Making It Happen
By Mary McGillis
We’re all women who have ‘made it happen’ and are now here supporting each other to keep making it happen. What is “it”? I believe it’s the freedom to be living the dream; to have a roof over our heads, food on the table and something meaningful to do every day.
For you to advance your business while making it happen is key to our network because when one of us wins, we all win.
Maureen McTeer is arguably the most progressive and independent prime ministerial spouse Canada has ever had. Maureen is an amazing organizer. I admire her for sitting on countless committees, arranging events and helping people in general—all while being a partner to her husband, former Prime Minister Joe Clark, a mother to Catherine, and a lawyer and author.
I had the good fortune of working for her during my time working on Parliament Hill on Mr. Clark’s staff. I learned from her what a true feminist is: a person who supports equality of the sexes (politically, socially, and economically). At countless organizing committee meetings, I enjoyed taking minutes and particularly remember one year sitting with Maureen, Aline Chretien, and Charlotte Gray among others to celebrate the first official Commemoration of the Persons Case on Parliament Hill. One MP who attended (my all-time favourite) was The Honourable Flora MacDonald who represented Kingston in Ottawa. To quote Maureen on Ms. MacDonald, “I never heard Flora describe herself as a feminist, as if the term was too narrow for her world view. Of course, she supported women’s equality—indeed she embodied it—and my generation of young women saw her, and the other women parliamentarians she worked closely with, as our role models.”