Margaret Haile () was a Canadian

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a teacher and journalist by profession. She was active in the socialist movements in both Canada and the United States. Frederic Heath's "Socialism in America", published in January 1900 in the ''Social Democracy Red Book'', lists her, along with Corinne Stubbs Brown and

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialism, socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate ...

, among "One Hundred Well-known Social Democrats".

Biography

Born in Canada, Haile spent some time working for socialist causes in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. A resident of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in 1901, Haile was a member of the nine member unity committee of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

faction of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

as it planned the formation of the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

. She was one of two women on that body. Haile returned to Canada shortly thereafter, and became in 1902 the first woman to run for legislative office in Canada, when she was nominated on the platform of the

Canadian Socialist League The Canadian Socialist League (CSL) was the first nationwide socialist organization founded in Canada. It originated in Montreal in 1898, but was strongest in Ontario and British Columbia. The leaders espoused a moderate socialism based on Chris ...

as a candidate in

Toronto North Toronto North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1925. It was located in the city of Toronto in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1903 from parts of Toronto Centre, West To ...

in the 1902 Ontario provincial election.Janice Newton
The feminist challenge to the Canadian Left, 1900–1918
Although her nomination was accepted and she received 79 votes, a woman was not eligible to sit as a member of the Legislative Assembly.Frederick Brent Scollie, "The Woman Candidate for the Ontario Legislative Assembly, 1919-1929," ''Ontario History'', CIV (Autumn 2012), 6. She may have been the first woman to run for major elected office within the entire British Empire.

In popular culture

Several episodes of ''

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick B ...

'' (season 8 - 2015, episode 10 "Murdoch and the Temple of Death", episode 16 "Crabtree Mania" and episode 17 "Election Day") depict Margaret Haile, during and after her campaign in the 1902 Ontario provincial election. She is played by actress Nicole Underhay.

References

External links

* Margaret Haile,
Some Theories of Party Organization
, ''Social Democratic Herald'', Vol. 4, No. 1 (22 June 1901) (accessed 28 November 2006) American socialists Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian socialists Socialist Party of America politicians from Massachusetts Women in Ontario politics Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{Ontario-politician-stub