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The HonourableAudrey McLaughlinPC OC
McLaughlin at the 2012 NDP leadership convention
Leader of the New Democratic Party
In office December 5, 1989 – October 14, 1995
Preceded by	Ed Broadbent
Succeeded by	Alexa McDonough
Member of Parliament for Yukon
In office July 20, 1987 – June 2, 1997
Preceded by	Erik Nielsen
Succeeded by	Louise Hardy
Personal details
Born	Audrey Marlene Brown (1936-11-07) November 7, 1936 (age 88) Dutton, Ontario, Canada
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse	Don McLaughlin ​ ​(m. 1954; div. 1972)​
Alma mater	MacDonald Institute
Occupation	Author, business consultant, researcher, social worker, teacher

Audrey Marlene McLaughlin PC OC (née Brown; born November 8, 1936) is a Canadian politician and former leader of the New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the House of Commons of Canada, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian territory.

Life and career

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McLaughlin was born Audrey Marlene Brown in Dutton, Ontario, the daughter of Margaret Clark and William Brown, of Scottish and English descent. She worked as a social worker in Toronto, Ontario, and in Ghana. In 1955, she graduated with a Diploma in Home Science from the MacDonald Institute, later a founding college of the University of Guelph. In 1979, McLaughlin moved to Yukon and set up a consultancy business. In 1987, she ran in a by-election and won, the first federal NDP candidate to win in Yukon. In 1988, she was appointed caucus chair, and in 1989, she won the NDP 1989 leadership convention, replacing the retiring Ed Broadbent.

McLaughlin had taken over the NDP during a peak in its popularity. However, the party began a steady decline in the polls for several reasons. One was the NDP's provincial affiliates in British Columbia and Ontario, whose unpopularity in government reflected badly on the federal party. The rise of the Reform Party also sapped much NDP support in Western Canada. In the 1993 election, the NDP lost badly and went from 44 seats to only 9 in Parliament. More than half of its losses came in Ontario, where it lost all 10 of its MPs, and British Columbia, where it lost 17 of its 19 MPs.

McLaughlin won her seat in the Yukon but resigned as leader and was succeeded by Alexa McDonough in 1995. McLaughlin did not run for re-election in the 1997 election.

McLaughlin was an overseas volunteer in Barbados in 1986 with Canadian Crossroads International. Today, she is an honorary patron with Crossroads.

In 1991, she was sworn in as a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada so that she could access classified documents during the Gulf War. In August 2003, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

She published an autobiography, A Woman's Place: My Life and Politics, in 1992.

Post-political career

In 2000, she joined the National Democratic Institute, an organization that promotes democracy and peace in developing nations, and travelled to Kosovo to help women run in that country's first democratic election. McLaughlin has also served as the President of the Socialist International Women and as special representative for the Government of the Yukon on Circumpolar Affairs. She was an honorary pallbearer at the state funeral of Jack Layton in 2011.

Archives

There is an Audrey McLauglin fonds at Library and Archives Canada. Archival reference number is R11545.

References

1. Joyce Hayden, Yukon's Women of Power. Windwalker Press, 1999; ISBN 0968626602.
2. "The Portico". University of Guelph. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
3. "Our History". New Democratic Party of Canada. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
4. "Finding aid to Audry McLauglin fonds, Library and Archives Canada" (PDF). Retrieved June 2, 2020.

External links

• Audrey McLaughlin – Parliament of Canada biography

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Leaders	Woodsworth (CCF) Coldwell (CCF) Argue (CCF) Douglas Lewis Broadbent McLaughlin McDonough Layton Mulcair Singh
Leadership elections	1961 1971 1975 1989 1995 2003 2012 2017
Parliamentary election candidates	1988 1993 1997 2000 2004 2006 2008 2011 2015 2019 2021
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Members	Presidents Members of Parliament Members of provincial/territorial assemblies Alberta British Columbia Saskatchewan Manitoba Ontario Nova Scotia Yukon
Factions	The Waffle (1969–1972) Left Caucus (1979–1994) Socialist Caucus (1998–present) New Politics Initiative (2001–2004)
Key documents and events	Creation of Ginger Group (1924) Founding of Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (1932) Regina Manifesto (1933) Winnipeg Declaration (1956) Statement of Principles (1983)
See also	Canadian Labour Congress History Progressive Party/United Farmers Labour candidates and parties Ginger Group New Party Canada's Young New Democrats Alberta Ontario Leap Manifesto New Democratic Party of Quebec (not affiliated)

• 1936 births
• Canadian autobiographers
• Canadian people of Scottish descent
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• Canadian women non-fiction writers
• Female Canadian political party leaders
• Living people
• Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Yukon
• Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
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• Officers of the Order of Canada
• People from Elgin County
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• University of Guelph alumni
• Women in Yukon politics
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