Mr. Speaker, Parliament and the country were saddened to learn of the passing of the Right Hon. Ellen Fairclough this past weekend. I use the term saddened cautiously because after such an extraordinary long and productive life I do want to pay tribute on behalf of the Conservative Party to this remarkable woman.
Even before entering the political arena, Ellen Fairclough was already a pioneer of sorts. In her hometown of Hamilton she was an accountant and a successful businesswoman and was so at a time when very few women were represented in these professions.
Her entry into public life allowed her to continue to blaze new trails.
Through a victory in a 1950 by-Election, Ellen Fairclough won a seat here in the House of Commons. At the time, she was the only woman in this chamber.
Here in Ottawa she served her constituents for 13 years with great dignity and famously. Famously she was the first woman in Canadian history to be appointed to cabinet by the Right Hon. John Diefenbaker and she served in four different portfolios. She also had the unique privilege of being the very first woman to ever be designated acting prime minister.
Ellen Fairclough was a woman of dignity and compassion and she brought those qualities to public life in ways that Canadians still appreciate today. As minister of citizenship and immigration, she was instrumental in reversing the Immigration Act to completely eliminate racial discrimination from Canada's immigration policy.
In later years she advocated strongly for the involvement of more women in political life and she remained, right to her very last days, an active and exemplary role model for women, particularly in our own political party.
Her advocacy was based on her steadfast belief, not widely shared at the time, that women were not only capable of contributing but that they must contribute. She never made a big deal about the history that she made herself. She did once say the following, “If a male member of Parliament says anything foolish it is forgotten the next day, but if a women does it, it is repeated endlessly right across the country”.
I will agree with what she said about women. I am not quite sure that is true about men. I only wish it were. In fact, though, it might be evidence of Ellen Fairclough's success that in her case exactly the reverse has happened.
Many kind words have been said about her and her contributions to Canada over the years. It is a testament to her humble and straightforward nature that very few of these words came from Mrs. Fairclough herself.
We will remember her as an activist and humanitarian and as a woman with an enduring commitment to this country and to its values. We thank her and may God rest her soul.