Judy LaMarsh
Encyclopedia
Julia Verlyn LaMarsh, PC
, OC
, QC
(December 20, 1924 – October 27, 1980) was a Canadian
politician
, lawyer
, author
and broadcaster
. In 1963, she was only the second woman to ever serve as a federal Cabinet Minister. Under Prime Minister Lester Pearson's minority governments of the middle and late 1960s, she helped push-through the legislation that created the Canada Pension Plan
and Medicare
. As Secretary of State, she was in charge of Canada's Centennial celebrations in 1967. After leaving politics in 1968, she wrote three books, and had her own radio show on CBC Radio
. She was stricken with pancreatic cancer
in 1979 and was given the Order of Canada at her hospital bed. She died a few days short of the 20 anniversary of her first political election victory, in 1980.
and English
descent, LaMarsh was born in Chatham, Ontario
, and raised in Niagara Falls
. Although she trained as a teacher
, she never taught school. She enlisted in the Canadian Women's Army Corps
, travelled the country from 1943 to 1946, and attained the rank of sergeant
.
After the war, she attended the University of Toronto
's Victoria College, and Osgoode Hall
, where she was trained as a lawyer, graduating in 1950. She was called to the Bar of Ontario, and joined her father's law practice in Niagara Falls.
in a 1960 by-election
. Sitting as a Liberal
Member of Parliament
(MP) for Niagara Falls
, she joined the Canadian Cabinet after the Liberals defeated the Progressive Conservative
government of John Diefenbaker
in the 1963 election
. Serving under Prime Minister
Lester Pearson, she was the second female federal cabinet minister in Canadian history, and the first to serve in a Liberal cabinet. LaMarsh served as Minister of National Health and Welfare
and Minister of Amateur Sport from 1963 to 1965, and as Secretary of State for Canada
from 1965 to 1968.
Her period as Minister of National Health and Welfare coincided with the introduction of the Canada Pension Plan
and the drafting of what was to become Canada's Medicare
system. As Secretary of State, she presided over the Canadian Centennial
celebrations in 1967, and established the Royal Commission on the Status of Women
.
In the 1968 Liberal leadership convention to choose a successor to Pearson, she supported Paul Hellyer
. When it became clear after the first round of voting that Hellyer could not win, she urged him to drop off the ballot and throw his support to another candidate in order to stop Pierre Trudeau
. Her words, uttered on the floor of the convention hall: "Paul, you've got to go to [Robert] Winters
. Don't let that bastard win it, Paul - he isn't even a Liberal" were, unbeknownst to her, broadcast live over CBC Television
.
She retired from politics after Trudeau won the party's leadership.
, hosting This Country in the Morning
in 1974. From September 30, 1975 to April 9, 1976, she hosted her own show called Judy. It was broadcast weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, nationally.
In April 1975, Ontario Premier William Davis
chose her to head the Ontario government's Royal Commission on Violence in the Communications Industry. It spent two years coming up with 68 recommendations, many highly controversial ones like an omnibus government agency controlling all television content, and newspapers to be governed by a national council on ethics, that would police the industry for violations. Civil liberty groups criticized the media recommendations as violations on free speech and freedom of the press grounds.
where she was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer
. While receiving treatment for her cancer at Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital
, Governor General Edward Schreyer
invested her as an Officer of the Order of Canada
, at her hospital bed on July 22, 1980. A few months later, just days away from the 20th anniversary of her first federal political victory, she died on October 27, 1980, aged 55.
Her funeral was held in Niagara Falls on October 29, 1980. She had six female pallbearers including:Edith Druggan and Florence Rosberg, of Niagara Falls, broadcaster Barbara Frum
, British Columbia Judge Nancy Morrison, lawyer Pamela Verill Walker, and Doris Anderson, president of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. It was a short service, attended by 300 friends and dignitaries including Ontario's premier William Davis, former Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Pauline McGibbon, and several federal politicians including the man she backed for federal Liberal leader in 1968, Paul Hellyer. She was laid to rest next to her parents, at a graveyard that bordered the historic Canadian battleground, Lundy's Lane
.
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
, OC
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(December 20, 1924 – October 27, 1980) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
. In 1963, she was only the second woman to ever serve as a federal Cabinet Minister. Under Prime Minister Lester Pearson's minority governments of the middle and late 1960s, she helped push-through the legislation that created the Canada Pension Plan
Canada Pension Plan
The Canada Pension Plan is a contributory, earnings-related social insurance program. It forms one of the two major components of Canada's public retirement income system, the other component being Old Age Security...
and Medicare
Medicare (Canada)
Medicare is the unofficial name for Canada's publicly funded universal health insurance system. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the Canada Health Act and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.Under the terms of the Canada Health...
. As Secretary of State, she was in charge of Canada's Centennial celebrations in 1967. After leaving politics in 1968, she wrote three books, and had her own radio show on CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
. She was stricken with pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
in 1979 and was given the Order of Canada at her hospital bed. She died a few days short of the 20 anniversary of her first political election victory, in 1980.
Early life
Of FrenchFrench people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
descent, LaMarsh was born in Chatham, Ontario
Chatham, Ontario
Chatham is the largest community in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. Formerly serving as the seat of Kent County, the governments of the former city of Chatham, the county of Kent, and its townships were merged into one entity known as the Municipality of Chatham-Kent in 1998.Located on...
, and raised in Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
. Although she trained as a teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, she never taught school. She enlisted in the Canadian Women's Army Corps
Canadian Women's Army Corps
The Canadian Women's Army Corps was a non-combatant branch of the Canadian Army for women established during World War II to release men from those non-combatant roles in the Canadian armed forces as part of expanding Canada's war effort. Most women served in Canada but some served overseas, most...
, travelled the country from 1943 to 1946, and attained the rank of sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
.
After the war, she attended the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
's Victoria College, and Osgoode Hall
Osgoode Hall
Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto constructed between 1829 and 1832 in the late Georgian Palladian and Neoclassical styles. It houses the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice, and the Law Society of Upper Canada...
, where she was trained as a lawyer, graduating in 1950. She was called to the Bar of Ontario, and joined her father's law practice in Niagara Falls.
Political career
After unsuccessful forays into Ontario provincial politics, LaMarsh was first elected to the Canadian House of CommonsCanadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
in a 1960 by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
. Sitting as a Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls (electoral district)
Niagara Falls is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1953.It consists of the city of Niagara Falls and the towns of Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie....
, she joined the Canadian Cabinet after the Liberals defeated the Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
government of John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
in the 1963 election
Canadian federal election, 1963
The Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...
. Serving under Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Lester Pearson, she was the second female federal cabinet minister in Canadian history, and the first to serve in a Liberal cabinet. LaMarsh served as Minister of National Health and Welfare
Minister of Health (Canada)
The Minister of Health is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's health department and the enforcing the Public Health Agency of Canada, Canada Health Act, the law governing Medicare...
and Minister of Amateur Sport from 1963 to 1965, and as Secretary of State for Canada
Secretary of State for Canada
The position of Secretary of State for Canada was a Canadian Cabinet position with a corresponding department. It was established in 1867 as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London...
from 1965 to 1968.
Her period as Minister of National Health and Welfare coincided with the introduction of the Canada Pension Plan
Canada Pension Plan
The Canada Pension Plan is a contributory, earnings-related social insurance program. It forms one of the two major components of Canada's public retirement income system, the other component being Old Age Security...
and the drafting of what was to become Canada's Medicare
Medicare (Canada)
Medicare is the unofficial name for Canada's publicly funded universal health insurance system. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the Canada Health Act and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.Under the terms of the Canada Health...
system. As Secretary of State, she presided over the Canadian Centennial
Canadian Centennial
The Canadian Centennial was a year long celebration held in 1967 when Canada celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. Celebrations occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1. 1967 coins were different from previous years' issues, with animals on each...
celebrations in 1967, and established the Royal Commission on the Status of Women
Royal Commission on the Status of Women
The Royal Commission on the Status of Women was a Canadian Royal Commission that examined the status of women and recommended steps that might be taken by the federal government to ensure equal opportunities with men and women in all aspects of Canadian society. The Commission commenced on 16...
.
In the 1968 Liberal leadership convention to choose a successor to Pearson, she supported Paul Hellyer
Paul Hellyer
Paul Theodore Hellyer, PC is a Canadian engineer, politician, writer and commentator who has had a long and varied career. He is the longest serving current member of the Privy Council, just ahead of Prince Philip.-Early life:...
. When it became clear after the first round of voting that Hellyer could not win, she urged him to drop off the ballot and throw his support to another candidate in order to stop Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
. Her words, uttered on the floor of the convention hall: "Paul, you've got to go to [Robert] Winters
Robert Winters
Robert Henry Winters, PC was a Canadian politician and businessman.Born in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the son of a fishing captain, Winters went to Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, and then to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to complete his degree in electrical engineering...
. Don't let that bastard win it, Paul - he isn't even a Liberal" were, unbeknownst to her, broadcast live over CBC Television
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
.
She retired from politics after Trudeau won the party's leadership.
Post political career
She published her political autobiography, entitled Memoirs of a Bird in a Gilded Cage, in 1969, and the book sold very well. LaMarsh worked as a broadcaster including a part-time job with CBC RadioCBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
, hosting This Country in the Morning
This Country in the Morning
This Country in the Morning was a nationally broadcast Canadian radio program, which aired on CBC Radio from 1971 to June 27, 1975. Peter Gzowski was the host from 1971 to 1974.-After the show:...
in 1974. From September 30, 1975 to April 9, 1976, she hosted her own show called Judy. It was broadcast weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, nationally.
In April 1975, Ontario Premier William Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
chose her to head the Ontario government's Royal Commission on Violence in the Communications Industry. It spent two years coming up with 68 recommendations, many highly controversial ones like an omnibus government agency controlling all television content, and newspapers to be governed by a national council on ethics, that would police the industry for violations. Civil liberty groups criticized the media recommendations as violations on free speech and freedom of the press grounds.
Later life and death
In 1979, she decided to go back into law, and opened a family law practice. In December 1979, LaMarsh was rushed to Sunnybrook Medical CentreSunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, abbreviated SHSC and known simply as Sunnybrook, is an academic health sciences centre located in Toronto, Ontario....
where she was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
. While receiving treatment for her cancer at Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital
Princess Margaret Hospital (Toronto)
Princess Margaret Hospital is located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on University Avenue at College Street. It is part of the University Health Network...
, Governor General Edward Schreyer
Edward Schreyer
Edward Richard Schreyer , commonly known as Ed Schreyer, is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 22nd since Canadian Confederation....
invested her as an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, at her hospital bed on July 22, 1980. A few months later, just days away from the 20th anniversary of her first federal political victory, she died on October 27, 1980, aged 55.
Her funeral was held in Niagara Falls on October 29, 1980. She had six female pallbearers including:Edith Druggan and Florence Rosberg, of Niagara Falls, broadcaster Barbara Frum
Barbara Frum
Barbara Frum, OC was a Canadian radio and television journalist, acclaimed for her interviews for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Personal life:...
, British Columbia Judge Nancy Morrison, lawyer Pamela Verill Walker, and Doris Anderson, president of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. It was a short service, attended by 300 friends and dignitaries including Ontario's premier William Davis, former Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Pauline McGibbon, and several federal politicians including the man she backed for federal Liberal leader in 1968, Paul Hellyer. She was laid to rest next to her parents, at a graveyard that bordered the historic Canadian battleground, Lundy's Lane
Battle of Lundy's Lane
The Battle of Lundy's Lane was a battle of the Anglo-American War of 1812, which took place on 25 July 1814, in present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario...
.