Politicians & Public Servants
Raynell Andrechuk.	Born August 14, 1944. She studied law at the University of Saskatchewan. She when on to serve as a judge and an ambassador. She is currently serving as a senator in the Senate of Canada.
Ethel Blondwin-Andrews.	Born March 25, 1951. She was the first Native woman elected to the Canadian Parliament and to become a member of Cabinet.
Lise Bacon	Born Valleyfield, Quebec August 25, 1934.She studied humanities at College Marie-de-L'Incarnation and Academie Saint-Louis-de-GomInzague in Trois-Rivières 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. She would retire from provincial politics in 1994 and was appointed to the Senate of Canada.
Monique Bégin.	Born Rome, Italy March 1, 1936. She was 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.
Martha Louise Black.	(née Munger) Born Chicago, Illinois February 24, 1866.  Died October 31, 1957. One of Canada's more colourful characters she joined the search for gold by hiking the famed Chilkoot Pass in the Yukon Gold Rush of 1898!  She gave birth to her first child alone in a log cabin. In order to survive she raised money to purchase a saw mill and bossed 16 men on a mining claim. She became the First Lady of the Yukon when her second husband, George Black, was Commissioner. She received the Order of the British Empire in 1946 for her cultural and social contributions to the Yukon.  At the age of 70 she won an election for a seat in the Canadian Parliament!
Florence Bayard Bird	(née Rhein) Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S.A. January 13,1908. Died July 18, 1998. A member of the Canadian Senate, under the pen name of Anne Francis she was also an author.  She was also a pioneer broadcaster and journalist. In 1967 she was appointed Chairperson of the Royal Commission of the Status of Women. She was a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Phyllis Marion Boyd.	Born March 26, 1946. She was elected to the Ontario Legislative Assembly in 1990. She has held several cabinet posts including Minister responsible for Women's Issues and Attorney-General for the Province of Ontario.  She is the first woman and the first 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.
Rosemary Brown	Born Kingston, Jamaica 1930. Died April 26, 2003. She believed in justice for all and worked tirelessly to ease violence and poverty in Canada and internationally. In 1972 she became the first Canadian Black women to be elected to public office when she was elected to the British Columbia Legislature. In 1975 she was the first 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! Dr Brown was an officer in the Order of Canada. In 1989 she wrote her autobiography. There is a biography for youth to read by Lynette Roy, Brown girl in the ring: Rosemary Brown [Toronto: Sister Vision, 1992]
Helen Lawrence Buckley	Born Winnipeg, Manitoba February 3, 1923. She earned her B.A. from the University of Manitoba. 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.
Pearl Calhasen .	Born December 5, 1952. After studies for her Masters in Education she worked to develop Cree language for elementary and adult education. She was the first 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.
Catherine Callbeck.	Born Central Bedeque, Prince Edward Island July 26 1939.  A politician and businesswoman, she succeeded Joe Ghz as Premier of her home province in 1993.  She was defeated in the election of 1997. She was appointed to the Senate of Canada in September 1997.
Iona Campagnolo.	Born Galiano Island, British Columbia October 18, 1932. She 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 and finally 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. She returned to politics as the first woman President of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1982 to 1986. Now a private citizen she retains her interest in politics and can be seen and heard making political comment on major current topics.
Avril Kim Campbell.	Born Port Alberni, British Columbia March 10, 1947. She studied in British Columbia and at the London School of Economics. She taught at University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Community College and then worked for Premier Bill Bennett's office in Victoria, British Columbia. She left the Social Credit Party and joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and won a seat in the federal House of Commons in 1988. She served as Minister of Indian Affairs, then became the first woman to serve as Minister of Justice and later she was the first woman to be Minister of Defense. In 1993 when she was the first woman elected as leader of the PC Party she became the first woman Prime Minister of Canada.
Sharon Carstairs	Born Halifax, Nova Scotia April 26, 1942. She holds a B.A. in political science and History from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and a M.A. in teaching from Smith College, Massachusetts. She was firs 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 th the Senate September 15, 1994. In 1997 she was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate in 1997. She has accomplished her successful career with the support of her husband and two children.
Thésèse Casgrain.	(née Forget). Born Montreal, Quebec July 10, 1896. Died November 2, 1981. 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 continued a career in politics becoming the first Canadian woman to lead a provincial political party. She was the leader of the Quebec CCF Party from 1951-1957. In 1970 she was appointed to the Senate of Canada. She is considered a leading woman of 20th century Canada.
Thelma Chalifoux	Born February 8, 1929. She did her post graduate studies at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and the Chicago School of Interior Design. She was the winner of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1995.. She is the mother of seven children and Grandmother to 30 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren! She was appointed to the Senate of Canada in November 1997. Her special interests are Aboriginal, environmental, women, Human Rights and seniors issues.
Andrée Champagne.	Born Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec July 17, 1939. An accomplished pianist and actor on radio and television she also worked hard for her profession and established the first Canadian retirement home for artists, Le Chez Nous des Artistes. She began a career in politics in 1984. Elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa, she was immediately appointed to Cabinet in the position of Minister of State for Youth. In 1990 she became the first woman to be appointed as Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. She has now retired from active politics and returned to private life.
Solange Chaput-Rolland.	Born Montreal, Quebec May 14,1919. A writer, editor broadcaster, and politician she served on the Federal Task Force on Canadian unity and as a member of the legislative Assembly in the province of Quebec. Her books have been written in either English or French. Don't you wish you could write books in both of our Official Languages?
Joan Cook.	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.
Sheila Maureen Copps.	Born Hamilton, Ontario November 27, 1952. Sheila followed her father by choosing the profession of politics. Graduating from the University of Western Ontario in London with a degree in French and English she has been a consistent supporter of bilingualism in Canada. She studied for advanced degrees at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and the University of Rouen in France. She worked as a newspaper journalist in Hamilton and Ottawa. In 1981 she was elected to the Ontario Provincial legislature and in 1984 she successfully ran as a member of Parliament (Liberal) for the  federal Government. She was the 1st sitting member of Canadian Parliament to give birth  in 1987, and November 4, 1993 she became the  1st woman Deputy Prime Minister. In May 2004 she retired from Elected politics
Nellie J. Cournoyea.	Born Aklavik, Northwest Territories March 4, 1940. Nellie grew up traveling and hunting in the traditional manner of her people. In the 1960’s she worked as an announcer for the CBC radio. She co-founded a political association to help the people of Inuvialuit which gave her an active role in the 1984 land claim. In 1979 she was elected to the Legislature of the Northwest Territories and became the first native woman to lead a provincial territorial government in Canada.
Ione Christensen	Born October 10, 1933. After graduating from High School in the Yukon she earned a business administration degree from the college of San Mateo in California. She returned home and worked for the government of the Yukon Territories. After taking a short time to care for her pre-shcool 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.
Dorothea Crittenden	Born Blythe, Ontario April 30, 1915. When her father lost  his job in the Great Depression this strong young woman baby 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. In 1937 she entered the provincial public service. During World War ll, 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 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."
Marion Dewar.	(née Bell)  Born Montreal, Quebec February 12, 1928. Educated as a nurse at the University of Ottawa,  she 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 through1985. 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.
Mabel M. DeWare	Born  August 9, 1926. A politician who served as a Member of the New Brunswick Legislature, where she held several cabinet positions.  She was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 1990. 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.
Pat Duncan	Born Edmonton, Alberta April 8, 1960. She 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.
Jean Edmonds	Born 1921. After her studies at the University of Manitoba , Jean would spend the first twenty years of her career as a journalist for the Financial Post newspaper. In 1964 she joined the federal government public service. 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. 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.
Joyce Fairbairn.	Born Lethbridge, Alberta November 6, 1939. She studied for a B.A. in Alberta and took her degree in journalism from Carleton University in 1961. After working as a journalist in the Parliamentary Press Gallery she became Legislative Assistant to Prime Minister Trudeau for 14 years. 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 first woman to be named Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister with Special Responsibility for Literacy.
Ellen Louks Fairclough	Born Hamilton, Ontario January 28, 1905. Died November 13, 2004.  Her first career was as an accountant. She owned her own 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. In 1957 she became the first woman to be appointed to the federal cabinet. 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 Persons Award. 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.
Muriel McQueen Fergusson.	Born Shediac, New Brunswick May 26,1899. Died April 11, 1997. After her Husbands death she took over his law practice. 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 o revise the Criminal Code so women could sit on juries in criminal cases. Women could now plead rape charges with women on the jury! 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
Isobel Finnerty.	Born July 15, 1930. She has 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 is a member of the Senate of Canada.
Joan Fraser.	Born October 12, 1944. She earned a B.A. in Modern Languages from McGill University in 1965. She began her career as a cub reporter with the Gazette 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 is a member of the Senate of Canada.
Sheila Fraser	Born Dundee, Quebec September 16, 1950. 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.
Myra A. Freeman	née Holtzman Born May 17, 1949. 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 with 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 CRB 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.
Barbara Hanley.	Died January 26, 1959. On January 6, 1936, with a margin of 13 votes, Mrs. Hanley became the first woman to be elected to the position of Mayor of a town in Canada. The town of Webwood, Ontario is located some 50 miles west of Sudbury. Mrs. Hanley would fight to ensure proper homes for the aged. Did she do a good job? She was elected to eight consecutive terms as mayor. The voters must have felt that she was a good mayor
Nora Frances Henderson.	Born Hampstead, England 1913. Died 1949. In 1919 she began her journalist career at the Hamilton Herald newspaper and became Women's editor in 1921. She always encouraged women to take their place within the community and soon women were appointed to the Hamilton Hospital Board as well as appointments to other organizations. In 1934 Nora became the first woman in Canada elected to a city Board of Control She would be elected 16 consecutive times to this position. In 1947 she retired to become Executive Secretary of the Association of Children’s Aid Societies of Ontario.
Nancy Hodges	Born 1888. Died 1969. She was first elected to the British Columbia Legislature in 1941. She was named Speaker of the British Columbia Provincial Legislature, as the first woman to hold the post of Speaker in the British Commonwealth December 12, 1949.
Janis G. Johnson.	Born April 27,1946. After university she would follow careers as a businesswoman, and a consultant . She was appointed to the Senate of Canada in September 1990.
Rita Margaret Johnston	(née Leichert). Born Melville, Saskatchewan April 22, 1935. She was first elected to the Surry, British Columbia, city council in 1970. In 1983 she was elected to the British Columbia provincial assembly becoming Minister of Municipal Affairs and Transit in 1986. In 1991 she became the first woman to serve as a provincial premier in Canada.
Judy Verlyn LaMarsh.	Born Chatham, Ontario December 20, 1924 Died October 27, 1980. A lawyer, educator and politician this colourful, flamboyant woman as Minister of Health and Welfare introduced the Canada Pension Plan.  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. You will find her autobiography on many library shelves.
Rose-Marie Losier-Cool.	Born June 18, 1937. A teacher by profession, she entered into politics by serving on several provincial and federal committees including the Committee on the Status of Women. She was Teacher of the Year in New Brunswick and was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1995.
Daurene Lewis.	In 1984 she was the first black mayor in Nova Scotia and the first black woman to be a mayor in North America. Moving to provincial level politics in 1984 she was the first black woman in her province to run in a provincial election.
Flora Isabel MacDonald.	Born Sydney, Nova Scotia June 3, 1926.  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 the Clark Government 1979-1980 she became the first woman to hold a major cabinet post as secretary of State for External Affairs.  She would later serve in the Mulroney Cabinet as Minister of Employment and Immigration.
Grace Winona MacInnis.	Born Winnipeg, Manitoba July 25, 1905.  Died July 10,1991. She was born into a political household as the daughter of J. S. Woodsworth, founder of the CCF party of Canada. She followed her home training by entering politics and being a known social activist. 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.
Agnes Campbell Macphail.	Born Preston Township., Grey County, Ontario March 24, 1890. Died February 13, 1954. She was the only woman elected to the Canadian parliament in 1921 when women first had the right to vote for parliament. She was the first woman to sit in the House of Commons as a Member of the Canadian Parliament. She was also the first woman to be appointed as a member of the Canadian delegation to the League of Nations (forerunner to the United Nations.) The first woman to inspect Kingston Penitentiary, which left her with a life long advocate for better conditions of women in prison. Losing her federal seat in the 1940 election, Agnes turned her attention to provincial politics and in 1943 she was one of two women first elected to the Ontario Legislative Assemble. She was the founder of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Canada which even today works to give help to women in need.
Marion Adams Macpherson	Born Moos Jaw, Saskatchewan May 16, 1924. After her studies at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Toronto she joined the federal Department of External Affairs. 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), Ambassador to Denmark ( 1979-1983) , Deputy Commandant of the National Defense College from 1983-1985 and High Commissioner to Zambia from 1985- 1987.
Nellie Letitia McClung.	(née Mooney) Born Chatsworth, Ontario October 20, 1873. Died September 1, 1951. This author, first published in 1908, and it became a national best seller. A busy mother of 4 children she became interested in women’s rights. She was and effective speaker and was elected Member of Parliament from Alberta. She worked on the Person’s Case, was a Canadian delegate to the League of Nations (now the United Nations), and was the first woman board member of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Alexa McDonough.	Born Ottawa, Ontario August 11, 1944. Alexa studied at Dalhousie University and the Maritime School of Social work. In 1980 she became the first woman to lead a recognized political part in Canada. As a social worker she had chosen politics as her avenue to improve her community by leading the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NDP) . In 1995 she was elected as leader of the national NDP. 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.
Barbara Jean McDougall.	(née Leamen) Born Toronto, Ontario November 12, 1937.  After graduating from the University of Toronto she became an investment manager.  She expanded her career to include being a business journalist in print and television.  In 1984 her interest in politics led to her being elected to the Federal Parliament.  She 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 Secretary of State for External Affairs.  In 1993 she returned to private business.
Pauline Emily McGibbon.	(née Mills). Born Sarnia, Ontario October 20, 1910. Died December 14, 2001. A long time volunteer for various charities and groups including being president of the Imperial order of the Daughters of the Empire, she was also chancellor at the University of Toronto. She was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Ontario (1974-1980) and became the first Canadian woman to obtain such a position. She was also the first woman to fill the following wide-ranging positions: Chancellor of the University of Toronto, President of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, and Director of four major Canadian companies: George Weston, IBM, Imasco and Mercedes Benz.
Louise Crummy McKinney	Born Frankville, Ontario September 22,1868. Died July 10, 1931. She was one of the first women to be elected to the Alberta Legislative Assembly and later the federal Parliament. She was an organizer of local, provincial, national and international vice-president of the Women’s Christian temperance Union. She fought for laws to aid immigrants, widows, and separated women. She was the second woman to sign the famous “Persons” act which lead to women in Canada being able to be considered “persons” She is one of the group now called “The Famous Five”
Audrey McLaughlin.	Born Dutton, Ontario November 7, 1936. In 1989 she was elected leader of the New Democratic Party. She was the first woman in Canadian history to lead a federal political party. After moving to the Yukon, she worked on various projects such as improving child welfare legislation, research on land claims and aboriginal self-government.
Blanche Margaret Meagher.	Born Halifax, Nova Scotia January 27, 1911. Died February 25, 1999. This diplomat was one of 4 pioneering women in the administration of the Canadian federal government where she worked at the Department of External Affairs. She served in Mexico and London and then in 1958 she was the first woman to become appointed as an ambassador for Canada. She served as Canadian ambassador to Israel, Austria Sweden.
Bev Oda	Born Thunder Bay, Ontario July 7, 1944. 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.
Mary Irene Parlby	née Marryat. Born London, England January 9, 1868. Died July 12, 1965. She was one of the "Famous Five" who put focus on the Persons Case in 1929. which lead to women being legally declared "persons". She was a Canadian delegate to the League of Nations in 1930. She had moved up through the United Far Women of Alberta and had been the first woman elected to the Alberta Legislature.
Lise Payette.	Born Montreal, Quebec August 29, 1931. In the 1960's she hosted a popular Radio Canada morning program "Place aux Femmes". She turned politician and joined the "Parti Quebecois". in 1976 she was elected to the Quebec Provincial legislature  where she was appointed provincial Minister of Consumer Affairs. She was not reelected in the 1980 election and  her political career ended.
Vivienne Poy.	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.
Marion Loretta Reid	Born North Rustico, Prince Edward Island January 4, 1929. This mother of eight children was a school teacher and school principal. She was elected in 1979 to the Prince Edward Island legislature where she was in turn, Speaker of the House and Leader of the Opposition. August 16,  1990 she was the first woman to be appointed to the position of Lieutenant Governor of the province of Prince Edward Island.
Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé .	(née Benoit) Born Prud'homme, Saskatchewan April 26, 1922. Died January 26, 1993. A journalist turned politician she became the first woman appointed as Speaker of the House of Commons in Ottawa and the first woman to be appointed Governor General of Canada. Did you know that her hair was so brilliantly white that she had to put a light blue colour in it to tone it down for the Commons TV cameras?
Mary Ellen Smith.	née Spear Born Tavistock, England October 11, 1863. Died May 3, 1933. After the death of her political husband in 1917 she ran in the by-election for his seat and in 1921 became the first woman elected to the British Columbia provincial legislature and the first woman Cabinet Minister in the entire British Empire. She resigned from Cabinet in 1922 but remained as MPP until 1928.
Lady Helena E. Squires	(née Strong) Born Little Bay Islands, Newfoundland 1879. 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.
Lise Thibault.	Born Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan, Quebec April 2, 1939. 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.
Manitok Thompson.	Born Coral Harbour, Northwest Territories August 17, 1955. She has devoted her life to family and her homeland. She was a teacher and Inuklitut programs specialist. She was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of N.W.T. (riding of Aivilik) in 1995. She has served as Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and Women's Directorate.
Charlotte Whitton.	Born Renfrew, Ontario March 8, 1896. Died January 25, 1975. This social worker, politician, and feminist was a colourful, energetic, outspoken, 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. When she became mayor of Ottawa in 1951 she was the first 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 the next year she succeeded him. She was elected mayor in 1952, 1954, 1960 and 1964 and later served as an alderman until 1972.
Cairine Rea Wilson	(née Mackay) Born Montreal, Quebec February 4, 1885.Died March 3, 1962. A mother of 8 children. she was Canada’s first woman to be appointed to the Senate. She would prefer to be remembered for her work to serve refugees and for being outspoken against anti-Semitism in Canada.  She was chair of the Canadian National Committee on Refugees 1938-1948, and was Canada’s first woman delegate to the new United Nations in 1949. Appointed to the Senate in 1930 she served for 32 years until her death
Public Servants
Phyllis Marion Boyd.	Born March 26, 1946. She was elected to the Ontario Legislative Assembly in 1990. She has held several cabinet posts including Minister responsible for Women's Issues and Attorney-General for the Province of Ontario. She is the first woman and the first 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.
Jean Edmonds.	Born 1921. After her studies at the University of Manitoba, Jean would spend the first twenty years of her career as a journalist for the Financial Post newspaper. In 1964 she joined the federal government public service. 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. 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
Elizabeth Pauline MacCallum.	Born June 20, 1895. She joined the Department of External Affairs in 1942 and was an advisor in 1945 and the founding of the United Nations. In 1954 she was chargé d’affairs in Beirut, the first woman to head a Canadian foreign mission. Upon retirement she began to write on the Middle East.
Pamela Ann McDougal.	Born May 9, 1925.  A diplomat and public servant she joined the Department of Externals Affaires in 1949.  She served in Germany, Vietnam, India, and Poland.  She headed the Royal Commission on Condition of the Foreign Service in 1981.
Blanche Margaret Meagher	Born Halifax, Nova Scotia January 27, 1911.  Died February 25, 1999. This diplomat was one of 4 pioneering women in the administration of the Canadian federal government where she worked at the Department of External Affairs. She served in Mexico and London and then in 1958 she was the first woman to become appointed as an ambassador for Canada. She served as Canadian ambassador to Israel, Austria Sweden.
Sylvia Ostry	(née Knelman) Born Winnipeg, Manitoba June 3, 1927. 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 first woman to hold the rank of Deputy Minister in the government of Canada February 18, 1976.
Lise Thibault.	(née Trudel) Born Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, Quebec April 2, 1939. As Lieutenant Governor of Quebec she has earned the right to use the title The Honourable Lise Thibault. She has worked with many public and community organizations. She has  served as an adult education teacher, worker for Health and Safety Board, the Canadian Red Cross, she served for disabled person for the Quebecers NO Committee, the Liberal Party of Canada, and founded journals and associations to promote women in Canada. Among her many awards is the Personality of the year award from Chatelaine Magazine.