Margaret Birch (13 June 1921 — 29 October 2020) was a Canadian politician in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
. She was a
Progressive Conservative member of the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1985 who represented the east
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
riding of
Scarborough East. She served as a
cabinet minister in the government of
William Davis. She was the first female cabinet minister in Ontario.
Background
Birch was born in
Leamington, Ontario, and was educated in the area. She was chair of the
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
Board of Health from 1963 to 1971, was on the Mental Health Council from 1967 to 1971, and was vice-chairman of the Social Planning Council from 1967 to 1970. She also served on the Board of Governors for Scarborough Centenary Hospital. Birch became the first woman member of the conservative
Albany Club of Toronto, proposed by the then premier, Bill Davis. She married Guy Birch in 1949, a newspaper editor. They raised two children. Guy died in 1992. The Margaret Birch Wing was opened at the Centenary Hospital in 1986, now part of the Rouge Valley Health System.
[John Stackhouse, "Margaret Birch wing opens at Centenary", '']Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'', 24 January 1986.
Politics
Birch ran for Scarborough council, ward 6 in
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...
. She came in 3rd behind winner F.D. Cummings.
She was elected to the Ontario legislature in the
1971 provincial election, defeating incumbent
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Tim Reid
Timothy Lee Reid (born December 19, 1944) is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–82), Marcel "Downtown" Brown ...
by 670 votes in
Scarborough East.
She was re-elected in
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
,
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
and
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
.
On September 28, 1972, she was appointed to cabinet as a
Minister without portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...
responsible for youth. This made her the first woman to be appointed to an Ontario cabinet.
Birch was promoted to
Provincial Secretary for Social Development on February 26, 1974.
In July 1983, she resigned from cabinet and assumed the role of
Parliamentary assistant
In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the U ...
to Premier
Bill Davis
William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...
in charge of the 1984 Ontario Bicentennial celebration. Birch had wanted to leave office in 1981 but was persuaded by Davis to stay on.
In 1974, Birch became involved in policy discussions about child care. A series of recommendations were announced which became known as the ''Birch Proposals''. The initiative was driven by cost reduction and they would have increased the child/adult ratio in day cares, decreased standards in staff qualifications and training, and reduced fire and safety regulations.
The proposals were criticized by both non-profit and for profit day care associations for different reasons. The government eventually shelved the recommendations.
The Social Development secretariat was designed as a "super-ministry", overseeing several different ministries and agencies (e.g., health, social services, education, women's secretariat, youth secretariat, etc.). As such, the 'super minister' had direct authority over the funding, policies and directions of the individual ministries under its jurisdiction and worked to coordinate policies and programs that previously conflicted across disparate ministries but with somewhat related responsibilities (e.g., health and home care, and social services and home care). As such, it had few specifically defined responsibilities beyond the coordination function.
Birch endorsed
Dennis Timbrell
Dennis Roy Timbrell (born November 13, 1946) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1971 to 1987, and was a Cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Bill Davis and Frank Mil ...
to succeed Davis as party leader in February 1985.
Cabinet positions
References
External links
Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Margaret
1921 births
2020 deaths
Women government ministers of Canada
Members of the Executive Council of Ontario
People from Leamington, Ontario
People from Scarborough, Toronto
Politicians from Toronto
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs
Women MPPs in Ontario
20th-century Canadian women politicians
20th-century Canadian legislators