Mary Walker-Sawka was the first woman ever to seek the leadership of a major political party in Canada

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...

. She was a surprise last-minute candidate at the 1967 leadership convention

Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1967

The 1967 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held to choose a leader for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The convention was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 4th and 9th, 1967...

 of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

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....

, a centre-right party that formed the official opposition in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian 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...

 at the time. She was a movie producer and freelance writer. The convention had been called after a revolt by party members against the leadership 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...

. The party was badly divided between supporters and opponents of the former prime minister.

Walker-Sawka said that she was a Diefenbaker supporter, but was running because she felt she could “add a few things” to Diefenbaker’s program. She gave a short speech setting out her ideas for PC party policy:

• Canada should withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and North American Aerospace Defense Command
  North American Aerospace Defense Command
  North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
  
   (NORAD);
• Canada should closely supervise its foreign aid programs to ensure that aid does not end up on the black market;
• all houses more than 20 or 30 years old should be torn down and re-built;
• Old Age Security payments should be increased to $100 per month;
• the education system should be modernized, and at least six languages should be taught in schools;
• the 11% federal sales tax should be eliminated.

When she was nominated at the convention, she had no seconder. Some time passed before a female George Hees

George Hees

George Harris Hees, PC, OC was a Canadian politician.Born in Toronto to a patrician family, Hees earned a playboy image during his youth , but then became a stalwart member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...

 delegate seconded Walker-Sawka's nomination in order to save her the embarrassment. She called upon the women of the party to stand with her. She won only two votes on the first ballot, and was dropped from the ballot.

The Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

newspaper reported that she gave a concise speech laying out her ideas on various issues. The Globe and Mail newspaper, on the other hand, reported that she "looked like a housewife who had mistakenly wandered on stage while looking for a bingo game". Walker-Sawka stated that as head of a film production company, she had never had time to be a housewife.