Alexa McDonough

Alexa Ann McDonough (née Shaw; August 11, 1944 – January 15, 2022) was a Canadian politician who was the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Canada, at any level, when she was the leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NSNDP) from 1980 to 1994. Subsequently, she served as leader of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1995 to 2003.

Prior to her political career, McDonough was a social worker in Halifax, Nova Scotia during the 1970s. Originally, she was a Nova Scotia Liberal Party worker and wrote their social-work policy for the 1970 election. By 1974, she grew disenchanted with the Liberal government and joined the NDP. Her first foray into electoral politics as a candidate happened at the end of the 1970s, but was not successful.

In June 1980, there was a major rift between the NSNDP executive, mainly people from Nova Scotia's mainland, and its Cape Breton Island-based legislative caucus over Jeremy Akerman's resignation as leader. The divided party she inherited as the new leader, in November 1980, forced her to deal with a crisis within her legislative caucus. Eventually, she decided to eject Paul MacEwan from both the legislative caucus and the party that December. McDonough won elected office in 1981 and served as a member of the Nova Scotia Legislature until 1995. During those first years, she was the only female Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and had to deal with sexism both in and out of the legislature. Throughout this time, she represented the Halifax Chebucto and Halifax Fairview electoral districts. When she unexpectedly stepped down as the NSNDP's leader in 1994, she was the country's senior incumbent political leader.

She subsequently ran as the underdog candidate for leader of the federal NDP and surprisingly won it after one-round of voting in October 1995. She spent the next two years rebuilding a federal party that lost official party status in the previous election, before running for a seat in the House of Commons. The NDP had a breakthrough in Atlantic Canada during the 1997 election and regained party status in the House. McDonough was elected the Member of Parliament (MP) for the federal electoral district of Halifax in 1997. She was criticized by unions, in particular the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW), and progressive party members of trying to move the party to the centre-left with Third Way policies. Her most visible campaign as leader was to help win the freedom of Maher Arar, who was a victim of "extraordinary rendition" during the United States's war on terror at the turn of the 21st century. She stepped down as party leader in 2003 but continued to serve as an MP for two more terms, until 2008, when she retired from politics altogether.

In 2009, she became the interim president of Mount Saint Vincent University and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in December of that year. She suffered from ill-health in her final years, battling both cancer and Alzheimer's disease before dying in 2022.

Early life and education

McDonough was born Alexa Ann Shaw in Ottawa, Ontario, on August 11, 1944, at the Ottawa Civic Hospital.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her parents were Jean MacKinnon and Lloyd Robert Shaw, a wealthy businessman who was committed to progressive politics.<ref name="natural leader"> Template:Cite news</ref> He served as the first research director for the federal NDP's predecessor, the national Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF),<ref name="Lloyd Shaw"> Template:Cite book</ref> and was an early financial backer of the NDP when it formed in 1961.<ref name="natural leader"/>

McDonough was involved in social activism from an early age, when, at 14, she led her church youth group in publicizing the conditions of Africville, a low-income, predominantly Black neighbourhood in Halifax.<ref name="natural leader"/> She attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, which was her family's alma mater.<ref name="Lonely Road"> Template:Cite news</ref> After two years, she transferred to Dalhousie University in Halifax, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and psychology in 1965.<ref name="Lonely Road"/> She became a social worker and, during the 1970 Nova Scotia general election, worked for Gerald Regan's Liberal Party, writing that party's social policy platform.<ref name="Lonely Road"/> She quickly became disenchanted with Regan and the Liberals and joined the New Democratic Party in 1974.<ref name="Lonely Road"/>

Provincial leadership

McDonough's first foray into electoral politics occurred during the 1979 and 1980 federal elections.<ref name="stepping down"> Template:Cite news</ref> In both of those elections, she ran unsuccessfully in the federal Halifax electoral district.<ref name="LoP Halifax"/> In the 1980 federal election, she lost to former Nova Scotia premier Gerald Regan,<ref name="LoP Halifax"/> the same politician that she once supported back in 1970.<ref name="CBC obit"/><ref> Template:Cite book</ref>

Rift between Cape Breton and the Mainland

Just after the 1980 federal election, in the spring, Jeremy Akerman stepped down as the Nova Scotia NDP's leader. At this time, there was a growing rift between the Cape Breton Island and Mainland wings of the party.<ref name="Caustic Cape Bretoner"> Template:Cite news</ref>

This rift exploded in June, when Paul MacEwan, the NDP MLA for Cape Breton Nova, was expelled from the party due to his constant public airing of internal party disputes, including the implication that Akerman resigned due to "Trotskyist elements" from the mostly mainland-based provincial council.<ref name="Alternate NDP"> Template:Cite news</ref> To make this situation worse for an incoming leader, the NDP's four MLAs, all from Cape Breton constituencies, voted 3–1 to keep him in the caucus, with Len J. Arsenault – the MLA for Cape Breton North – being the only negative vote.<ref name="Wrangling"> Template:Cite news </ref> MacEwan's expulsion became one of the dominant issues during the leadership race that fall.<ref name="Wrangling"/>

In late September, Akerman was appointed to a top Nova Scotia civil service job that required him to both resign from the Legislature and terminate his membership in the NDP.<ref name="interim leader"> Template:Cite news </ref> James 'Buddy' MacEachern, a leadership candidate, and MLA for Cape Breton Centre, was made the interim leader on October 2.<ref name="interim leader"/>

1980 NSNDP leadership election

Despite these internecine battles, and not having a seat in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, McDonough decided to enter the leadership race. The third candidate in the race to replace Akerman was Arsenault.<ref name="NS Leader"> Template:Cite news </ref> The leadership convention was convened in Halifax, with the leadership vote held on November 16, 1980.<ref name="NS Leader"/> McDonough received 237 votes, compared to Arsenault's 42 votes, and MacEachern's 41 votes, giving her a first ballot landslide victory.<ref name="NS Leader"/> As a result of her victory, she became the first woman in Canada to lead a major recognized political party.<ref name="stepping down"/><ref name="first woman"> Template:Cite news </ref><ref name="NS stepdown"> Template:Cite news </ref>

McDonough's first order of business was to settle the Paul MacEwan question. On December 9, 1980, she managed to get her former leadership rivals to vote MacEwan out of the caucus and party.<ref name="MacEwan Expelled"> Template:Cite news</ref>

1981 Nova Scotia general election

Since she did not have a seat in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, the party was left with just two seats, because MacEwan was now an independent, and Akerman's seat was left vacant due to his resignation. For almost a year, she would sit in the Assembly's visitors gallery until she could run for a seat in the 1981 Nova Scotia general election. McDonough's first provincial election as leader was fought in the Halifax Chebucto electoral district, where the Liberals and Conservatives were more or less evenly matched in terms of voter support, and the NDP was a distant third in the previous election.<ref name="first election"> Template:Cite web </ref> McDonough won her seat, the first one for the NDP in Mainland Nova Scotia, but the NDP lost all of its Cape Breton Island seats in the process.<ref name="Lonely Road"/><ref name="Caustic Cape Bretoner"/><ref name="first election"/>

MLA years

After the 1981 election, she spent the next three years as the only New Democrat, and the only woman in the House of Assembly.<ref name="Pioneering"> Template:Cite news</ref> She took on the "old boys' network", that permeated Nova Scotia's politics at the time, by attempting to dismantle the province's entrenched patronage system.<ref name="Pioneering"/> McDonough was personally popular throughout Nova Scotia, consistently being the electors' top choice in leadership polls, but her personal popularity did not extend to the party.<ref name="Pioneering"/> She led the party through three more elections, eventually building the caucus up to three members: all from the mainland, including future Nova Scotia NDP leader, Robert Chisholm.<ref name="Pioneering"/> Following her fourteen years as the Nova Scotia NDP leader–which, at the time, made her the senior incumbent leader of a major political party in Canada–she stepped down on November 19, 1994.<ref name="shock"> Template:Cite news</ref> John Holm, the NDP's Sackville-Cobequid MLA, took over as interim leader, until Chisholm was elected leader in 1996.<ref name="Pioneering"/><ref name ="Public Lives"> Template:Cite news</ref> She remained a member of the NDP's legislative caucus until she resigned from the House of Assembly on October 20, 1995.<ref name="Resigns as MLA"> Template:Cite news</ref>

Federal leadership

As the fortunes of the Nova Scotia NDP were slowly rising during the mid-1990s, the same could not be said of its federal counterpart. The 1993 Canadian federal election was an unmitigated disaster for the NDP.<ref name="retooling"> Template:Cite news</ref> Under Audrey McLaughlin's leadership, the party suffered, to that date, its worst defeat since 1961 when it was founded.<ref name="retooling" /> When looking at the popular vote, it was the worst ever election for a federal social-democratic party in the 20th century, with just seven percent of the vote.<ref name="retooling"/> The party only had nine seats, three short of the twelve seats needed to have official party status in the House of Commons,<ref name="McLaughlin's Future"> Template:Cite news</ref> and all the extra funding, research, office space and Question Period privileges it accords.<ref name="Party Status"> Template:Cite news</ref>

1995 NDP leadership election

Following the 1993 election, the party embarked on a transformative journey, undertaking a comprehensive reform of its policies and purpose. On April 18, 1994, McLaughlin announced her intention to step down as leader by 1996.<ref name="Audrey resigns"> Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NDP Reappraisal"> Template:Cite news</ref> However, McLaughlin, confronted with internal strife akin to the challenges faced by the Nova Scotia party in 1980, advanced her departure from the end of 1996 to the end of 1995.<ref name="style"> Template:Cite news</ref>

Amidst a toxic internal party atmosphere, McDonough entered the leadership race on May 30, 1995.<ref name=Caragata> Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Enters Federal Leadership Race"> Template:Cite news</ref> The circumstances were reminiscent of her initial leadership campaign in 1980, characterized by a deeply divided party.<ref name=Caragata/> Nevertheless, the party was additionally constrained by the unpopular provincial New Democratic Party (NDP) governments in Ontario and British Columbia.<ref name="Rae denies blame for losses"> Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Harcourt accepts blame"> Template:Cite news</ref> Notably, the NDP had suffered substantial losses in these two provinces at the federal level in 1993, losing all of its Ontario members of parliament (MPs) and all but two of its British Columbia MPs, representing more than half of its caucus.<ref name="Liberals wipe out NDP"> Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn

The 1995 leadership election deviated from previous conventions in its implementation of six regional primary votes prior to the convention. For candidates to be eligible for the convention, they were required to either secure 15 percent of the total vote or emerge victorious in one of the regional primaries. This filter narrowed the field to only three candidates for the convention.<ref name = "Leadership Regional Primaries"> Template:Cite news</ref> However, it is important to note that the primaries did not directly select delegates to the convention. Instead, constituency associations and labour affiliates were responsible for this delegation selection, as was the customary practice during previous conventions.<ref name = "Delegate selection explained"> Template:Cite news</ref>

McDonough's candidacy received support from the party establishment, particularly from former Ontario leader Stephen Lewis and his labour leader brother, Michael Lewis.<ref name="Lewis Clan Support"> Template:Cite news</ref> Despite this establishment backing, she was widely perceived as an underdog by media outlets such as The Globe and Mail prior to the NDP leadership convention vote in Ottawa.<ref name="Second Fiddle"> Template:Cite news</ref> The primary votes placed her behind leading contenders Svend Robinson and Lorne Nystrom, as she only secured victory in the Atlantic Canada primary and finished third in the remaining regions.<ref name ="Wins Atlantic Primary"> Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Second Fiddle"/>

However, on October 14, 1995, during the convention, McDonough secured second place on the first ballot, surpassing Nystrom in a nearly three-way split of delegates.<ref name="First Round Vote"> Template:Cite news</ref> Although Robinson had won the first ballot, he believed that the majority of Nystrom's supporters would support her on the second ballot, ultimately securing her victory.<ref name="Stunning Victory 1995"> Template:Cite news</ref> Consequently, he conceded to McDonough before a second ballot could be held. On a motion moved by Robinson and seconded by Nystrom, the convention formally recognized McDonough as the party's new leader.<ref name="McDonough Acclaimed Leader"> Template:Cite news</ref> She became the first person from Atlantic Canada to lead a major party since Robert Stanfield retired as the Progressive Conservatives' leader in 1976.<ref name=Stanfield> Template:Cite news</ref> Unusually for a major-party leader, she refrained from having one of her MPs resign to secure entry into Parliament through a by-election, opting instead to make a third bid for her home electoral district of Halifax in the subsequent general election.<ref name="McDonough Historica bio"/>

1997 federal election and the 'Third Way'

In the 1997 election, her first as leader, the party won 21 seats. This included a historic breakthrough in the Atlantic provinces, a region where it had only won three seats in its entire history prior to 1997.<ref name ="Election ‘97"> Template:Cite news</ref> McDonough herself won Halifax by 11,000 votes, pushing Liberal incumbent Mary Clancy into third place.<ref name="LoP Halifax"/> She would continue to win it consecutively three more times until she retired from politics in 2008.<ref name="LoP Halifax"/><ref name="04 and 06 results"/>

During the next few years, McDonough's leadership of the party elicited controversy.<ref name="tightrope"> Template:Cite news</ref> Union leaders were lukewarm in their support of her, often threatening to break away from the NDP, in particular the Canadian Auto Workers' president Buzz Hargrove.<ref name="Zolf"> Template:Cite news </ref> She was widely seen within the NDP as trying to pull the party toward the centre of the political spectrum, in the Third Way mode of Tony Blair.<ref name="right course">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Betrayal of NDP"> Template:Cite news</ref> Although when she made her leader's speech at the party's August 1999 Ottawa policy convention, she attempted to distance herself from "Third Way" policies by stating: "We must lay out a new way for Canadians to navigate in the 21st century. Not an old way, not a 'third way', but a made-in-Canada way...."<ref name="new way"> Template:Cite news</ref> Part of her proposal to move the party to the centre-left would include tax cuts – a move that prompted Ontario Conservative premier Mike Harris, to send a controversial letter of support for the debates on tax cuts that did not please many delegates.<ref name="A centre-left NDP"> Template:Cite news</ref> A vote on a resolution to adopt Third Way policies in the party's platform formally was defeated, as many union leaders opposed it and McDonough's "Canadian Way".<ref name="stray"> Template:Cite news</ref>

The Canadian Alliance and its new leader, Stockwell Day, presented a further challenge to McDonough's NDP. Fearful of the prospect of an Alliance government, many NDP supporters moved to the Liberals.<ref name="Alliance">Template:Cite news</ref> As well, two NDP MPs, Angela Vautour and Rick Laliberte,<ref name ="Vautour crosses floor"> Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="CBC Laliberte"> Template:Cite news</ref> crossed the floor to other party caucuses, reducing the NDP caucus to 19 seats.<ref name="CBC Laliberte"/> In the 2000 federal election, the NDP was held to just 13 seats, and its 8.5 percent of the popular vote, was near its historic low from the 1993 campaign.<ref name="Alliance"/> About the only solace the NDP and McDonough could take from the 2000 campaign was that they kept official party status in the House of Commons (if only barely),<ref name="McDonough Historica bio"> Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> unlike McLaughlin in the 1993 campaign.<ref name="Historica McLaughlin"> Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

NPI/NDProgress and the 2001 Winnipeg Convention

After the disappointing performance in the 2000 federal election, there were more calls for party renewal. Some party activists perceived that the NDP had moved to the centre of the political spectrum and wanted to change that by bringing in social/political activists outside of the parliamentary process. They called their movement the New Politics Initiative, or NPI.<ref name= "NPI/NDProgress"> Template:Cite news </ref> Another group, called NDProgress, wanted to reform the party's internal structures, with procedural changes to how leaders were elected and limiting how much control Labour Unions had in the party.<ref name= "NPI/NDProgress"/> The NPI proposal to create a new party from the ashes of the NDP, was opposed by McDonough, and by former NDP leader, Ed Broadbent.<ref name= "NDProgress"> Template:Cite news

</ref> The NPI resolution was voted down when it was presented at the party's November 2001 Winnipeg policy convention.<ref name="reject left turn"> Template:Cite news</ref> NDProgress's resolution to have a "one member one vote" election for party leader, with a provision to limit organized labour's allotment of ballots to a maximum of 25 percent, passed.<ref name="OMOV"> Template:Cite news</ref> The 2001 Winnipeg convention was also where McDonough easily defeated a leadership challenge by Socialist Caucus member Marcel Hatch, who was also an NPI supporter.<ref name="still rules"> Template:Cite news</ref>

Battle to repatriate Mahar Arar

The issue that highlighted McDonough's federal leadership occurred during the twilight of her career: the fight against Islamophobia and general anti-Arab sentiment, which swept through Canada and the United States in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in September 2001. She led the charge on the national scene to repatriate Mahar Arar, an Arab-Canadian who was wrongly detained as a terrorist by United States border officials, on an erroneous tip from Canada's secret service.<ref name="Monia Mazigh">Template:Cite news</ref> Throughout 2002 and 2003, McDonough campaigned for his release.<ref name="Monia Mazigh"/> When he was released, his wife, Monia Mazigh, joined the NDP and became a candidate for them in the 2004 federal election, out of recognition for the support McDonough and the party showed for her and her husband.<ref name="Monia Mazigh"/>

2002—2008 new leadership

With Brian Masse's May 2002 by-election victory, in the Windsor West riding, the party's caucus grew to 14 members.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A few weeks later, on June 5, 2002, McDonough used this positive turn in electoral fortunes to announce that she was stepping down as NDP leader.<ref name="stepping down"/> On January 25, 2003, at the Toronto leadership convention, she was succeeded by Jack Layton.<ref name="McDonough Historica bio"/> She was re-elected to Parliament in the 2004 federal election and again in 2006.<ref name="LoP Halifax"/><ref name="04 and 06 results"/> In the NDP's shadow cabinet, McDonough served as the critic for International Development, International Cooperation and Peace Advocacy.<ref name="LoP Halifax"/>

Retirement

On June 2, 2008, McDonough announced that she would not run again in the riding of Halifax in the next federal election. She made the announcement at the Lord Nelson Hotel, the same place where she celebrated her 1997 victory as the MP for Halifax. McDonough said that she would continue on as the MP for Halifax until the next federal election.<ref name="retire"> Template:Cite news</ref>

On June 29, 2009, it was announced that McDonough was named the new interim president of Mount Saint Vincent University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her one-year appointment began in August 2009.<ref> Template:Cite news</ref> It was announced on December 30, 2009, that she was to be appointed an officer of the Order of Canada for her pioneering work as both the Nova Scotia and Federal leader of the New Democratic Party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She received an honorary Doctor of Civil Laws degree from Acadia University, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia on May 13, 2012.<ref name="Acadia Honorary Degree 2012"> Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life and death

McDonough's only marriage was in 1966 to Halifax lawyer, Peter McDonough (April 1, 1940 – November 17, 2021),<ref name ="Dignity Mem Obit"> Template:Cite web</ref> with whom she had two sons: Justin and Travis.<ref name="retire"/> In 1993, she separated from McDonough, later divorcing him; she said her political career did not play a part in it.<ref name="Pioneering"/><ref name="retire"/> In 1994, just before she stepped down as Nova Scotia leader, she had a hysterectomy, and waited until she recuperated before she announced her resignation.<ref name="Pioneering"/>

During her time as leader of the federal NDP, McDonough was romantically involved with David MacDonald, a former Progressive Conservative (PC) MP for Toronto Centre—Rosedale and a cabinet minister.<ref name="Sheppard"> Template:Cite news</ref> MacDonald ran as the NDP candidate in Toronto Centre—Rosedale in the 1997 election but did not manage to get elected. In the previous election, he was the PC incumbent, and like every other PC candidate in Ontario in 1993, was defeated.<ref name=Sheppard /> The pair split up prior to the 2004 federal election.<ref name="MP Retirement Interview"> Template:Cite news</ref>

On May 3, 2013, McDonough announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer about four months earlier during a mammogram. She had been receiving treatment.<ref name = "Breast Cancer"> Template:Cite news</ref> McDonough died at a long-term care home in Halifax, on January 15, 2022, at the age of 77. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease in the seven years prior to her death.<ref name="CBC obit"> Template:Cite news</ref>

Electoral record

Template:2006 Canadian federal election/Halifax Source:<ref name="04 and 06 results">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="LoP Halifax">Template:Cite web</ref> Template:2004 Canadian federal election/Halifax Source:<ref name="04 and 06 results"/><ref name="LoP Halifax"/> Template:2000 Canadian federal election/Halifax Source:<ref name="LoP Halifax"/>Template:Sfn Template:1997 Canadian federal election/Halifax Source:<ref name="LoP Halifax"/>Template:Sfn Template:1980 Canadian federal election/Halifax Template:1979 Canadian federal election/Halifax Source:<ref name="LoP Halifax"/>

References

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External links

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