Margaret Aitken

Margaret Aitken (July 3, 1908 – November 19, 1980) was a Canadian author, columnist, journalist, and politician.

This article is about the Canadian author, columnist, journalist, and politician. For the great witch of Balwearie, an important figure during the great Scottish witchcraft panic of 1597, see Margaret Aitken (the great witch of Balwearie).
Margaret Aitken
Member of Parliament for York—Humber
In office
1953–1962
Preceded bynew district
Succeeded byRalph Cowan
Personal details
Born(1908-07-03)July 3, 1908
Newcastle, New Brunswick, Canada
DiedNovember 19, 1980(1980-11-19) (aged 72)
Political partyProgressive Conservative
OccupationJournalist

Background

Aitken was born in Newcastle, New Brunswick. She attended Branksome Hall in Toronto.[1] She was the daughter of J. Mauns Aitken and her uncle was Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook. Her brother, William Aitken and his son Jonathan Aitken (her nephew) were members of the British House of Commons.[1]

She started with the Toronto Telegram in 1938 and was a foreign correspondent. She was noted for covering the birth of Israel as a nation and she became a strong supporter of the Jewish state.[1] In 1953, she wrote a book Hey Ma! I Did It (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Company) about her political campaign in the same year.

Politics

In the 1953 federal election, she was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the riding of York—Humber as the Progressive Conservative candidate, winning by 67 votes. Along with Sybil Bennett, Ellen Fairclough and Ann Shipley, she was one of four women elected to the House of Commons that year, only the second election in Canadian history in which more than one woman was elected to Parliament.

In 1957 she became the first woman to be appointed chair of a parliamentary committee, the Standing Committee on Standing Orders. The committee discusses rules of the House.[2] She was re-elected in 1957 and 1958. She was defeated in 1962 by 662 votes.

Later life

In 1962, Aitken was appointed as Canada's representative to the UN's Commission on Human Rights.[3] She died at age 72 after a long illness.

Electoral record
1953 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Progressive Conservative Margaret Aitken 11,157
     Liberal Kenneth L. Thompson 11,090
     Co-operative Commonwealth Jennie B. Prosser 4,924
1957 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Progressive Conservative Margaret Aitken 18,449
     Liberal Kenneth L. Thompson 10,851
     Co-operative Commonwealth Margaret Thetford 4,872
Social CreditCharles R. Ellis1,324
1958 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Progressive Conservative Margaret Aitken 23,723
     Liberal Elena Murdock Dacosta 9,557
     Co-operative Commonwealth Leonard Collins 6,257
1962 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Liberal Ralph Cowan 15,526
     Progressive Conservative Margaret Aitken 14,864
     New Democratic Party Charles Millard 11,622
Social CreditRonald G. Sibbald564

Publications
  • Aitken, Margaret; Sanders, Byrne Hope (1953). Hey Ma! I did it. Clarke, Irwin & co. Ltd. pp. xiv, 213.

References
  1. "Margaret Aitken Telegram writer served three terms as Tory MP". The Globe and Mail. 1980-11-20. p. 17.
  2. "Margaret Aitken Heads Commons' Committee: First woman to hold job". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. 1957-11-21. p. 1.
  3. "Nominee for UN Post". Calgary Herald. 1962-10-30. p. 6.
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