Alexa McDonough, a pioneer of women’s place in politics, has died at the age of 77.
The news of his death was confirmed by his family who specified that Mr.me McDonough had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for a few years.
She became the first woman to lead a major political party in Canada when she was elected leader of the Nova Scotia NDP in 1980. She held that position for 14 years.
In October 1995, she succeeded another woman, Audrey McLaughlin, as leader of the federal NDP. In the subsequent elections, in 1997, she succeeded in reviving a dying party by increasing it from nine to 21 deputies. His great achievement is to establish it in Atlantic Canada. The NDP even won six of Nova Scotia’s 11 seats in the House of Commons.
“It broke the mold of Nova Scotian politics that had been in place for over a century,” says current Nova Scotia NDP leader Gary Burrill.
She left office in 2002 after two electoral setbacks. However, she remained in the party, being re-elected MP in 2004 and 2006. She is the party’s spokesperson on foreign policy. She steps down before the 2008 elections.
According to her son Justin McDonough, his mother was a consensus-building politician who earned the respect of one and all across party lines.
“One of the things I learned from her is that you can have courageous conversations and disagree with someone. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t respect that person and that we won’t recognize their opinion, he said in an interview. This idea shaped his political life. »
Many called him by his first name alone. A social worker, Ms. McDonough learned of the politics in the Nova Scotia Liberal Party of moving to the provincial NDP in 1974.
Leader of the party, she became the first elected New Democrat from the peninsula to sit in the Legislative Assembly after her election in a Halifax riding in 1981. She was the sole voice of her party for the next three years. .
Mme McDonough resigned in 1994 before making the jump to the federal scene. She ran for the NDP leadership in 1995. She caused some upset by defeating favorites like Svend Robinson and Lorne Nystrom.
The current Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, paid tribute to him on Saturday.
“The passing of Alexa McDonough is a huge loss for our country. She changed things, marked history and removed the obstacles erected in front of women. My thoughts are with her family, friends, colleagues and all those she has inspired in her life of service to the public,” he said.