the Progressive Conservative Party she was elected  Member of Parliament for Kingston and the islands in 1972. In 1977 the National Film Board of Canada produced a documentary showing her bid for the progressive Conservative run for leadership of the party in 1976. On June 4, 1979 she was sworn in as a member of the Queen's Privy Council of Canada.  In the Joe Clark Government 1979-1980 she became the 1st woman to hold a major cabinet post as Secretary of State for External Affairs. The Iran hostage crisis was  a major issue during MacDonald's term. Six American diplomats had escaped the seizure of the American embassy by radical Iranian students and had sought refuge in the Canadian embassy in Tehran. MacDonald authorized the issuance of false passports and money to the six as part of a plan to rescue the escapees that had the Americans pose as Canadians and leave the country with Canadian staff when the embassy was closed on January 28, 1980, although she was not able to discuss her role publicly.[3][9] The successful operation became known as the Canadian Caper, and it was later dramatized in the Academy Award-winning film Argo. She would later serve in the Mulroney Cabinet as Minister of Employment and Immigration. In 1992 she was inducted  as an Officer into the Order of Canada  and in 1998 she was promoted to Companion of the Order. In 1995 she received the Order of Ontario. In 2000 she received the Pearson Medal of Peace. 2002 saw her awarded the Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal.  In 2004 she was awarded the Padma Shri civilian award from the Government of India.  In 2007 she was made a member of the Order of Nova Scotia. After retiring from the political forum she worked to help the people of Afghanistan to help themselves by providing simple training in the sues of solar energy that the people provided for themselves. In October 2010 she received the Canada World Peace Award from the World Federalist Movement-Canada. In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Maclean's Magazine. The prominent 400 boat Harbour in front of the Kingston Ontario City Hall  is named in her honour. During her career she received 19 honourary degrees from various universities in Canada and the United States

Born April 30, 1918, North Cobalt, Ontario. Died June 5, 2006, Ottawa, Ontario. Mary was a graduate of Ottawa University with a BA in political sciences in 1938 and a MA in 1948. She began work with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company but soon signed up to serve with the Canadian Red Cross overseas between 1942-1945. After the war she joined the Canadian Government Department of External Affairs and followed future Prime Minister Lester Bowles Pearson (1897-1972) into politics serving as his executive assistant. Although she did not leave Ottawa often she did accompany Mr. and Mrs. Pearson when he was presented with his Nobel Peace Prize. She was highly respected by her colleagues and other Members of Parliament. She continued working with Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau as his administrative assistant until her retirement in 1979. Mary was awarded the Order of Canada in 1980. In her retirement, Mary was involved with the Salvation Army, the Bronson Home, the Women's Canadian Club and the Zonta Club among others. She also worked with the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation in its early days. Source: Jean Bannerman, Leading Ladies of Canada (Belleville, Mika Publishing, 1977); Obituary, The Ottawa Citizen June 6, 2008.

Born November 17, 1910, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died February 3, 1968. She studied at Halifax Academy and Halifax Business College. She attempted a teaching career but chose to be a secretary. In 1941 she married John MacDonald and they had a family of three children. Mr. MacDonald died in 1961 while serving as a Member of Parliament. Margaret ran in the By-election May 29, 1961 and filled her husband’s seat in the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. She was the first woman to win a seat in the House of Commons for the Progressive Conservatives. She was re-elected in 1962 but failed to retain her seat in the April 8, election 1963. Sadly she was killed in an automobile accident. Source: Outstanding Women of Prince Edward Island Compiled by the Zonta Club of Charlottetown, 1981.

née Woodsworth. Born July 25, 1905, Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Died July 10,1991 Sechelt, British Columbia. Grace was born into a political household as the daughter of J. S. Woodsworth, founder of the CCF party (now NDP) of Canada. She graduated from the University of Manitoba and attended the Sorbonne in France. Her 1st career was that of a teacher but she soon became an assistant to her father in 1931.  She followed her home training by entering politics and being a known social activist. In 1932 she married politician, Angus MacInnis (1884-1964). She served as a member of the legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1941 to 1945 and as a Member of Parliament in Ottawa from 1965 to 1974 the 1st woman from British Columbia and the 1st wife of a former Canadian Member of Parliament elected on her own right to be elected to the House of Commons and the 1st wife of a former Canadian Member of parliament. In 1974 she became an Officer in the Order of Canada. In 1990 she was inducted into the Order of British Columbia. There is a Grace MacInnis Retirement home in Burnaby, B.C. and a Grace MacInnis Co-op housing in Vancouver, B.C.  (2020)

Born 1875, Nova Scotia. Died 1963, Vancouver, British Columbia. Jean worked as a school teacher in Nova Scotia for 15 years before moving to Saskatchewan. In her new home in 1909 she was a social worker , an inspector of foster homes and by 1916 was the superintendent of neglected children. In 1917 she was appointed Juvenile Court Judge for Saskatchewan, the first person, male or female to hold this position. She was also appointed a Justice of the Peace, the first woman in Canada to hold such a position. She would hear over 5,000 cases with only 13 appeals and in that only 6 reversals.  During her tenure she travelled, much of the time by horse and buggy, 25,000 miles annually . She enjoyed playing golf, tennis and badminton. She would donate a cup for the Girls’ uner-18 tournament at the Lakeshore Tennis Club in Regina. She worked with her United Church, the women’s Canadian Club, the Regina Orchestral Society, the Saskatchewan Social Service Council and the Canadian Association of Child Protection Agencies. Regina commemorated her achievements by naming MacLachlan Crescent in her honour. Source: City of Regina. Heritage & History Online. (accessed January 2012).

Born May 16, 1924, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Died October 30, 1998, Ottawa, Ontario. After her studies at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Toronto (U of T)  Marion joined the federal Department of External Affairs. In 1954 she became the first woman from the diplomatic core to serve on the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Vietnam. She would work in Washington, D.C., Ottawa, and New York to begin her career. She went on as Counselor to the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United Nations 1963-1968, High Commissioner to Sri Lanka ( 1973-1976), and Ambassador to Denmark (1979-1983). In 1883 she was appointed Deputy Commandant of the National Defence College from 1983-1985, and High Commissioner to Zambia from 1985- 1987. She was only the third woman in Canada to hold the post of High Commissioner when she went to Sri Lanka in 1973 , and the first woman to do so as a career diplomat. Marion was a skilled pianist who studied the instrument throughout her lifetime.  She is profiled on a  YouTube video:  A diplomatic pioneer - Marion Adams Macpherson

Born October 7, 1931, Montreal, Quebec. Died February 1, 2006. Shirley married René Maheu and the two were successful partners with and insurance brokerage firm. She was a founding member of the Saint-Laurent Chamber of Commerce and served as the first vice president of the organization.  She was also an active member of the local and national community charities including the Boy Scouts of Canada. From 1982 to 1988 she was a Saint Laurent Municipal Councilor. She ran for a seat in the House of Commons with the Liberal Party of Canada in November 1988 and represented Saint-Laurent electoral district. In September 1990 she was appointed Regional Whip for the province of Quebec. She was re-elected in 1993 and she served as Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole from January 1994 to February 1996  when she became assistant deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. In 1996 she was appointed as a Senator. She served and chaired Senate committees and in October 2004 she was appointed Speaker Pro Tempire of the Senate of Canada. (2023)

Born April 15, 1931, Bernard Harbour (Nalahugiuq) Nunavut. Died January 22, 2009 Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island, Nunavut. Helen married John Sr in 1950 and the couple settled in Cambridge Bay in 1961 to raise a family of six surviving children. Her home was often a refuge for victims of domestic violence. In the was employed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and managed an outreach centre. She was appointed as Deputy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories in 1992. Helen served as the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories from January 16, 1995 until March 26, 1999 as the first Inuk to hold this office. She worked to establish the new Territory of Nunavut.  She was also the first Commissioner of Nunavut from April 1, 1999 until April 1, 2000. In 2003 she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada. She was Assistant Commissioner of Nunavut from November 2005 until her death in 2009. She also served as a member of the Qulliit (Nunavut) Status of Women Council and as an Elder for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Helen Maksagak Drive in Iqualuit is named in her memory. (2019)

Born Winnipeg, Manitoba. As a pre-teen Judy borrowed a paper piano keyboard from the Public Library to teach herself music. Judy moved to Hamilton, Ontario in 1972.  She began a career in real estate in 1974 and has been president of her own real estate company since January 1988. In 1991 she became the 1st woman president of the Metropolitan Hamilton Real Estate Board. In 1996 she was elected president of the Hamilton and District Chamber of Commerce. In 2001 she was the 1st Hamiltonian recipient of the Chamber of Commerce Athena Award which recognizes excellence, community service and active assistance to women in developing their leadership skills Marsales was elected as a Member of the Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Hamilton West from 2003 to 2007, when the riding was dissolved. She supports countless community projects including being an advisor for the Dundas Valley Museum and being a board member of  An Instrument For Every Child. She also hosts and sponsors her own radio show and sings in a choir and at several annual fundraisers. Judy was inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction in 2011.

née Label. Born June 21, 1943, Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Died January 30, 2013, Sudbury, Ontario. Diane attended the University of Ottawa for three years leaving before she received her degree. She married fellow student Paul Marleau when she left university in 1963. The couple settled in Sudbury in Northern Ontario where they brought up their three children.  In Sudbury Diane worked as a secretary to a medical doctor for five years where she saw the need for publicly funded health. She returned to university as a mature student at Sudbury's Laurentian University and completed her Bachelor degree in Economics in 1976.  After graduation she worked as an accountant and office manageer  and helped with the operation of a family restaurant. Becoming involved in her community she served on the boarsd of Laurentian University and Laurentian Hospital. In 1980 she worked on a federal election campaign and thought of her own career as a politician. She was elected to serve as a alderman for the City of Sudbury and a Regional Municipality of Sudbury councillor from 1980 to 1985.  She served on the board of governors for Cambrian College and was a member of the Ontario Advisory Council on Women's Issues. In 1983 she was chair of the Canadian Games of the Physically Disabled. In 1985 she became part of a team to transition the Ontario provincial Liberal Party as it formed its first government in 42 years. That same year she ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Sudbury. In 1988 she was elected to represent the riding of Sudbury in the Canadian House of Commons. In 1991 under Prime Minister jean Chrètien she became deputy Liberal whip. She was appointed as a Cabinet Minister of National Health and Welfare and Minister of Amateur Sport. She would establish a section of Canada's Health department specifically devoted to women's issues and created Canada's fir Centre of Excellence focused on women's health. She also introduced some porgrams to alleviate health problems in Aboriginal communities. In 1996 she was appointed Minister of Public Works and Minister of Supply and Services which amalgamated into the office of Minister of Public Works and Government Services which February 1996 introduced Canada's new two dollar coin. In 1997 she was appointed as Minister for International Co-operation and Minister Responsible for La Francophonie in the newly elected government. In the summer of 1999 she was dropped from cabinet as she became increasingly critical of the Prime Minister. In 2004 she was re-elected and was appointed as parliamentary secretary to the President of the Treasurer Board.  and Minister Responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board. She was defeated in the 2008 federal election. In 2009 she received the Bernadine Yackman Award from the Business and Professional Women's Club of Greater Sudbury.

Born April 11, 1965, Seoul, Korea. Yonah immigrated to Canada with her family in 1972. In 1986 she had earned her B.A. at the University of British Columbia followed the next year with her Masters in Education. She proudly worked over twenty years as an educator. In 1990 she married Doug Martin and the couple have one daughter. In 2003 she co-founded a non-profit organization Korean Canadian C3, a community organization of volunteers who embrace cultural diversity and bridge Korean Canadian communities by providing cultural education and volunteer resources. She has also served on numerous boards and committees including: the Multicultural Advisory Council of British Columbia and the Canadian Paralympics Foundation. As an educator she is interested in mentoring youth and is actively involved with the Executive Mentorship Program of the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. In 12004 she received the Spirit of Community Award for Cultural Harmony and in 2009 she received the Order of Civil Merit Moran Medal from the Republic of Korea. She is the fire Korean Canadian Parliamentarian, appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  Sources: C3Society.corg (accessed December 2011) ; Senate of Canada online (accessed December 2011)

Born June 9, 1954, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A. She relocated to Margaree Harbour Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in 1972. The family operated a gift shop and restaurant on a landlocked schooner. She dropped out of St Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia in 1974 returning hope to manage the family business while she took correspondence courses and graduation with her Bachelor degree. She attended and graduated law school at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia and worked as an associate in a Halifax law firm. In 1985 she relocated to Ottawa, Ontario to work with the Public Interest Advocacy Center. She founded the Canadian Environmental Defence Fund to fund groups and individuals in environmental causes. An Anglican she thought of becoming a priest and studied theology at Saint Paul University, Ottawa. A committed advocate for social justice, for the environment and for human rights she has been active in the environmental movement since 1970. She was active against aerial  spraying in Nova Scotia which brought into the media spotlight. She was the 1st volunteer Executive Director of Cultural Survival Canada 1989-1992 and worked for the Algonquin of Barriere Lake from 1991-92. In 1985 she was recognized with the International Conservation Award from Friends of Nature. In 1986 she became a Senior Policy Advisor to the federal Environment Minister  and was instrumental in creating several national parks, In 1988 she resigned being against the Ministers policies. She taught at Queen's University School of Policy Studies and at Dalhousie University. She has written since 1982 eight books mainly on environmental issues. In 1992 she received the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation of Canada. In 1998 the Elizabeth May Chair in Women's Health and the Environment was established at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia.  In 2014 she authored Who We Are: Reflections on My Life and Canada. In 1989 she became Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada but resigned in 2006 to run for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada. In 2002 she was awarded the Harkin Award from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society for her lifetime achievement in promoting the protection of Canada's wilderness.  She was elected leader of the Green Party  in August 2006. In 2005 she was inducted as an Officer in the Order of Canada. She earned the United Nations Global 500 Award. In November 2010 Newsweek magazine named her 'One of the world's most influential women. In 2011 she became the 1st Green Party candidate to be elected to the House of Commons. In 2012 she put forth a Private members bill, Bill c-442 to address Lyme disease. The bill was passed unanimously by both houses of parliament and the 1st Green Party legislation enacted in Canadian history. In 2012 she was voted by her House colleagues as Parliamentarian of the Year and in 2013 she was voted Hardest Working Member of Parliament. In 2014 she was voted Best Orator in the House of Commons.

née Journeaux. Born February 14, 1921, Port Daniel, Quebec. Died January 29, 2023, Mississauga, Ontario. After high school Hazel attended a business secretarial school in Quebec City and in Montreal. In the 1920's she enjoyed playing hockey with her two sisters on the Port Daniel team and while in Montreal she joined a professional women's hockey team being paid $5.00 a game! University was beyond the family finances so Hazel worked first in Montreal with the engineer firm Kellogg. In 1942 she was transformed to Toronto. In 1951 Hazel married Sam McCallion (1923-1997) and the couple had three children. She served as district commissioner of Girl Guides. In 1964 she turned her energies to politics running for deputy mayor of Streetsville (now Mississauga) but was not successful. She became chairman of the local planning board and was elected deputy reeve in the 1967 election and became reeve the following year. She would serve as Mayor of Streetsville from 1970 until 1973. In 1974 Streetsville was amalgamated into Mississauga and Hazel was elected as the first woman mayor to Mississauga City Council. She would sit on almost every possible committee as well as serving on many federal and provincial committees. Her term in office lased 12 consecutive terms, the longest serving mayor in Canada.. She never campaigned and asked supporters to donate their support monies to charity instead. She would see the small Mississauga grow into one of the largest municipalities in Canada and she soon had the nick name of 'Hurricane Hazel' for her energies. In 1987 the World Women's Hockey championship trophy was named the Hazel McCallion World Cup. In 1992 she created the Greater Toronto Area (G T A) Mayor's Committee. In 1999 for encouraging German businesses to come to Canada she was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.  In 2000 she was instrumental in bringing the I I H F Women's World Hockey Championships to her city. In 2002 Hazel received the Queen Elizabeth ll Jubilee Medal and the following year the International Economic Development Council presented her with the Leadership in Public Service Award. In 2005 she became a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2011 Sheridan College opened the Hazel McCallion Mississauga Campus. In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Award. In November 2015 she was appointed Chief Elder Officer (C E O) of Revera Inc. to provide counsel to the senior living company. In 2016 February 14 was names as Hazel McCallion Day. From 2017 through 2022 she served on the Board of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority. In 2019 she declined to become special advisor to Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Several schools have been named in her honour and Mississauga boasts of a Hazel McCallion Central Library.

Born 1945, Toronto, Ontario. Died June 1, 2014, Ottawa, Ontario. Kathryn earned her B.A. from the university and was excited to work for the Ontario Government at the Canadian centennial Expo ’67. In 1972 she was working for the Canadian Department of Trade and Commerce as a trade commissioner posted to the Canadian Embassy 1st in Mexico and in 1975 to Boston, Massacheutts, U.S.A. The diplomatic corps was an ‘old boys club’ and women had to work hard for success. In 1980 she was the President of the Professional Association of the Foreign Service Organization. By 1987 she had worked to earn the position as High Commissioner to Jamaica. Back in Ottawa by 1991 she was Director General of the Western Europe Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs. She retired from the Government of Canada in 2009.  Sources: Margaret K. Weirs, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service. Dundurn Press, 1995. ; Obituary, Ottawa Citizen, June, 2014.

Born 1883, Chesterville, Ontario. Died 1975.  After high school she attended the Ottawa Normal School (Teacher’s College) but decided that teaching was not for her. In 1909, she wrote the Civil Service exam from the Government of Canada even though she knew that only men were ever allowed into foreign service jobs. On December 27, 1909 she arrived at the Department of Foreign Affairs as a ‘typewriter’. She had managed to pass the simple typing test even though she had never taken any typing classes. She was soon signing memos with K. A. McCloskey purposely making the signature ambiguous as to her being a woman. She drafted letters for the Department head, Joseph Pope to sign, was in charge of supplies for the department as well as for the passport office. The Prime Minister’s office as well as  offices in Paris, London and Washington. On April 1, 1921 she was appointed departmental accountant with a raise in pay. In 1931 she became the departmental Chief Accountant and had the reputation of being a penny pincher even keeping track of the number of pencils used. In 1937 she was a member of the Canadian delegation to the imperial Conference in London, England. World War ll saw enormous growth in the Foreign Affairs department and Agnes was posted to work in Washington D.C., U.S.A. until her retirement. Source: Margaret Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Toronto: Dundurn, 1995) 

Born February 14, 1946, Carlisle, United Kingdom. Died July 7, 2017, Toronto, Ontario. In 1954 Pam and her family emigrated to Canada. Pam became a teacher and in 1982 she was elected as a Trustee to the Toronto Board of Education. She held this position for twelve years. In 1994 she ran successfully to become elected to the Toronto City Council and served until her death winning 14 consecutive elections. She also served as a Deputy Mayor. She was a staunch advocate for affordable housing for all. In 1997 she received the Duke of Edinburgh Award for her work with inner city youth. She served as chair of the Toronto Police Board in 2004/2005. She played a major role in the revitalization of Regent Park. A tireless advocate of women's rights she led the way for Toronto's poverty reduction strategy and shelter spaces. She drew up the Toronto Regional Champion Campaign Protégé Program to mentor young women in municipal politics and the Pam McConnell Award for Young Women in Leadership was created. In 2010 she and her husband, Jim, received the Century of Co-operation Award from Spruce Court Co-operative. She convinced Donald Trump, who was building a new hotel in the city, to make substantial financial commitment to build an Regent Park aquatic centre which the Toronto City Council voted to name in her honour in 2018. In 2013 she received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for her decades of public service. In 2018 she was posthumously added to the Roll of Honour of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities when they created the Pam McConnell International Award for Gender Equality. Source: Cabbagetown People. online (accessed 2022)

Born July 5, 1940. She ran 1st in Ontario provincial elections and then ran for a federal by-election for the New Democratic Party. She was a champion of women's equity in Parliament and was the 1st Member of Parliament to be addressed by Ms. She was just a loud in her anti-tobacco support proposing a bill to ban tobacco advertising and sponsorships and strengthen health warnings on cigarette packages and proposed to restrict smoking in federally regulated workplaces as well as on planes, trains and boats. The bill received royal assent on June 28, 1988. She lost her seat as an MP in the 1988 federal election. She began writing books and scholarly articles such as The Early Origins of the Social Sciences in 1993, Women Founders of the Social Sciences, and Women Theorists on Society and Politics.  She has been active on environmental issues, initially with the Campaign for Nuclear Phase-out, and lately as co-founder of JustEarth: A Coalition for Environmental Justice, which works on climate change; she is a member of the Board of Directors of Climate Action Network Canada. In 2015 she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada. She is a co-founder of the Nightingale Society and is the Director of the Collected Works of Florence Nightingale a 16 volume edition of Nightingale's books, articles, and pamphlets.(2019)

née Shaw. Born August 11, 1944, Ottawa, Ontario. Died January 15, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Alexa studied at Dalhousie University and at the Maritime School of Social work. She Married Peter McDonough and the couple had two children prior to their divorce. In 1980 she became the 1st woman to lead a recognized political party in Canada. As a social worker she had chosen politics as her avenue to improve her community. At first she felt that the Liberal Party was where she wanted to serve but by 1974 she moved to the New Democratic Party (NDP) and she became the leader of the Nova Scotia N D P in 1980 even though she did not have a seat in the Nova Scotia Legislature. A year later she earned a seat in the provincial House of Assembly in a general election. She was the only NDP and the only woman  and there were problems in that there were no women's washrooms on the main floor of the House of Assembly! In the late fall of 1994 she resigned her provincial seat. In 1995 she was elected as leader of the national NDP in Ottawa where she championed strong social programs, a more compassionate government and gender equity. She stepped down from her leadership position in January 2003 but retained her seat in the House of Commons to continue to serve her constituents until 2008 when she retired from politics after 29 years of service. She was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2009 and the Order of Nova Scotia in 2012. That same year the Association of Former Parliamentarians gave her a lifetime achievement award. She was a breast cancer survivor and in later years she suffered fro Alzheimer's disease. (2022)

née Leamen. Born November 12, 1937, Toronto, Ontario. After graduating from the University of Toronto with her BA in 1963 she became an investment manager.  She expanded her career to include being a business journalist in print and TV broadcasting. In 1984 her interest in politics led to her being elected to the Federal Parliament. Barbara served as Minister of State for Finance and Minister of State for Privatization, a portfolio which was expanded to include women's issues and regulatory affairs. In 1988 she was appointed Minister of Employment and Immigration and in 1991 she moved to become Minister of Secretary of State for External Affairs.  In 1993 she returned to private business. In 1999 she was the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. In 2000 she was inducted as an Officer in the Order of Canada.

Born May 9, 1925, Ottawa, Ontario. Died October 4, 2015, Ottawa, Ontario. Pamela earned a Bachelor of Science at Mount Allison University and did post graduate studies at the University of Toronto for her Master’s in 1946. She began to work as a clerk at the federal Department of External Affairs in the Consular Division. By 1952 she had written the Foreign Service exam and became a Foreign Service Officer working 1st at the United Nations in New York City, U.S.A. and then she was off to Germany serving there from 1953-57 before returning to Ottawa where she worked on  the International Supervisory Commission for Vietnam. Her job included extensive traveling before being assigned in 1961-1963  to Delhi, India as 1st secretary and later counselor. Once again back in Ottawa she served as Deputy Head of the Far Eastern Division before she was posted to Warsaw, Poland where she was the second Canadian woman to become an Ambassador in January 1968. In 1979 she was appointed as Deputy Minister for Health and Welfare Canada, the 1st Foreign Service Officer to be promoted to this level. On August 27,1980 the Prime Minister named her Commissioner of the Royal Commission on Conditions in the Foreign Service mandated to inquire into changes in the conditions of foreign service and to report on steps that the government might take to accommodate them in the context of its approach to the legal, administrative and operational frameworks of the foreign service. She retired from the Government of Canada in 1981. In retirement she served as a member of the Board of Governors at Carleton University, Ottawa and was a Trustee of the Royal Ottawa Hospital for 5 years. In 1987 she married Lieutenant Colonel Paul Mayer. Source: Margaret Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Toronto: Dundurn, 1995)  (2018)

Born June 10, 1929, Melville, Saskatchewan. After school she worked in the banking sector. She was elected to the city council of St. James-Assiniboia in 1969 just two years prior to amalgamation with the City of Winnipeg. She would serve on the Grater City of Winnipeg city council from 1971 through 1981, and held the position as Deputy Mayor from 1979 to 1981.  She became the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba on October 23, 1981, the 1st woman to hold this position. She was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1984 and the Order of Canada in 2000. She loves to cook and has written a regular column on cooking in Winnipeg’s daily and community newspapers. During the 2000’s she served as Chairperson of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council in Manitoba, which lobbies public bodies and private businesses to grant time off to military reservists for training.

née Chletheroe. Born April 1, 1935, Yukon Territory. Died December 9, 2021, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Alice was elected, as a member of the Liberal Party, to the Yukon Legislative Assembly November 20, 1978 & represented Kluane until June 6, 1982. She was one of the first two First Nations Persons elected to the Yukon legislative Assembly and the first First Nations woman member of the Yukon Legislative Assembly. She was a respected elder with the Ta'an Kwach'an Council.

Born 1895, North Bay, Ontario. Died November 1957. After high schools Marjorie attended Normal School (teacher’s College) and began teaching in Northern Ontario. While she was still teaching she took external courses from Queen’s University , Kingston, Ontario. In 1919 she became a full time university student supplementing her income by being a tutor.  She took a job as a clerk typist and did some writing for the Kingston Whig Standard while she worked on her Master’s Degree. In 1923 she was hired by O. D. Skelton (1878-1941) then Dean of Arts at Queen’s and when he moved to Ottawa to work at External Affairs in 1924 she also began working at the department working with Skelton until his death and then with his successors. On October 1 1947, since the ban on women not working in the Foreign Service had been lifter she was promoted to being a Foreign Service Officer. She had actually written the Foreign Service exam in 1930 and had tied for 1st in the results but as a woman she could not be hired as a Foreign Service Officer. All through her work years she worked at a much higher level than her position attested to on paper. In 1926, 1928 and again in 1937 she accompanied Prime Minister William Lion Mackenzie King  to the Imperial Conferences as part of the Canadian Delegation. She kept working files, summarized British documents, prepared memorandum for signatures for males in higher positions than herself. In  1943 and again in 1943 she aced as host for the Quebec Wartime Conferences with U.S. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In 1954 she became the 1st woman in External Affairs department to be appointed as a division head of Historical Research and Reports Division. Source: Margaret Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Toronto: Dundurn, 1995) 

née Knowling. Born March 14, 1869, St John's, Newfoundland. Died February 23, 1928, St. John's, Newfoundland. Fanny's affluent family were able to send her to England for some of her education and it was during her time there that she began her interest in art. Back home on the island she would organize art exhibits that was the foundation of the Newfoundland Society of Art where she served as 1st president. On July 5, 1899 she married Hector McNeil and the couple had a son who died as an infant and two daughters. Fannie became interested in child welfare and health services and became involved in the Ladies' Reading Room and Current Events Club that had been formed in 1909. The topic of women's suffrage was often in hot debate at the club. The Women's Franchise League or the Women's Suffrage League as it was sometimes known helped launch a campaign to secure votes for women. Fannie was League secretary. She had the support of her husband Hector even though he was threatened with job loss from the railway company where he worked. The vote was granted to women of Newfoundland over 25 years of age along with the right to run as candidates in general elections on March 9, 1925. The first opportunity for women to stand for election came in the St John’s municipal contest of December 1925. The 1st women to run in elections were Fannie McNeil and May Kennedy, who ran for the newly formed Women’s Party, and Julia Salter Earle, a labour candidate. All three were defeated. The 1st general election in which women could vote would take place in 1928. Source D C B (2019)

Born 1895, Ottawa, Ontario. Died May 2, 1972. At 16 Mary, and a friend, founded the Equal Franchise Association, working to achieve the vote for women. Mary went on to study Law and was the 1st woman on the debating team at Osgoode Hall Law School. She was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1918. She became the 1st woman to practice law in the city of Ottawa. She was however disillusioned when she did not receive worthwhile cases  and she opened the Cloverleaf Dress ship and went on to be a retail buyer of clothing for a large Department store. The second woman lawyer in Ottawa arrived only in 1950. She married Albert Alphonse Fix in 1931. After her husband’s death in 1945 Mary began to show an interest in politics. She was an alderman in the Township of Toronto and in 1953 served as Deputy Reeve, then acting Reeve and from 1955 through 1958 she served as Mayor. In 1959 she became Warden of Peel County only to return to run successfully as Reeve in 1961. A park named in her honour was established in what is now Mississauga. Mary was also a founding member of the Toronto Township Historical Society, now Mississauga Heritage Foundation.   Source: Diversifying the bar; Law Society of Upper Canada online (accessed January 2013)

Born June 14, 1921, Underwood, Ontario. Died January 2012. In 1942 she graduated with and honours Bachelor of Arts in history from Victoria College, University of Toronto. She married and had a son but divorced in 1952 after suffering abuse. Overcoming stigma of divorce Dorothy taught in Kincardin before becoming head of the History Department of Northern and St. Clair Colleges. In 1964 she was promoted as the 1st woman to be Inspector of schools for the Ontario Ministry of Education. In 1974 she married Bruce ”Alex” McPhedran and she completed course work for her Doctorate Degree ( PhD) in Education at the University of Ottawa. In 1975 she became the first woman appointed special Assistant and Women’s Advisor for the Deputy Minister of Education. She had a love of travel and traveled to numerous countries around the world. Including going behind the Iron Curtain to Russia. She was a long time volunteer with Meals on Wheels, delivering meals to those who needed them well into her 80’s. Source: Obituary The Globe and Mail January 2, 2012.  Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa Ontario.

Born January 27 1911, Halifax Nova Scotia. Died February 25, 1999, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Margaret attended Normal School (Teacher’s College) and taught school from 1932 through 1942. She took the Foreign Service exam and became a pioneer Foreign Service Officer with the federal department of External Affairs. She served in Mexico and London England. October 22, 1958 she was the 1st woman appointed as a Canadian Ambassador and served in Israel. While serving as Ambassador to Austria in Vienna she became the 1st woman to chair a Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency. From 1969 through 1973 she served as ambassador to Sweden. In Kenya she became the 1st female Canadian High Commissioner and the 1st Canadian diplomat to live in Nairobi. 1973-4 she was the 1st woman from External Affairs to serve as Foreign Service Visitor at Dalhousie University, Halifax. In 1974 she received the Order of Canada. From 1984-1989 she was a trustee for the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She was a true pioneer in the Canadian Foreign Service and a valuable mentor for those who followed in the profession. Sources: Margaret K. Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service. (Toronto; Dundurn, 1995); Blanche Margaret Meagher, Canadian Encyclopedia online (accessed  2015)

Born 1976, Mount Pleasant, British Columbia. Melanie is Nisqu’a Gitxson Cree and Ojibway by heritage. Her family was abandoned by her father and Melanie and her family knew true hardship growing up. However Melanie learned that she had to do something to move forward with her live. She studied at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She is the mother of two daughters. She has been a facilitator and served as president of the Urban Native Youth Association in Vancouver. She has also been a coordinator with the National Aboriginal Youth and Save the Children Canada in Vancouver. She is co-founder of Vancouver’s’ Aboriginal Policing Community Centre. In February2, 2016 she ran in a provincial by-election and became the 1st First Nations woman to be elected to the Legislature of British Columbia.

Born November 20, 1932, Hamilton, Ontario. Died September 16, 2021. Shirley was a known businesswoman when she elected in the 1984 federal election she serve in the House of Commons as Progressive Conservative for Lincoln Riding in Ontario. In 1987 she served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works. After the 1988 federal election she served as Minister of State for Transport. She also served briefly as Minister of State for Indian Affairs and Northern Development  before returning to the Transport portfolio in 1992.  She did not run for election in 1993. (2023)

née  Faircloth. Born August 13, 1929, Fort William (now Thunder Bay) Ontario. Died February 14, 2012, Thunder Bay, Ontario. Dusty taught school in southern Ontario and then, after her marriage to Thomas B. Miller (died 1996) in 1949, the couple spent time living in England. In 1954 they moved back to Canada living in what is now Thunder Bay , Ontario. She enjoyed being involved in local theatre and was a director of the Port Arthur Community Players and the Cambrian Players.  She was also a member of Theatre Northwest. She was a founding member of Theatre Ontario.  In the lat 1960's she earned her degree at Lakehead University winning the Chancellor's medal for highest standing achieved by a part-time student. She went on to design and coordinate the Lakehead University Drama Program and taught in the performing arts management program at Confederation College. In 1974 she won the election to Thunder Bay City Council and was highly influential in developing an arts policy for the chits becoming the first chair of the city's Arts and Heritage Committee. She also served on standing committees for family and children's services, non-profit housing and architectural conservation. In 1978 She was elected as the first woman Mayor of Thunder Bay and served until 1980 election when she was defeated. In 1981 she was part of the planning team for the Canada Summer Games. She would continue to serve on City Council for two more terms from 1985-1991. She received the Northwestern Ontario Business Award for Influential Women, the Maggie Bassett Aware present by Theatre in recognition for her outstanding contribution to theatre in Ontario, the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium Presidents Award. She has been made a fellow of Lakehead University where she served for 11 years on the Board of Governors and is a member of the Order of Ontario. (2022)

née Learoyd. Born July 17, 1925, Brockville, Ontario. Died March 8, 2017, Vancouver, British Columbia. Margaret earned her B.A. in 1947 from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. From 1952 through 1955 she worked and toured for the Red Cross in Post war Japan and Korea before she took time off work and went hiking in the Australian outback. She met her husband in Australia and in the 1960’s the couple settled in Vancouver, British Columbia. She worked for Neighbourhood Services Association until 1974. She had an interest in politics which she felt was in her blood since she was a descendant of former Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Thompson (d 1894) she was elected as the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for Vancouver East in 1979. While in parliament she voted against a pay raise for Members of Parliament and when the bill passed she donated her raise in pay to the Margaret Mitchell Foundation for Women. In 1980 she brought up in the House of Commons that 1 in 10 husbands regularly beat their husbands. These comments were met with uproarious laughter from the House but opened the issue of violence against women. In 1984 she was the 1st MP to bring forth the issue of the Chinese Head Tax. In 2000 she became a Member of the Order of British Columbia. In 2008 she published her autobiography No Laughing Matter: Adventure, activism and Politics.

Born 1911, Ottawa, Ontario. Died Ottawa, July 2011. A Franco-Ontarian she became a valuable translator using her two languages interchangeably. She attended the University of Ottawa and earned a degree in general arts and was one of only two women in her class. She worked as a civil servant for the government of Canada as well as the Turkish Embassy . In her late 1920’s she married Paul Morel and the couple had one daughter. Her bilingual translation abilities garnered her a job at the House of Commons were she became chief of interpretation, this suited her political junkie personality. She also travelled working wherever her skills were required including working for the Colombo Plan in Pakistan. Rita also worked with former Ottawa mayor Marion Dewar to help refugees from Vietnam in the Ottawa Project to take in 4000 refugees. After she retired she worked as a freelance translator well into her 80’s. Source; A feminist before Steinem of Friedan by Louisa Taylor  The Ottawa Citizen November 6, 2011. Submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa. 

Born April 30, 1921, St. Elizabeth, Manitoba, Canada.. Died September 30, 1976, Ottawa, Ontario. Albanie served as a municipal councillor in Sillery, Quebec. After the death of her husband and her law studies she took an interest in the national politics. Albanie was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. October 30, 1972 she Monique Bégin (1936-   ) and Jeanne Sauvé (1922-1993) were the first three women from Quebec to be elected to the House of Commons. Albanie served until her death in 1976. May 1983 La Fondation Albanie Morin was founded by the Club Altrusa International de Québec. (2023)

National Historic Person

née Ferguson. Born March 14, 1868, Cookstown, Ontario. Died October 27, 1933, Edmonton, Alberta. Emily attended Bishop Strachan School, a private Anglican school for girls in Toronto. In 1887 she married Arthur Murphy and the couple had four daughters. In 1903 following the death of one of their daughters the couple took their family to live in Sawn Rover, Manitoba. By 1907 the family had settled in Edmonton, Alberta. After her daughters were grown, Emily turned her energies into helping women's voices to be heard. She became even more motivated when a farmer sole his farm and abandoned his wife and children leaving them homeless and penniless. In 1916 she pressured the government to pass the Dower Act that allowed women legal rights to one-third of a husband's property. Emily was also a leader with the Local Council of Women who fought for women's rights. In 1916 Emily became the first woman police magistrate (judge) in the British Empire. Her first case, on July 1, 1916, had the guilty prisoner's lawyer question her right to pass sentence as she by law was not considered a person under the British North American Act of 1867! The Supreme Court of Canada denied the appeal. The battle to become a "person' under the law had begun. At the 1919 conference of the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada a resolution was passed calling for the appointment of a woman to the Canadian Senate. In 1922 Emily published The Black Candle, highlighting drug abuse. A series of article in Maclean's magazine appeared with her pen name Janey Canuck formed the basis for the book, which was highly racist. On August 27, 1927 Emily along with Nellie McClung (1873-1951), Louise McKinney (1868-1931), Henrietta Edwards (1849-1931), and Irene Parlby (1868-1965) signed a petition sent to the federal government demanding that the 'Person issue" be sent to the Supreme Court of Canada. In March 1868 the court held that women were not qualified to sing in the Canadian Senate. Emily and the other four women  appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain. October 18, 1929 the British Privy Council declared women were persons. The Famous Five had won their battle! Emily continued to support causes such as drug and alcohol abuse, lack of birth control and was an active pacifist. Emily's house in Edmonton is a registered Historic site. In 1958 she was recognized as a Person of National Historic Significance by the Canadian government. The National Person Case was recognized as a National Historic Event in 1997. In October 2009, the Senate of Canada voted to name the Famous Five Honourary Senators.

Born April 29, 1927, Dublin, Ireland. Died May 31, 2019, Elliott Lake, Ontario. Aideen studied Trinity College, Dublin and then at the London School of Economics. When she came to Canada she worked at the Hospital for Sick Kids, Toronto as a social worker and also taught at both the University of Toronto and George Brown College, Toronto. She took a position at the Ontario Department of Corrections. She also became a founding member of the Ontario Commission on the Status of Women. In 1974 she was the successful Liberal candidate as Member of Parliament in the riding of Trinity, Toronto. She would be re-elected in three succeeding elections. In 1988 she lost her seat in parliament to Conservative candidate Barbara McDougall. After leaving parliament she was appointed to the Canadian Immigration Review Board. In 2003 she was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Former Parliamentarians Association.  Source: Jean Bannerman, Leading Ladies of Canada (Belleville, Mika Publishing, 1977);

née Shaw. Born May 29, 1918, Ottawa. Died June 5, 2010, Ottawa, Ontario. May graduated from Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. She began her working career as an accountant, economist and statistician. She worked as a federal civil servant with the Canada Department of Trade and Commerce. During World War ll (1939-1945) she served with the Red Cross. May was the first woman specifically elected as an alderman to Ottawa City Council. Being elected three times she served from 1955 through to 1960. She advocated for more jobs for women in the city and more openings for women on boards and committees. She was a member of the Society for Retarded Children, and Neighbourhood Services.  She resigned her council position when her husband, Rex Nickson (died 1997), was appointed commercial secretary for Canada in Australia. After returning with her husband and three children  from Australia she worked for Statistics Canada. In retirement she learned Spanish to volunteer with development agencies in Costa Rica and India. She was also a volunteer with the National Council of Women. Ottawa Community Housing Corporation named a 12 story apartment building May Nickson Place in her honour. Source: Obituary. the Ottawa Citizen, June 5, 2010. (2022)

née Webber. Born July 30, 1902, London, England. Died December 9, 1980, China. Dorise arrived in Canada in 1927 and settled in Saskatchewan.  Within the year she had married Peter Nielson, a homesteader. The couple had four children.  In 1934 she joined the Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation (C C F) political party and was a campaign manager during the 1938 election. In 1937 she joined the Communist Party of Canada but kept her membership a secret until 1943. She was elected on March 26, 1940 as the first Communist Party member of the Canadian Parliament and the third woman elected to sit in Parliament. She represented the Saskatchewan riding of North Battleford until June 10, 1945. Since the Communist Party had been banned in June 1940 she ran as a United Progressive. The Labour-Progressive Party became the legal front for the Communist Party in 1943. After defeat in the 1945 election she and her children relocated to live in Toronto.  Here she wrote a column for the Canadian Tribune a newspaper of the Labour-Progressive Party. She helped found the Congress of Canadian Women in March 1950 after attending the Women's International Democratic Federation Peace Congress in Budapest, Hungary in 1948. She also helped to found the Canadian Peace Congress in 1949. She became executive secretary of the Canadian-Soviet Friendship Association and helped organize local chapters. She resigned her position in 1953 mainly in protest of lack of equity in pay. In 1953 she was unsuccessful in an attempt to run once again for parliament. By the mid-1950's she was working with the United Electrical Workers but soon found this unfulfilling and resigned in 1955.In 1955 she returned to England with her partner Constant Godefroy for a year before finding a job with Maclean-Hunter Publishing back in Canada. In 1957 she left Canada for good and lived in the People's Republic of China as a English language teacher. She became a Chinese Citizen in 1962.  (2023)

Audrey began working in Ottawa as a term employee in the public Service working as administrative assistant for a government program called Opportunities for Youth. In the House of Commons as a committee clerk she worked with committees and  task forces. She was a staunch non-partisan and the Members of parliament often sought her out for advice as she worked her way up the ranks.  In 2005 she became the 1st woman Clerk of the House of Commons in Ottawa. The Clerk is the chief executive of the administration of the House of Commons and is the right hand adviser to the Speaker of the House.  She oversaw 1,500 employees and was responsible for everything from IT to security on Parliament Hill.  She also served for a decade as the secretary to the Commonwealth of Speakers. Retiring in 2015 a motion was passes naming her Clerk Emeritus and an Officer of the House of Commons which gives her a seat at the Clerk Table forever. That year she became a Member of the Order of Canada. (2019)

Born July 7, 1944,Thunder Bay, Ontario  After earning her BA from the University of Toronto she began her working career as a teacher but soon switched to broadcasting. She worked with TV Ontario, City TV and the Global Television Network and retired in 1999 from the position of VP with CTV and Baton Broadcasting. She also served on the Canadian Radio and Television Commission. In November 2003 she was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.  Her retirement was short lived as she ran successfully as a member of Parliament in the Ontario riding of Durham in 2004 and became Canada's first Japanese - Canadian MP.

Born February 14, 1919, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died April 9, 2012, Fredericton Junction, New Brunswick. Doris earned her Bachelor Degree in Secretarial Sciences. In 1942 she married Robert Ogilvie, a dentist. The couple had four daughters. When her last daughter started school Doris resumed her own education and earned a Bachelor in Civil Law at the University of New Brunswick in 1960. She held office as a deputy judge in juvenile and provincial courts by 1965. In 1967 she served on the Royal Commission for the Status of Women. Always respected for her work with juveniles she was appointed Chairperson for the International Year of the Child in 1979. Source: Lives Lived, The Globe and Mail, May 30, 2012 : Inmemorium.ca (accessed November 2012). Suggestion from June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario

née Knelman. Born June 3, 1927, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died May 7, 2020, Toronto, Ontario. She started her university studies at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec,  earning a BA, MA and PhD. She has studied and worked with many other universities in Canada, U.S.A. and England. She has had a strong three decade career as a civil servant holding administrative and political positions in various Canadian government departments, including being Chief Statistician 1972-1975. She would be the 1st woman to hold the rank of Deputy Minister in the government of Canada February 18, 1976.

née Marryat. Born January 9, 1868, London, England. Died July 12, 1965, Red Deer, Alberta. Irene immigrated to Canada in 1896. In 1913 she helped found the 1st women's local of the United Farmers of Alberta. serving as president from 1916 through 1919.  In 1921 she was elected to a seat in the Alberta provincial legislature a position she led for 14 years. and was the 1st woman appointed to the Alberta Cabinet and only the 2nd in Canada. She was one of the 'Famous Five' who put focus on the 'Persons Case' in 1929. which lead to women being legally declared 'persons' which in turn allowed them to be appointed to the Senate of Canada. She was a strong advocate for the eugenics movement in the province which included the sexual sterilization of the mentally infirm. She was a Canadian delegate to the League of Nations in 1930. In 1966 she was recognized as a Person of National Historic Significance by the Canadian government with an historic plaque in Alix, Alberta. The 'Persons Case' has been recognized as a National Historic Event.  In October 2009, the Canadian Senate voted to name all of the 'Famous Five' as the 1st honorary senators. Edmonton, Alberta boasts of a mural in her honour.

Born August 29, 1931, Verdun, Quebec. Died September5, 2018, Montreal, Quebec. In 1951 Lise married Andre Payette and the couple raised three children together. In 1954 she began a career in journalism at a radio station in Trois-Riviéres, Quebec. She was editor of the weekly publication Frontier Rouyn-Noranda and hosted the show La Femme dans le monde on C K R N. At the same time she was secretary and public relations officer for the United Steelworkers of America. Living in Paris, France for awhile she wrote for Petit Journal  and sent work back to the Canadian Châtelaine magazine.  Back in Canada she worked for Radio-Canada on the television program Interdit aux hommes. From 1965 through 1972 she worked on both French and English  programmes for the C B C. From 1972-1975 she  was host of the television series Appelez moi Lise and Lise Lib. In 1975 she was appointed president of the Quebec National Holidays committee. Elected to the Quebec legislature as a member of the "Parti Quebecois" in 1976  she served as Minister of Consumer Affairs, Cooperatives and Financial Institutions, Minister of State for the Status of Women and Minister of State for Social Development. She came up with the provincial car license plate phrase 'Je me souviens'.  She did not run for reelection in the 1980 and her political career ended. She became a writer for television with a series of successful soap operas. In 1994 she was named Woman of the Year by Canadian Women in Communications. In 1997 she was awarded the Florence Bird Award by the International Centre for Human Rights and Development. The following year she received the Grand Prize of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. This was followed in 2000 with the gold medal for the Mouvement national des Québécois. In 2001 she became an Officer in the L'Ordre national du Québec. In 2003 the Quebec Business Women's Network presented her with a lifetime achievement award.  She founded the television production company FOCUS where she wrote and produced Television documentaries. In 2004 she began writing columns for Journal de Montreal. By 2007 she was writing for Le Devoir which she continued until the spring of 2016. She even wrote a song for Celine Dion.

Born 1940, Greenland. Lena moved to the Canadian North West Territories in 1959. She lived in Coppermine, Pangnirtung and Rae before settling for 4 years in Cape Dorset working for the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative which was founded in the late 1950’s to sell works of art. She returned to Coppermine where she worked for CBC Radio. In 1970, the Northwest Territories' centennial year, she became the first woman and the first Inuit woman to be elected to the Northwest Territories Council on December 21. She represented the Central Arctic District until her term of office ended on March 10, 1975

Born March 10, 1900, Cardiff, Wales. Died November 10, 1990, Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1902 she emigrated to Canada with her family settling in Lethbridge, Alberta. Lillian studied nursing at the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing graduating in 1926. She worked for over 3 0 years at the Campbell Clinic and then at the hospital in Magrath until she retired in 1959. In 1940, during World War ll (1939-1945), she served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister and was assigned to the Hospital Ship Letitia.  In 1952 she became the first woman elected as an Alderman for the City of Lethbridge. During her ten years on City Council she was responsible for the development of the city health department.  For 17 years she was a Board Member of the Galt and Auxiliary Hospitals.  A pillar at Lethbridge City Hall ahs a large relief image of Lillian in her nursing uniform. Source: Obituary, Lethbridge Herald; Find a Grave Canada (accessed 2022)

née Storm. Born March 30, 1912, Lake Alma, Saskatchewan. Died February 22, 1999, Estevan, Saskatchewan. In 1929 Ida married Knute Jhalmer Petterson (1905-1973) and the couple had four children. Finding farming too difficult Ida began operating a grocery store in Estevan. In 1960 she became the first woman to be elected to Estevan city council a seat she retained for six years working for a new city library building and the Estevan Regional Nursing home. In 1963 she converted the store into a self-serve laundry. In 1964 she became a life insurance underwriter and by 1967 she had become the top salesperson in Saskatchewan for Family Life. In 1968 she ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Estevan but when she ran in 1970 she became the first Saskatchewan woman to serve as mayor of a municipality. She was re-elected for a second term but was defeated in the election of 1976. In 1992 she received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.

Born April 27, 1947, Saint-Gabriel-de-Kamouraska, Quebec. Died June 29, 2009, Drummondville, Quebec. Pauline worked as an administrative assistant, employment consultant, and financial advisor. In 1993 she ran on behalf of the Bloc Québécois to become a Member of Parliament for the riding of Drummond, Quebec. She was re-elected in 1997, 2000 and again in 2004. She served as Deputy Whip for her party. She did not run for election again in 2008. Pauline was the mother of two daughters. (2023)

Born August, 1894, Sydney, Nova Scotia. Died April 30, 1967 Kentville, Nova Scotia. She became an active member of several social service organizations and supporter of several charitable causes, taking on a leading role as executive member of many of them at the community, county and provincial level. Much of her work was with hospitals and health care organizations. She was active in her United Baptist church and a founding member and first president of the local chapter of the Business and Professional Women's Club and served also as provincial president. In 1946 she was inducted into the Order of the British Empire in honour of her contribution to the civilian defense and war effort in both World Wars.  In 1943 she became a town councillor in Kentville and in 1946 won the election for mayor, making her the 1st woman in the Maritimes to do so. She was re-elected mayor for a total of 11 years resigning only after winning a seat in Kings North for the Progressive Conservative party in the provincial legislature in the election of 1960. She was the 1st woman to be elected to the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly. She served as a representative in the legislature until her death in 1967

Born May 15, 1941. A fashion designer, entrepreneur and author, Vivienne is the first Canadian of Chinese descent to be appointed to the Senate of Canada. She was educated in her native Hong Kong and England and holds a B.A. from McGill University in Montreal. She also holds a M.A. in history from the University of Toronto where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in History. Among her extensive community endeavors she is Governor of McGill University, Honorary Patron of the Chinese Cultural Center of Greater Toronto. She has received an International Women's Day Award in 1996 and the Arbor Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service to the University of Toronto in 1997.

Born July 22, 1949, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died June 1, 2013, Halifax Nova Scotia. Jane began her career as a cub reporter in the Truro bureau of The Chronicle Herald newspaper. She worked her way up the chain eventually holding a senior position in the newsroom and worked eight years as managing editor. She worked with the Executive Council of Nova Scotia when she was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 1999. She was defeated when she ran for re-election in 2003 and began working as editor of The Daily News. Within a year she had resigned to become chief of staff to the Premier of Nova Scotia, John Hamm. (2022)

Hilda was the first woman in Prince Edward Island to campaign for election to the provincial legislative assembly. She ran for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (C C F) Party in 1951.The Hilda Ramsay Fund was created to encourage Island women to run as New Democratic Party (N D P) candidates. The fund also supports women students at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Born January 2, 1929, North Rustico, Prince Edward Island. Died June 22, 2023, Prince Edward Island. Marion attended Prince of Wales College in Prince Edward Island (P E I) and earned a first class teacher’s license when she was only 17. On June 29, 1949 she married Lee P. Reid and the couple had eight children. She taught for 21 years while bringing up her family. In 1979 she was elected to the P E I legislature and was appointed Deputy Speaker. Winning re-election in 1982 she became the first woman speaker of the P E I Provincial Legislature.  From August 16, 1990 through 1995 she served as the 37th Lieutenant Governor of the province of P E I, the first woman to hold such a position in the maritime provinces. She was active in her community service as well as in politics. She served on various boards including the Board of Governors of the P E I Teacher’s Federation and the Board for the Status of Women.  She was an dedicated member or the Sterling Women’s Institute, the Catholic Women’s League, a charter member of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation, and the Zonta Club. In 1994 the P E I Girl Guides created an award in her honour. In 1996  she was inducted into the Order of Prince Edward Island and was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada. Source: PEI Famous Five online (accessed 2024)

Born April 3, 1904, Steinbach, Manitoba  Died August 5, 1969. Steinback, Manitoba. At 15 Mintie left Steinbach to attend business college in Winnipeg. After graduation she returned home and worked for a local notary public, insurance man and the municipal secretary of Hanover. In 1930 Minnie established the local Women's Institute and served as secretary-treasurer. In 1944 Minnie took over the position of municipal secretary as the only woman on council. After ten years Minnie retired from the municipal position to work with the local agricultural for the Manitoba government. Source: Mintie Reimer - A woman unique for her time online (accessed 2024); Find a grave Canada online (accessed 2024)

née Hurst. Born April 1, 1943, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Shirley attended the University of Manitoba earning her Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1964 and her Master of Arts in 1984. She worked as a social worker and high school teacher and has lectured i Psychology at the University of Manitoba. She has also worked as a magazine editor. Shirley married Douglas E. Render.  Shirley is a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association and is the author of two books on aviation history. She is a member of the International Association of Women's Pilots and the Women and History Association and she has served as President of the Western Canadian Aviation Museum. In 1990 she was elected as a Progressive Conservative in the Manitoba legislature and was re-elected in 1995. In 1992 she received the 125th Anniversary of Canada Confederation Medal. She was appointed to the Cabinet February 5, 1999 as Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. In 2001 she received a Governor General of Canada 125 Award. She did not win her election in 2003. She is a member of the Community Partnership Executive at CBC Manitoba and has lectured at Asper School of Business and Red River College. She has also served as executive director of the Western Canada Aviation Museum. (2018)

née Saunders. Born June 16, 1923, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.  Died May 12, 2010, Moncton, New Brunswick. Margaret married Sherwood Rideout and the couple had three sons. In 1964, following the death of her Liberal MP husband, Margaret  became a member Canadian parliament (MP) after successfully winning a by-election in the riding of Westmorland (now Moncton). She was the 1st N.B. woman elected in a federal election. Re-elected in 1965, Margaret sat as an MP until her electoral defeat in 1968. During her time in office, she rose to be Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of National Health and Welfare. When she returned to Moncton, she was appointed a judge of the Federal Citizenship Court, and would become Chief Judge. She served on the Board of Governors of Acadia University, the Board of the Atlantic Baptist Senior Citizens Home, the Salvation Army, the Canadian Bible Society, The Business and Professional Women’s Association and was an active member of the Board of the Moncton Hospital. She was a recipient of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Award.  Source: New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Celebrating Achievers; Behind Every Successful Woman Are All the Women Who Came Before Her., September 2002. Online (accessed January 2016)  (2020)

née Tubb. Born May 23, 1929, Mount Hebron, New Brunswick. September 23, 2020, Riverview, New Brunswick. Brenda was a home economist and businesswoman with an interest in politics. Brenda graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mount Allison University in 1950 with a degree in Home Economics. She married Wilmont 'Willie' Robertson in 1955 and the couple had three children. Denied a position, because she was a women, Brenda and her husband became  a successful sales office. In the 1960's Brenda became interested in the local Progressive Conservative Women's Association. In 1967, Brenda became the 1rst woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick. She was re-elected in 1970, 1974, 1978 and 1982. In 1970, this home economist from Riverview became the 1st woman appointed to the New Brunswick Cabinet. She served 1st as Minister of Youth, and later as Minister of Social Welfare, Minister of Social Services, Minister of Health, and Minister of Social Program Reform. She remained a Progressive Conservative MLA until her appointment to the Canadian Senate on December 21, 1984. She retired on May 23, 2004 with almost 20 years of federal service. That same year she was made a Member of the Order of New Brunswick. In 2008 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. Source: New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Celebrating Achievers; Behind Every Successful Woman Are All the Women Who Came Before Her., September 2002. Online (accessed January 2016); Obituary online (accessed 2023)

Born June 16, 1945, Montreal, Quebec. Lucienne was elected as a member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Chambly and served from September 25, 1989 though September 12, 1994. She served as provincial Minister of of Cultural Affairs, Minister of Education and then as Minister of Health and Social Services. Lucienne was elected in a by election a member of the Canadian parliament for Westmount-Ville Marie (Montreal) and sat in the house of commons from February 13, 1995 through January 25, 2008. While in Ottawa she served as Minister of Labour and Minister responsible for the federal campaign in the 1995 Quebec referendum. In 1996 she was Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and in 1999 she was appointed President of the Treasury Board. In 2003 she became Minister of Industry and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. In 2004 she became Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In 2005 she Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. February 1, 2006 she was named deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons.  She resigned her seat on January 25, 2008. In 2010 she was elected President of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec. Lucienne holds the Order of Canada. (2019)

Born August 19, 1913, Brownlee, Saskatchewan. Died April 19, 2004, Calgary, Alberta. While Mary was a child the family relocated to Regina. After high school she graduated from business school and joined the provincial civil service working as a stenographer in 1937. By 1945 she was serving as the secretary to the Minimum Wage Board in the Department of Labour. In 1952 she had earned a promotion to Assistant Director of the Labour Standards Branch. In 1959 she was appointed to the one person position  as founding supervisor of the province's first Woman's Bureau. She retained this position until he retirement in 1975 when she served as Chair of the Minimum Wage Board from 1979 through 1990. In 1973 she was appointed to the Task Force that reviewed the recommendations that pertained to Saskatchewan of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. Also active in her community she was an active member in Soroptimists and served on the boards of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) , the Family Service Bureau and the Pioneer Village.  In 1993 she received the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Person's Case for her work to secure women's equality in the workplace. Source: Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan online (accessed 2022)

Born April 26, 1876, Norway House, Rupert’s Land (now Manitoba). Died April 19, 1947, Colborne, Ontario. Edith was a Métis born into a family of Hudson Bay Company Officers, Edith spent her youth living in Montreal. She attended Sacred Heart School of Montreal and the Trafalgar School for Girls. Moving back to her home in Manitoba she married businessman Rupert Rogers on June 1, 1898. The couple have 4 children. During World War l she played a leadership role in Winnipeg’s efforts on behalf of soldiers’ families with needs. She continued her efforts at the end of the war helping families of returning soldiers. In 1920 she was the 1st woman elected to the Manitoba Provincial Legislature. She was a member of the Liberal Party and elected to her seat in the legislature three times before she retired in 1932. She was an advocate for reforming the Child Welfare Act of Manitoba making it easier for women to access financial support to care for their children. She was also the 1st female member of the Board of the Winnipeg General Hospital. Edith moved to Colborne, Ontario in 1942.

Born February. 23, 1887, Vancouver British Columbia. Died October 12, 1953, Vancouver, British Columbia. Tilly attended the University of British Columbia when it was connected to McGill University, Montreal. She left teaching to marry Frederick James Rolston in 1909 and raised a family of three children. Tilly worked closely with many associations and clubs including being a director of the Vancouver-based Pacific National Exhibition, an Honorary President of the Women's Canadian Club, president of the Oratorio Society, Quota Club, and the Travel Women's Club. She was also the founding chairman of the Theatre Under the Stars, board member of the Y W C A auxiliary and of the Vancouver Symphony Society. While a homemaker she continued her interest in politics and actually entered politics as an elected Progressive Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in1941. In 1951 she sat as an Independent for the remainder of the session. She became a supporter of W .A. C. Bennett and in the 1952 B.C. election in Vancouver-Port Grey, she was elected as a Social Credit candidate and named education minister. She was the second woman in British Columbia to be appointed to the cabinet and the first woman in all of Canada to hold a specific portfolio. She was a staunch advocate education for every child.

Died October 26, 1945, Edmonton, Alberta She was president of the Local Edmonton Council of Women. December 12, 1921 Izena, known as Mrs. William James Ross (1871-1941), became the first woman elected to Edmonton City Council. Evidently women came out to the election in unusually large numbers that year. She was unsuccessful in the 1922 election. Women were not run for Edmonton council again until 1933. In 2021 on the 100th anniversary of her election the City of Edmonton created Searching for Izena, a local podcast that was dedicated to the amazing stories about women municipal politicians. (2023)

Born India. Veena immigrated to Ottawa, Ontario in 1968. She is the first woman PhD graduate in electrical engineering and the only woman in her 1973 graduating class at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. In 1974 she joined the Canada Department of Communications (forerunner of Industry Canada) . Her 36 year public service career has been studded with recognition. She has received the Public Service Award of Excellence in 2011 for her contribution to telecommunications and to women in leadership. 1n 2003 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Golden Jubilee Award as well as the Excellence in Leadership Award from Industry Canada. 2004 saw her as Canadian Woman of the Year in Communications for the Canadian Women In Communications. In 2005 she was included in too listing of Canada’s most Powerful Women as expressed by Canada’s Executive Women’s Network. That same year she was Professional Woman of the Year for the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce. In 2008 she won the Sara Kirke Award recognizing her as Canada’s leading woman high Tech Entrepreneur from the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance. In 2004 she was the first woman president of the Communications Research Centre which is an internationally-renowned agency of Industry Canada. She retained this position until her retirement in June 2011.  Always a mentor for women in the 1990’s she worked with groups concerned with violence against women and with high school girls sports teams. She is also a volunteer mentor with the Women’s Executive Network. Source: Canadian Women in Technology online (accessed 2018)

née Pendock. Born May 14, 1925, Saint-Laurent, Quebec. Died December 21, 2017, Toronto, Ontario. Her family relocated to Toronto when June was young. She graduated from the University of Toronto (U of T) and worked with Bell Canada. June married Harry Rowlands (1922-1989) whom she later divorced. The couple had five children. In the 1970's she served with the Association of Women Electors and National Council on Welfare. In 1976 she was elected the Toronto City Council. In 1978 she was again elected becoming a senior alderman and she had the added duty of sitting on the Metro Council. She tried running for the Liberal Party in the 1984 federal election but was not successful. In 1988 she declined to run in the 1988 Toronto municipal election accepting instead an appointment as the 1st women chair of the Police Commission. December 1,1991 she was elected as the First woman Mayor of Toronto defeating Jack Layton (1950-2011) by a margin of two to one votes. She had one term when she was defeated in the 1994 Toronto Municipal elections by Barbara Hall (1946-   ). In 2004 Davisville Park in Toronto was renamed in her honour in recognition of her dedication to the city. An Historic plaque was installed in the park: ‘June Rowland… Dedicated Leader and Woman of Firsts’. (2018)

Born St. Paul, Alberta. Claudette was a teacher and school administrator who supported Francophone projects in her home province. Claudette served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of History Corporation from 1995 thought 2007. She was a founding member of La Cite francophone, a community business centre in Edmonton  and also a founding member of Edmonton's Chante music festival. For her promotion of francophone rights and community support she is a Member of the Order of Canada and in 2002 she was presented with the Queen Elizabeth ll Jubilee Medal and the Alberta Centennial Medal. In 2008 she was unsuccessful in her bid to earne a seat in the federal house of commons. (2019)

Born 1956, Newcastle, New Brunswick.  Jocelyne was one of the 1st women to graduate from the Université of Moncton in Engineering. She went on to earn her Master’s degree in Public Administration from her university and then her provincial teaching certificate. She began her career as a Project Engineer at the Esso Imperial Oil Limited, Montreal. She was the 1st woman Vice President of the Université de Moncton and the 1st woman to direct a francophone community college in New Brunswick. Jocelyne married Ronald Vienneau and the couple has two children.  She served as Assistant Deputy Minister, Post-Secondary Education, for the province of New Brunswick. In 2003 she was Alumni of the Year at the Université de Moncton’s Engineering Faculty. In August 2014 she was appointed as the 1st Acadian women to be Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. In 2015 she received the Paul Harris Fellow from the Shediac Rotary Club (2017)

Died July 6, 2023, Toronto, Ontario. Beverly studied nursing in 1950 at Wellesley Hospital and completed her studies at the University of Toronto in 1954. She began working in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. where she heard civil rights leader Martin Luther King speak. That same year she married Dr. Douglas Salmon and the couple had four children in Toronto. In 1975 she was in the forefront of her community as a founding member of the Toronto Urban Alliance on Race Relations (U A R R). She would serve on the U A R R Board of Directors. She became the Ontario Human Rights Commissions 1st Black female commissioner. In 1976 she ran for a Councillor position in North York but was not successful. Determined Beverly went on to be elected and serve 1st as a Councillor for the City North York and later she was  Metro Toronto's 1st female Black city Councillor from 1985 -1997. From 1989 to 1994 she served on the Toronto Transit Commission Board being Vice Chair from 1991-1994. In 1995 she earned the Excellence in Politics Award from the African Canadian Achievement Awards. In 1999 she was on the honour roll of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. In 2012 she was presented with the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. She was In 2016 she was inducted into the Order of Ontario and the following year she was inducted into the Order of Canada. (2019)

née Benoit. Born April 26, 1922, Howell, Saskatchewan. Died January 26, 1993, Montreal, Quebec. The Benoit family moved to Ottawa when Jeanne was just a toddler. She attended the University of Ottawa earning her tuition by working as a government translator. While working in Montreal  Jeanne met Maurice Sauvé. The two were married on September 24, 1948. The couple would have one son. The young newly weds headed first to London England and then to Paris where Jeanne worked at the Youth Secretariat of UNESCO. In 1951 she attended university at the Sorbonne earning a degree in French Civilization. In 1952, while living in St Hyacinthe, Quebec Jeanne helped found the Institute of Political Research and began working as a broadcast journalist for the CBC. She earned a position in the male bastion of political journalism and from 1956-1963 she hosted her own television show, Opinions. In 1972 she ran for a seat in the House of Commons and became the 1st Quebec woman in a federal cabinet with the position of Minister of State for Science and Technology. She would later serve in cabinet positions in the environment and Communications. On April 14, 1980 she was appointed as 1st woman to be Speaker to the House of Commons. When television camera first came to record proceedings of the house, Sauvé was asked to put some blue colouring in her dazzling white hair which was too bright for television filming. Her time as Speaker was known for its cuts in expenses and for starting the 1st daycare for Parliament Hill. On May 14, 1984 Jeanne Sauvé was sworn in as the 23rd Governor General of Canada since confederation. She was the 1st woman to receive this position. She served in this position until 1993 fostering youth peace programs, creating the Governor General’s Award for Safety in the workplace and supporting nationalism. Upon retirement she established the Sauvé Foundation where she worked until her death. The Jeanne Sauvé Trophy is presented in World Cup Women’s Field Hockey. In 1994 Canada Post issued a postage stamp in her honour.

née Nagel. Born November 12, 1912. Died Sarnia, Ontario, February 14,1971. Raised on the family homestead near Mossbank, Saskatchewan. He father died at a young age leaving her mother to raise 7 children. Te young family experienced many hardships in the 1920’s and 1930’s. attended Normal School (Teacher’s College) in Regina in 1930and was introduced to the C.C.F. (Commonwealth Co-operative Party). She married Edgar Scarrow (1912-1985) in 1936 and continued to teach in Saskatchewan. In 1938 the couple moved to Kirkland Lake Ontario where they were both active in the political and labour movements. Martha always active in her local C.C.F. riding association, was elected delegate to the Regina  In 1943 they moved the family, now with tow children, to Sarnia. In 1948 she was the first woman to run as a C.C.F candidate in West Lambton. The family enjoyed the honour and privilege of sharing their home with Tommy Douglas, David Lewis, Ken Dryden and other prominent C.C.F. activists over the years. Martha spent many years teaching leather craft at He Hope School in Sarnia, where she was recognized for her long time dedication to the students. Source: emails from Shirley Scarrow.

Born Hamilton, Ontario. She spent a year at the Université de Besancon, France, before attending the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario to earn her BA in 1973. She worked as administrative trainer. In 1974 through 1979 she worked with the National Museums on the Discovery Train and took courses in political science at Carleton University. In 1979 she worked for the Canada International Development Agency. By 1984 she was posted to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. In 1987 she was the 1st woman to serve as Canada’s High Commissioner to Ghana and was also accredited as ambassador to Togo, Benin and Liberia. In 1990 she was back in Ottawa and the following year she became a single parent. From 1997 through 2000 she served as Director General of the African Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs. From 2003 to 2006 she was Commissioner to South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. Source: Wiers, Margaret K Envoys Extraordinary women of Canadian Foreign Service. Dundurn Press, 1995.

née McEwen. Born July 19,1882 Minnesota, U.S.A. Died Regina, Saskatchewan April 4, 1964.  In 1906 she married Magnus Ramsland. The couple settled in Saskatchewan and raised a family of three children. When her husband died of the Spanish flu in 1918, family convinced her to run for his vacant seat  in a Saskatchewan by-election. She became the first woman elected to the Saskatchewan legislature. The law had been changed only in 1917 which allowed women to run. She would serve a Pelly area member of the legislative Assembly until 1925. She was a staunch defender of her constituents’ need and was the first MLA to suggest marking sites of historical interest in the province. Upon leaving politics Sarah she became a librarian establishing Saskatchewan’s traveling library program. After marrying William George Franklin Scythes in 1942 she turned her energies into community activities and volunteer work. Source: City of Regina. Heritage & History Online. (accessed January 2012.; Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan online (accessed January 2012)

Born 1907, Fort William, Ontario. Died July 4,1975, Thunder Bay, Ontario. Catherine won three elections from 1953-1958, to sit as a councilor of Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. As chair of the 1956 Fort William Winter Carnival Queen Contest she banned swimsuits in favour of skating skirts sweaters and tams. In 1959 she was elected as the first and only woman to be Mayor of Fort William. She was involved in the Neebing River Conservation Project and the construction of the Westmount Hospital during her time as Mayor. As a volunteer she would served with more than 16 different organizations. Her work with the Canadian Red Cross was recognized by Queen Elizabeth ll (1926-2022). She also became known as the 'Book Burning Mayor' when she strongly suggested to a local book dealer that her remove Lady Chatterley's Lover from his bookstore. He not only removed the book but burned some 700 copies in the City incinerator. With ill health she resigned her position in September 1960.

Born April 8, 1899, Lawrence Station, Ontario. Died March 22, 1981. When Ann was 12 the family relocated to Ottawa where she attended school. She married Dr. Manley Adair Shipley and td in 1928 the couple settled in Kirkland Lake in north eastern Ontario.  Ann worked as an administrative secretary for the Kirkland District Mines Medical Plans. Widowed in the early 1940’s she became active in municipal politics in 1943 through to 1952 she was reeve of Teck Township and in 1951 she served as president of the Asso9ciation of Municipalities of Ontario.  Leaving the position as reeve she became active with the Children’s Aid Society, The Girl Guides, the Victorian Order of Nurses, the local Hospital Board, the Red Cross Society, the local Royal Canadian Legion and the Business and Professional Women’s Club. In 1953 the Teck Township hosted a testimonial dinner in her honour. In August 1953 she was elected to the 22^nd Canadian Parliament as a Liberal. In 1955 she became the first woman in parliament to move acceptance of the Speech from the Throne. She lost her seat in the 1957 election and was again unsuccessful in the 962 election. She retired from Politics in 1963.

Born 1939, Jamaica. Glenda was a teacher in her home of Jamaica but was encouraged by a Canadian teach working in Jamaica Glenda accepted a teaching position in Northern Alberta at the Fort Chipewyan reserve in 1966. Her students had never seen a black person before and Glenda had never seen aboriginal children. It did not take long for her to accept the warm and openness of the community. In 1967 she was joined by her husband in Canada and in 1968 her 3 children arrived. Glenda earned her Master’s degree in 1976 at the University of Alberta, Edmonton in Educational Psychology and her PhD in 1985 taught at various universities. From 1977 to 1980 she taught Native Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta; she was Head of the Native Education Department at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, University of Regina, from 1980 to 1985 and she served as the Supervisor of Inter-cultural Education, Race and Ethnic Relations for the Regina Public School Board from 1985 to 1987, Head of the Native Education program at the Nipissing University, North Bay, Ontario 1987-1989. Her volunteer commitments have seen her in the role as President of the Congress of Black Women in Canada, Vice-president of Match International, being a member of the Native Curriculum Review Committee, treasurer of the Institute of Public Administrators of Canada in Regina.  She is a founding member and Director of the National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada and a member of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Housing Corporation. She became President of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of women in January 1990, the 1st Black woman to be appointed to this level of the federal government in Canada. In 1988 she was amongst the first group of Canadians to receive the Citizenship Citation, awarded by the Secretary of State for outstanding contribution to Canadian society. In 1988 she also received an Award of Excellence from the Canadian Association of Principals and in 1989 an Appreciation Award from the Organizers of the Junior Black Achievement Awards. She has been the recipient of the 1990 National Award from the Canadian Council for Multicultural and Intercultural Education. In 1991 she was one of the first two people inducted into the North Bay Human Rights Hall of Fame, In 1992 she was awarded the Inter-Amicus Human Rights Award by McGill University for her contribution to the rights of Aboriginal peoples, women and racial minorities; and in 1993 the Ryerson Fellowship Award by Ryerson Polytechnic University and the Distinguished Alumna Award by the University of Alberta. Also in 1993 she was made an Honorary Member of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada. In 2009 she launched St. Elizabeth Women (SEW) Ltd. A social action organization aimed at empowering women to deal with economic and social stress in Jamaica.

Born  August 21, 1947, Kangiqsaulujjuaq, Nunuvik, Quebec She was a member of a family of eight children brought up in Canada’s arctic region. Since her father was white, she and her siblings, by law, could not attend school after grade 6 so their became schooled at home by their father. All would graduate high school. May became an announcer and producer of Inuktitut radio and television programs for CBC Northern Services. She left the CBC to become Vice President and later President of the Makivik Corporation which was established to oversee proper implementation of provided resources for the Inuit peoples. In 1994 she became Canada’s first ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs and from 1999 to 2000 she was Ambassador to Denmark, the first Inuit woman in this type of diplomatic role. In 2005 she received an honourary degree from Trent University. In 1991 she became a member of the Order of Canada and in 2005 an officer of the order. In 1992 she received the Order of Quebec. She also holds the Gold Order of Greenland. In 2011 she became special advisor to the Labrador Inuit Association. She is also the founding Chair of the Arctic Children’s and Youth Foundation to ensuring access to higher education for all who seek it. Source: Mary May Simon; Canada’s first Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs by Sierra Bacquie. Section15.ca (accessed June 2011); Order of Canada website. (accessed June 2011).

Born January 5, 1928, Calgary. Alberta. Died February 9, 2016, London, Ontario. Elizabeth earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto. She was the founding member of Mme. Vanier Children's Services and Diocesan Catholic Social Services in London, Ontario. In 1976, Elizabeth was elected to the London City Council where she served as alderman for nine years. In 1985 she was elected as a Member of the Ontario parliament and was re-elected in 1987 and in September 1987 she was appointed to the provincial cabinet as Solicitor General. She was forced in 1989 to resign after she had called the police to express her concern about the safety of a missing person. It was felt that this call from a person in her position caused the case to have undo attention. While she ran for election in 1990 and in 1995 but she was unsuccessful. She also served on the board of governors of the University of Western Ontario. She married Don Smith who founded EllisDon construction services. The couple had seven children. (2022)

née Spear. Born October 11, 1863 Tavistock, United Kingdom. Died May 3, 1933. Mary Ellen taught school before she married Ralph Smith (1858-1917). The couple immigrated to Canada and settled in British Columbia in 1891. Ralph became a politician and served in both the Legislature in British Columbia and the federal parliament in Ottawa. Mary Ellen was a member of the Suffrage League of Canada, the Women's Canadian Club where she served as president,  the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (I O D E) and the Canadian Red Cross. After the death of her husband she ran in the January 1918 by-election for his seat and became the 1st woman elected to the British Columbia provincial legislature and the 1st woman Cabinet Minister in the entire British Empire. After World War l she raised money for war veterans and helped to establish factories to employ blind children. She was elected again in 1920 and 1924. During her time in the provincial legislature she introduced a law establishing a minimum wage for women and girls, and helped enact laws establishing juvenile courts, allowing women to sit as judges, creating social welfare support for deserted wives, passing laws protecting women in the workplace and establishing a pension for mothers. She also reflected her era by accepting the ideas justification of legislation to protect the Anglo-Canadian race. She would serve as acting speaker of the Legislative Assembly in February 1928 becoming the 1st woman to hold the position of Speaker in the British Empire.  In 1929 she went to Geneva, Switzerland as Canada's delegate to  the International Labour Organization. Sources: Cathy Converse, Mainstays: Women Who Shaped BC,1998.

Born North Bay, Ontario. She earned her B.A. at the University of Toronto and then attended Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario for her law degree. She also attended the Rotman School of Management at Queen’s University. She worked as a lawyer prior to entering politics. From 2003 through 2011 she represented the riding of Nipissing in Northern Ontario in the Ontario Provincial legislature. On October 30, 2007 she was appointed Minister of Revenue. September 18, 2008 she changed portfolios to become Minister of Tourism and on February 4, 2009 she was also appointed Government House Leader. In January 2010 she was appointed Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. She did not run in the election of 2011. In 2013 she was chose as leader of the transition team to bring in the new Kathleen Wynn Liberal government of Ontario. Source: Ontario Legislature Online. (accessed June 2013).

née Steele. Born July 12, 1934, Rivine, Ukraine (at that time Poland) She earned her BA from the University of Manitoba. She would marry Manitoba politician Sidney Spivak (1928-2002) and the couple would have 3 children. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed her to the Senate of Canada November 17, 1986 representing Manitoba. February 3, 2004 she decided to sit in the Senate as an Independent rather than become a member of the new Conservative Party. By 2006 she was a supporter of the Green Party. She retired from the Senate at the mandatory retirement date of 75 years of age July 12, 2009.

Born 1879(?) Norwood, Ontario. Died October 9, 1961, Vancouver British Columbia. She studied at the University of Toronto. Married she quickly found herself a widow and moved to Vancouver in 1911. Seeking practical training she attended Sprott-Shaw Schools of Commerce, Radio and Telegraphy. In 1918 she married the school’s founder, Robert James Sprott. After his death in 1943, she became president of the school and went on to become the founder of West Coast Radio School. She was elected as a Vancouver alderman in December 1949. She was elected for additional terms serving the city until 1959. She was the 1st woman elected for three terms making her the longest serving woman council member in city history. She was also the 1st  woman to serve as acting mayor in September 1953. The Vancouver Hall of Fame reports that upon retirement she admitted to writing secret letters on council's behalf to those celebrating 50th and 60th anniversaries and 90th or 100th birthdays Source: Vancouver Hall of Fame online (accessed November 2012)

née Strong. Born 1879, Little Bay Islands, Newfoundland. The strong twin sisters were educated at a boarding school in St John’s and later at Mount Allison University. You would think that being the wife of the Premier of the Province and mother of seven children would have been enough work for anyone. However Lady Squires was a social activist who worked to found a teachers college and a maternity hospital. She was the first woman elected to the Newfoundland House of Assembly. When Newfoundland entered Confederation in 1949 she was elected the first president of the provincial Liberal Association.

In 1948 Edna is the first woman in New Brunswick to elected to a municipal office when she wins a seat as city councillor in Saint John. She will serve as deputy mayor until 1950. (written for more information)

Born December 28, 1932, Saskatoon Saskatchewan. A professional businesswoman, Diane was elected to Canadian Parliament in Joe Clark Government of May 1979 – February 1980, where she was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to Secretary of State, David MacDonald. She was the first woman of Greek-Canadian heritage elected to the House of Commons and the one of two women, the other was the Hon. Flora MacDonald, to sit in the Clark government. In 1992 Diane received the 125th Anniversary of Confederation of Canada Medal and in 1994 she was recognized with a Lifetime Women’s Achievement Award by the Toronto Greek Community. In 2009 she was proud to see her second son, David appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal. Source: Canada Parliament. House of Commons.

Born February 4, 1906, Gladstone, Manitoba. Died August 15, 2005, Penticton, British Columbia. A mother and a farmers wife Gladys understood issues facing rural Saskatchewan. When her husband became ill her interest in politics reached fulfillment. At 16 she was teaching a rural one room schoolhouse. She would later not only attend teachers college but she would, as a mature student, earn her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of  Education from the University of Saskatchewan. While teaching she met and married Warner Strum on November 16, 1929. The had one daughter. At one time she travelled to New Zealand to see if it would provide a better living condition for her ill husband. The family remained in Saskatchewan. Gladys ran unsuccessfully to be a member of the provincial parliament in 1938 and 1944.. She did however, go on to become the first woman president of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (C C F) party making her the first Canadian woman to be president of a political party in Canada. In 1945 she was elected member of parliament in Ottawa for Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, where she sat in the House of Commons with 244 male members. She was the first woman of the C C F elected to the Canadian Parliament. She was defeated in the 1949 election and returned to teach in Saskatchewan. In 1952 the family moved to British Columbia in the hopes of easing Warner’s health. In 1953 she ran for parliament but was again defeated. The family returned to Saskatchewan and Gladys became principal of a school in Uranium City. By 1960 she was an elected member of provincial parliament where she would vote on the famous Saskatchewan medical Act in 1962. She and her husband returned once again to British Columbia to be near their daughter and grandchildren in retirement.

née Leishman. Born January 3, 1941, Hamilton, Ontario. Died April 25, 2015, Cobourg, Ontario. Christine studied nursing obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto (U of T). She practiced a short time prior to becoming involved in international development work. She started as a volunteer and then in 1971-72 she was in Honduras with her husband, David G. I. Stewart. She co-founded the Horizons of Friendship where she served as co-executive director until 1988. She and her husband had three children and Christine served as a school board trustee and also served on several community social arts groups in Cobourg. In 1988 she was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons in Ottawa. She was re-elected again in 1993 and 1997. She served as Secretary of State in the cabinet of Jean Chrètien from 1993 though 1997. She was then appointed as Minister of the Environment from 1997 to 1999. She did not run for re-election in the 2000 federal election. After retirement from politics she served as special envoy to Cameroon with the Commonwealth Secretary General for six years. Source: House of Commons online ; Obituary online (accessed 2024)

Born Ponoka, Alberta. In grade nine high school she won the Governor's General Medal. She attended university for a year but dropped out to work as a secretary in Edmonton. She saw an advertisement for secretaries needed in the federal Department of Extern Affairs so she packed her bags and left for Ottawa in the fall of 1956. She began working at External Affairs in Ottawa and then was posted to New York City, New York for 4 years before being re-assigned to Bogota, Columbia. She was still working as a secretary but in the small offices she completed duties beyond her rank. Back in Ottawa she attended night classes at the University of Ottawa and passed the administrative Officers exam at External. She was posted to Saigon, Vietnam in 1968. Returning to Ottawa she was in charge of the secretaries in the Personnel Division. When she graduated University in 1974 her position was converted to that of a Foreign Service Officer. She was the 1st woman to sit on the Board of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers. In the mid 1970’s she married a fellow Foreign Service Officer, Franklin Wiebe. She maintained her own name and refused to leave her career because she was married. The couple found positions together in Jakarta. In 1978 they were back in Ottawa where Janice worked in the Middle East Division traveling to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sryia and Kuwait. She created the Briefing Book for Prime Minister Trudeau’s trip to Saudi Arabia. In 1982 the couple were assigned to Delhi, India where during her tenure there Franklin retired. From 1985-1987 in Ottawa she worked with the Canadian International Development Agency where she often was forced to put cracks in the glass ceiling to be accepted. She retired to be with her husband and became a freelance writer. She has sat on the Board for Interval House and the Lennox Addington Historical Society. Source: Margaret Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Toronto: Dundurn, 1995) 

Born March 31, 1937, Torino, Italy. Anna immigrated to Canada in 1966 and settled on the Canadian west coast.  She worked as an administrator of the British Columbia Police Commission prior to becoming interested to serve as a politician. From 1993 through 1997 she served as a member of the Canadian parliament representing Vancouver. She has worked as a community member of the National Parole Board and a full time member of the Immigration and Refugee Board. She was the first woman president of the Italian Cultural Society. In all she has served on over 40 boards, committees and commissions including: The United Way; Big Brother and Big sister; the Vancouver Centennial Commission; the Vancouver multicultural Society. She has served as editor of an Italian Canadian monthly newspaper and has worked as a broadcaster on Italian television. In 1988 she received the Order of Italy. In 1992 she received the 125 Anniversary of Confederation Medal. She has been the Italian Canadian of the Year and in 2000 she received the National Canadian Italian Award. In 2007 she was awarded the Italian Cultural Centre Society’s Immigrant of the Year.

Born April 2, 1939, Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan, Quebec. As a young mother. Lise became involved in Local school committees. She would found Les Femmes d’aujourd’hui and was a teacher in adult education. She remained committed to community, cultural, political and social activities when she was a TV host for social and family oriented programming. She sat on various provincial government committees, was Director of the Quebec Bureau for the Handicapped, and worked with the Canadian Red Cross. In 1977 she became the first woman ever to hold the office of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.

Born 1955, Coral Harbour, Northwest Territories. Manitok graduated from the Teacher Education Program in Fort Smith in 1977 and went on to teach in schools in Coral Harbour, Repulse Bay and Yellowknife until 1983. She remained in the education field for the next 12 years, holding the positions of Coordinator of Interpreter Services with the Stanton Yellowknife Hospital, Language Consultant, Inuktitut Programs Specialist and high school teacher. Manitok was also an active community volunteer, organizing the inaugural Keewatin Arts and Crafts Festival, music festivals, Rankin Inlet’s Hamlet Days and was a member of the Concerned Citizens against Drug and Alcohol Abuse. She also was a volunteer pastor for a small church in Repulse Bay. In recognition for her civic involvement she received the Volunteer Award for the Hamlet of Rankin Inlet. In 1994, she entered politics at the municipal level as a Counsellor for Rankin Inlet and was appointed to the Nunavut Social Development Committee. She was 1st elected to the Northwest Territories' Legislature for the riding of Aivilik in a by-election on May 8, 1995, and re-elected in October of the same year. While holding the cabinet portfolios of Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and Minister responsible for the Women's Directorate she was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance, the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions and the Special Committee on Housing. On February 15, 1999, the 1st election for the new territory, she won a seat in the Nunavut Legislature for the Rankin Inlet South/Whale Cove riding. Manitok served as Nunavut’s 1st woman cabinet minister as Minister responsible for Public Works and Services and Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation. In 2001 she was named minister of Community Government and Transportation and Minister responsible for Sport Nunavut. . Retiring from territorial politics in 2004 she ran as an independent candidate in the federal Canadian election in 2004 where she finished in 2nd place. Manitok now works as an official with the territorial Nunavut government.  She is married to Tom Thompson and the couple have two children.

née Cull. Born February 19, 1930, St Mary's, Ontario. Died August 10, 2010, Ottawa, Ontario. Shirley earned her Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. She continued her education earning a Master's Degree in art history from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, U.S.A. and then her Doctoral Degree from McGill University in 1981. In the early 1980's she worked as Director at the McCord Museum in Montreal, Quebec before moving on in 1985-1987 to be Secretary-General of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. In 1987 she became director of the National Gallery of Canada for ten years. During her decade as Director the new National Gallery building opened in Ottawa and the gallery became a Crown Corporation. In 1990 she was named a Chevalier des arts et des lettres' by the Government of France.  In 1993 she became an Officer in the Order of Canada and was promoted to the level of Companion in 2001. In 1998 until 2002 she served as Director of the Canada Council of the Arts and in 2000 became the founding Chair of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies. In 2002 she became an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 2003 she was appointed as Chair of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board. In 2010 she was inducted as a Member of the Order of Ontario. Her papers are contained in the Library and Archives Canada and her medals are held by St. Mary's Public Library in Ontario.

Born January 24, 1937, Montreal, Quebec. Died September 6, 2020, Rimouski, Quebec. Suzanne attended Tufts University in Massauchetts, U.S.A. on scholarship earning a Master's Degree in education. She continued her own education at the Université de Lyon, France, to earn a certificate in educational studies and at the University of London, England, to earn a certificate in child care studies. In 1993 she ran and was elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa representing the Bloc Québécois in the riding of Rimouski-Témiscouata in Quebec. She was re-elected in 1997 for Rimouski-Mitis and again in 2000 for Rimouski-et-La Mitis. She would serve as the first woman to hold the position of House Leader for the Bloc. She did not run again for election in 2004. She was staunchly francophone. After leaving federal politics she ran in a municipal by-election in Le Bic, Quebec but was defeated. She taught as a professor at the Université du Québec à Rimouski. In 2018 she was awarded a gold medal by the university for her contributions to regional development. Source: Obituary, The Canadian Press, 2020. (accessed 2023)

Born 1953?. Died August 26, 2011, Ottawa, Ontario. Tricia was the life partner of Chris Becker and the couple had one son.  Tricia would travel throughout NOrth Americ as the Director of Transportation Statisis for Statistics Canada. She also held the position of Director of Enterprise Statistics and became Chief information Officer with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans before moving to Director of Infrmation Management and Technology Services. She was one of the founders to establish the first federal government funded day care centre which was located at Statistics Canada. Source: Obituary, Ottawa Citizen August 29 2011.

Born November 10, 1927, London, England.. Died May 17, 2008. She and her pilot husband, Douglas moved to Canada in 1954 and lived on Toronto Island in Ontario. Many of their crated processions were destroyed when Hurricane Hazel became a welcoming event to their new country. Later they would move to the greener areas of Scarborough Township on the eastern edge of Toronto. Joyce worked originally as a secretary at a secondary school and after working for her Your University degree part time she  became a teacher of typing and business at the school. She also was an ardent supporter of green spaces . Friends urged her to run for politics and in 1974 she became a local Scarborough controller. In 1988 she became Scarborough’s first woman mayor. A devoted and ardent worker for her home town, she retired in 1994 leaving a green space legacy in the Rouge River Valley. She travelled and enjoyed genealogy embracing computers for her hobby. She had conquered breast cancer in her 40’s and remained cancer free for 35 years! In 2007 doctor’s discovered a brain tumor and her health declined rapidly.  Source: The Star obituary- Joyce Trimmer, 80…(accessed August 2008)

née Gregory. Born 1903, Rossland, British Columbia. Died April 18, 1988. She studied at the University of British Columbia and at Bryn Mawr in the U.S.A. She married Leonard Turner and the couple had three children. She became a widow in 1929. In 1934 she worked for the Dominion Tariff Board and worked her way to the position of Chief Economist. During World War ll she worked on the Wartimes Prices and Trade Board and became oils and Fats Administrator which was the most senior position in the federal public service to be held by a woman up to that time. Her wartime services were recognized with appointment of the Order of the British Empire. In 1945 she married Frank Ross, and industrialist and later Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia form 1955-1960. In 1961 Phyllis became the 1st woman to hold the position of Chancellor of the University of British Columbia. In 1966 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. It is easy to see, which such and introduction to political life how her son, John Napier Turner could have found his interest in Politics. He would serve as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada. Source: The Collins Dictionary of Canadian History 1867 to present by David Bercuson and J. L. Granastein. (Collins, 1988) : Obituary. University of British Columbia. Online. (accessed February 2014)

Born 1890, Minto, New Brunswick. Died 1974, Minto, New Brunswick. By the time she was in her 20's she had married, had two sons and was divorced. Facing with being a single mother responsible for the financial support of her family she returned to Business College, took back her maiden name, and took a job as bookkeeper in the office of a mining company in 1918. In 1967 she felt she had to do something when there was only one candidate for mayor of Minto. She won the seat of mayor and was the first woman in New Brunswick to become a mayor. She ran for re-election and won as second term serving until 1971. Source: New Brunswick Women's History online (accessed 2012) (2022)

Born 1920, Blackstock, Ontario. Died April 19, 2012, Toronto, Ontario. She finished high school at 16 and was the first person from Blackstock to attend university. After graduating from the University of Toronto she studied at Osgoode Law school and was called to the bar in 1947.  Women were not well accepted in the profession and it took her awhile to find a firm that would hire her. Soon she was leading the firm when the boss was off sick. The firm became Beaudoin, Pepper and Van Camp. In 1965 she was appointed to the Queen’s Bench. In 1971 she was appointed as the first woman to the Ontario Supreme Court by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. A proper title was finally accepted when she became Madam Justice. She was also the 1st woman member of the Royal Canadian Military Institute. A true pioneer and mentor for women in the profession.  Her charities included the I.O.D.E, the YWCA for which she was President in Toronto in the 1960’s. In 2003 she was awarded the Order of Ontario. Source; ”I am the damn judge” by William Illsey Atkinson. The Globe and Mail. August 9, 2012.  Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa.

née Masters. Born February 26, 1867, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Died April 6, 1963, Regina, Saskatchewan. Helena earned her masters degree from the Nova Scotia, University, Halifax and in 1912 moved to the Saskatchewan to teach school. She attended Regina Normal School (teachers college) in 1914. In 1920 she married Ashley Walker. The couple would have two children. Since married women could not work as teachers she had to find other places to use her energies. In 1925 she was elected to the Regina Public School Board and became chair in 1927. In 1932 she became the first woman to not only run but win the elected position of elected alderman for the City of Regina. She was always known as Alderman Mrs. Ashley Walker, she never used her own first name. She served the city in this position for nine years. She insisted the city hire women police officers and was president of the Women’s Voluntary Services for World War ll (1939-1945). She also served in the 1930’s and 1940’s on the Regina Public Library Board and the welfare services Board. She was president of the Local Council of Women, the University Women’s Club, and the Women’s Canadian Club. Upon her death the citizens of Regina learned that her first name was Helena. Source: City of Regina. Heritage & History. Online. (accessed January 2012.)

Born 1902, Liverpool, England. Died February 11, 1976, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 1913 Marjory and her family immigrated to Canada and settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Marjorie graduated from the Saskatoon Normal School (teachers' college) and taught in several rural schools. She married William Walker and the couple had four children. In 1944 She was elected to serve on the Saskatoon Public School Board. In 1947 she was successfully in her bid to be elected to the Saskatoon City Council a position she retained for eight years. She served as vice president of the Canadian Trustees Association and was active in the Saskatoon Council of Women, and at St. Mark's Anglican Church. In 1953 she returned to teaching retiring in 1965. Source: Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan online (accessed 2022)

Born 1916? Died ????  Mary was a partner with her husband Paul Sawka in a film production company called Palmar Productions. In 1967 she became the first woman to ever seeking the leadership of a major federal political party in Canada. Just a few days prior to the Progressive Conservative Party Convention in Toronto she placed her name in the running for leader of the party. Her platform included such items as Canada leaving  North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N A T O) and the North American Aerospace Defence Command (N O R A D), modernization of the education system to include six languages in all schools, and all houses over 20 - 30 years old should be torn down and re-built.  Her nomination was stalled until a seconder could be found. In the end she received two votes to be leader. She then wrote Cabinet minister Judy LaMarsh volunteering to work as head of  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (C B C) She felt her work with her own production company provided a good background for the position and beside she would worl for half the pay of the current head of the C B C.  She was not hired.  In 1968 she was director of the film The Man Who Wanted Nothing which won nothing in the awards arena. At his point in time she and her production company slipped into obscurity. (2024)

née Fairweather. Born April 30 1932, Shediac, New Brunswick. Died August 30, 2016, Saint John, New Brunswick. Elsie married Richard Wayne and the couple had two sons. In 1977 she won election to the Saint John City Council and in 1983 she became the 1st woman mayor of Saint John. In 1998  she was successful in running for a seat as a Progressive Conservative member in the Canadian federal parliament. It was an all-time low for the PC party as only Elsie and Jean Charest were elected party members. In 1998 she was appointed PC Party interim Leader until Prime Minister Joe Clark was elected that year. She served as deputy leader under Clark. She was a “Straight Shooter’ when it came to speaking her mind. She was flamboyant and had flare and a great sense of humour even wearing reindeer antlers in the House of Commons. She stood up for recognition of the war effort of the Merchant Marines and for other veterans although she did not see  why veterans should have free viagra!. She retired from politics in 2004. Health problems flared when she had a stroke in 2009.

Born March 8, 1896, Renfrew, Ontario. Died January 25, 1975, Ottawa, Ontario. Charlotte attended Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, where she enjoyed playing hockey and was editor of the Queen's Journal  in 1917 as the first female editor of this newspaper while she earned a Master’s of Art degree. This social worker, politician, and feminist was a colourful, energetic, outspoken, and flamboyant individual. In the 1920’s she was a relentless crusader for professional standards of juvenile immigrants and neglected children. She was the spark that ignited the Canadian Council on Child Welfare. She was in demand across North America as a lecturer on social programs. In 1934 she was named a Commander of the British Empire. In 1943 she published two books, The Dawn of Ampler Life and A Hundred Years A-fellin;1842-1942, a History of Logging. When she became mayor of Ottawa in 1951 she was the 1st woman in Canada to be a mayor of a major metropolitan area. In November 1950, Whitton entered Ottawa City politics when she won a seat on what was then called the board of control. When the elected mayor died in office  the next year she succeeded him as mayor. She was elected mayor in 1952, 1954, and 1960 serving until 1964. In 1964 she was named by the Toronto B'nai Brith as Woman of the Year. Later she served as an alderman until 1972. As mayor she pioneered communications with the electorate by hosting her own TV show and her own newspaper column. In 1967 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. Charlotte never married but lived for 32 years with her companion, Margaret Grier (1892-1947), a friend from her university days. She did not have a life without controversy and there are accusations of anti-Semitism and that she was a racist preferring only British immigration to Canada. In 2011 her name was kept off the new Archives building in Ottawa due to her life controversies. Numerous biographies about Charlotte have been published over the years.

née Mackay. Born February 4, 1885, Montreal, Quebec. Died March 3, 1962, Ottawa Ontario.  A child of an influential and wealthy family in Montreal, Cairine grew up bilingual with a keen interest in keeping informed with life. She often travelled with her father to Ottawa and admired a family friend, Sir Wilfrid Laurier. In 1909 she married Norman Wilson (1876-1956) and the young couple moved to Cumberland Township near Ottawa to have their family of eight children. In 1918 they retained their Cumberland property but moved to downtown Ottawa. While her family was at home Cairine was active in her church and the local Red cross. Once her family was growing she become more interested in the life in Ottawa Politics and she became co-president of the Eastern Ontario Liberal Association. On February 15, 1930, Prime Minister William Lion Mackenzie, appointed her as Canada’s first woman in the Senate. She would prefer to be remembered for her work to serve refugees and for being outspoken against anti-Semitism in Canada. She did not pull punches and spoke up for what she believed. At the beginning of the upheaval in Europe in World War ll (1939-1945) William Lion Mackenzie King (1874-1950) was reluctant to accept Jewish refugees as immigrants to Canada. Cairine worked to accept 100 orphans into Canada. A Television Historical Minute telecast shows viewed in the 1990’s shows Wilson arguing the case for refugees. She served as chair of the Canadian National Committee on Refugees 1938-1948, and was Canada’s first woman delegate to the new United Nations in 1949. In 1950 she was presented with the Knight of the Legion of Honour, the highest civilian honour from France, for her work on behalf of  child refugees. In 1955 she became the first woman Deputy Speaker in the Canadian Senate. A secondary School in Orleans, located not far from the Wilson family farm in Cumberland Township, is named in her honour. She is buried in Dale Cemetery near her former farm and her tombstone simply reads “Appointed to the Senate 1930” Her biography, First Person by Valerie Knowles, was published in 1987.Sources: First Person, Valerie Knowles (Toronto, Dundurn Press, 1988); Heroines online ; personal knowledge

née Knight. Born October 8, 1898, Utica, New York, U.S.A.  Died November 14, 1982. An orphan at the age of six she was adopted by her father's sister, Anna Knight from Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. She became the first woman to served as an alderman of Port Arthur in 1948 and was re-elected in 1954. In 1956 she became the first woman to serve as Mayor of Port Arthur. January 1, 1922 Eunice married John Alexander Wishart. In 1974 she relocated to Toronto to live near her children.

Cornelia Lucinda Wood

née Railey. Born April 14, 1892, St Joseph, Missouri, U.S.A. Died December 26, 1985, Stony Plain, Alberta. The Railey family relocated first to Oklahoma City and in 1904 to a farm in Stony Plain, Alberta. Cornelia attended high school in Edmonton, Alberta, and then attended Normal School (teachers college) in Calgary where she graduated when she was 16 years old. She taught until she married Russell Edgerton Wood on December 24, 1912. Cornelia was a charter member of the Stony Plain Women’s Institute where she served on the executive. In 1931-1935 she was Provincial Supervisor of the Women’s Institute Girl’s Club. In 1937-1941 she served as provincial secretary for the organization. She worked with the provincial Department of Agriculture in the Women’s Bureau Branch as a demonstrator and lecturer. She was also politically active campaigning first for the Liberals before converting to the Social Credit Party. In 1940 she was a successful candidate for Stony Plain for the Social Credits and held her provincial seat until 1955 and again from 1958 till 1967. She always wore a new hat for the start of the new Legislature. (Some of her hats are preserved in the Alberta Museum Association Multicultural Heritage Centre) After 1941 she served as chair of the Social Welfare Subcommittee of the Alberta Post War Reconstruction Committee. From 1955 through 1960 when she was not in the provincial parliament she served as chair of the Alberta division of the Community Planning Association of Canada. Locally she also served on the Library Board and the School Board. In 1953-1954 she was the Mayor of Stony Plain. Sources: Cornelia Woods Fonds, Provincial Archives of Alberta. Online Accessed July 2015; Kay Sanderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women. Online (accessed July 2015.)

Born Beechville, Nova Scotia. Carolann attended Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1988 while living in Ontario she became the 1st Black woman to run for the mayor of Toronto. She was unsuccessful in her bid to be mayor. By 1994 she was back in Halifax, Nova Scotia and working as Director of Community Economic Development and Strategies Engagement. 2017.

Born August 29, 1947, near Campbell River Reserve, British Columbia. Died August 17, 2009. In the 1960’s through 1960’s she worked for the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs. She moved to Vancouver in 1994 where she joined the Snuneymuxu Band Office where she worked through to 2001. The following year she served on the Band Council. A strong administrator she understood politics and she earned funding for new homes, new water and sewer infrastructure and increased the standard of living for all her people. In 2006 she became the first woman Chief of the Snuneymuxu encouraging other women to come to the forefront. Her sudden death was a shock but her people moved forward working with her powerful vision. Source: Viola Wyse by Derek Spalding Daily News, August 19, 2009.

Born May 21, 1953, Toronto, Ontario. Kathleen earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario  and then earned her Master's Degree from the University of Toronto. She then attended the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education to earn her teaching degree. In 1996, she helped found Citizens for Local Democracy, which opposed the efforts of Ontario's Progressive Conservative government to amalgamate Metro Toronto. Among the many community endeavours she founded the Metro Parent Network to support improvements in the public education system. She married Phil Cowperthwaite and the couple had three children. When she was 37 she came out as a lesbian living with her partner Jan Rounthwaite. The pair were married in 2005.   In 2000 Kathleen was elected to the public office as a Toronto District School Board Trustee. In 2003 she was elected as a Provincial Member of Parliament under a Liberal government where she served in various cabinet posts. September 18, 2006 she was appointed Minister of Education becoming the province's 1st openly lesbian cabinet minister. She served as the 25th Premier of Ontario from February 11, 2013  to 2018. Kathleen is the 1st woman to be Premier of Ontario and the 1st openly LGBT Premier in Canada. She originally replaced Dalton McGinty as Premier after his resignation and was elected to the position in 2014. Her premiership was not all smooth sailing as she attempted to privatize Ontario Hydro and raised the minimum wage to $14.00 per hour with an increase of another dollar in the next year. It should be noted that the unemployment rate in Ontario became lower than the national average in 2015. The Liberals , under Premier Wynne not only lost the 2018 provincial election but the Liberal Party also lost it's official party standing.

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