Flora MacDonald (politician)

Flora MacDonald (politician)

:"For the Scottish Jacobite heroine, see Flora MacDonald (Scottish Jacobite)"

Flora Isabel MacDonald, P.C., C.C., O.Ont.. O.N.S. (born June 3, 1926) is a Canadian politician.

Born in in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, she worked in administration for the Conservative Party for several years, prior to becoming involved in elective politics.

She was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1972 general election as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of Kingston and the Islands. She remained in parliament until her defeat in the 1988 election.

At the 1976 PC leadership convention, she became the first woman to mount a serious campaign for the leadership of one of Canada's two major governing parties. She was preceded by Rosemary Brown who ran in 1975 for the leadership of the New Democratic Party, and by Mary Walker-Sawka, who won two votes at the PC leadership convention in 1967.

MacDonald fared worse than expected, leading pundits to coin the phrase "the Flora Syndrome" [cite news
title=Where have all the women leaders gone?
coauthors=Jane Arscott and Linda Trimble
publisher=University of Alberta ExpressNews
url=http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=3542
date=2002-12-20
] for the phenomenon of a female politician's promised support failing to materialise. It was thought that this was a result of sexism: delegates liked the candidate but in the end could not bring themselves to vote for her because she was a woman. MacDonald dropped off after the second ballot, and encouraged her supporters to vote for Joe Clark, the eventual winner.

Clark and MacDonald, both Red Tories, became allies throughout their careers. When Clark became Prime Minister of Canada in 1979, he made MacDonald the first female Secretary of State for External Affairs in Canadian history, and one of the first female foreign ministers anywhere in the world. MacDonald, in turn, supported Clark at the 1983 leadership convention, where he lost to Brian Mulroney.

MacDonald returned to government after the PC victory in the 1984 federal election, serving first as Minister of Employment and Immigration, and then as Minister of Communications under Prime Minister Mulroney.

Since losing her seat in 1988, MacDonald has devoted her time to international humanitarian work. She served as president of the World Federalist Movement - Canada. [ [http://www.worldfederalistscanada.org/view.htm World Federalist Movement - Canada, World-View page] accessed June 7, 2006] In 2003, she briefly re-entered the political scene to oppose the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance, but was unable to prevent the folding of the Tory party into the new Conservative Party of Canada. According to journalist Thomas Walkom she voted for the New Democratic Party in the 2004 federal election. [cite news
last=Walkom
first=Thomas
title=Still feeling jilted after right-wing marriage:Many unhappy with PC-Alliance union
publisher=Toronto Star
date=2005-11-12
url=http://www.davidorchard.com/online/media-2005/torontostar-20051112.html
]

Honours

*Kingston's prominent 400-boat harbour in front of City Hall is named the Flora MacDonald Confederation Basin in her honour.
*Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992. [cite web|title=Order of Canada citation|url=http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=3981]
*Promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 1998.
*Recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace in 1999.
*Awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws for her role as parliamentarian and humanitarian by Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2003. [ [http://www.mun.ca/marcomm/news/index.php?includefile=showitem.php&id=131 Memorial University names honorary degree recipients for 2003 spring convocation] , April 9, 2003]
*Awarded the Padma Shri, a civilian award, by the Government of India in 2004.
*Peter Raymont made a National Film Board documentary of her 1976 leadership bid, entitled "Flora". [cite web |url=http://www.whitepinepictures.com/seeds/bio-peter.html |title=Peter Raymont]
*Made a Member of the Order of Nova Scotia in 2007. [cite web|title=Recipients—2007|url=http://www.gov.ns.ca/prot/2007recipients.htm]

References

External links

*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Flora MacDonald — may refer to: *Flora MacDonald (Scottish Jacobite) (1722 ndash;1790), known for her daring rescue of Bonnie Prince Charlie *Flora MacDonald (politician) (born 1926), Canadian Member of the Parliament for Kingston and the Islands, 1979 ndash;1988 …   Wikipedia

  • Flora (disambiguation) — Flora is plant life collectively, as distinct from animal life (fauna); or, a book or other work that describes the plant species occurring in a particular area or region. NOTOC Flora may also refer to: *Flora (margarine), the name used in the UK …   Wikipedia

  • Flora Fraser (writer) — Flora Fraser (born 1958) is a British writer, best known for her historical biographies. She is the daughter of Lady Antonia Fraser and the late Sir Hugh Fraser. She is married to Peter Soros, a nephew of American philanthropist George Soros. Her …   Wikipedia

  • Macdonald — Mac|don|ald, Flora (1722 90) a Scottish woman who helped ↑Bonnie Prince Charlie to escape from Scotland after the Battle of ↑Culloden by making him dress in women s clothes and pretend to be her Macdonald 2 Macdonald, Ramsey (1866 1937) a British …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Michael Wilson (politician) — For other people named Michael Wilson, see Michael Wilson (disambiguation). The Honourable Michael Holcombe Wilson PC, CC …   Wikipedia

  • Neil McLeod (politician) — Neil McLeod 5th Premier of Prince Edward Island In office November 1889 – April 27, 1891 Monarch Victoria Lieutenant G …   Wikipedia

  • 1926 in Canada — See also: 1925 in Canada, other events of 1926, 1927 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history. Events* February 26 James Garfield Gardiner becomes premier of Saskatchewan, replacing Charles Dunning * June 28 the King Byng Affair climaxes as …   Wikipedia

  • 21st Canadian Ministry — The Twenty First Canadian Ministry was the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Joe Clark. It governed Canada from 4 June 1979 to 3 March 1980, including all of the 31st Canadian Parliament. The government was formed by the Progressive Conservative… …   Wikipedia

  • Bradley-Effekt — Der Bradley Effekt (selten auch Wilder Effekt) bezeichnet in der Meinungsforschung zu politischen Wahlen in den Vereinigten Staaten einen Erklärungsversuch für eine Abweichung des Abstimmungsergebnisses von den Meinungsumfragen zulasten eines… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bradley effect — Tom Bradley speaking at AIDS Walk LA at the Paramount Studios lot in 1988 The Bradley effect, less commonly called the Wilder effect,[1][2] is a theory proposed to explain observed discrepancies between voter opinion polls and el …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”