Flora MacDonald

Born in Cape Breton in 1923, Flora MacDonald did not attend Queen’s as a student, but she was drawn to the university for much of her life.

Before she came to campus, MacDonald worked as a typist, a bank teller, and then for the Conservative Party as secretary to the chairman at their head office.

By the 1960s, Diefenbaker’s popularity was waning and party loyalty was eroding, including that of MacDonald, who was a senior party organizer. Diefenbaker fired her, and, looking to find new employment, she phoned Professor Meisel. MacDonald had previously helped facilitate the research of Meisel, a political scientist, on John Diefenbaker’s 1950s success at the polls.

Professor Meisel, now head of his department, hired MacDonald to administer the political studies department, which had just split from the economics department. As enrolment burgeoned, research funding expanded, regulations multiplied, and university administration grew more complex, MacDonald became the linchpin of the department.

In his memoir, Professor Meisel recalls that MacDonald brought, “cohesion and harmony” to its ranks and shepherded faculty through their teaching year. All the while, MacDonald involved herself in Kingston social activism, such as the Elizabeth Fry Society’s aid to female prisoners.

In 1972, MacDonald returned to federal politics, winning the Kingston and the Islands seat, which she then held until 1988. In 1976, she became the first woman to contest the leadership of the Conservative party, losing out to Joe Clark. Three years later, she became Canada’s first female foreign minister, playing a pivotal role in Canada’s rescue of hostages from the American embassy in Iran.

Defeated in 1988 and increasingly disillusioned by her party’s slide away from her Red Tory values, MacDonald involved herself in humanitarian causes. She founded Future Generations, which was dedicated to bringing education to women around the globe. She continued her connection with Queen’s, coming to campus for visits, lectures and to support the Ban Righ Centre. In 2015, when Ms. MacDonald died, Queen’s flags were lowered to half-mast.