Flora MacDonald helped lay a foundation for Vancouver's Little Saigon

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      Most Canadians under the age of 40 had probably never heard of Flora MacDonald until her death was highlighted on newscasts over the weekend.

      But the former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister had a significant impact on the country, including in Vancouver.

      As the minister of external affairs in Joe Clark's short-lived government, MacDonald worked with the then immigration minister, Ron Atkey, to enable approximately 50,000 Vietnamese "boat people" to come to Canada in 1979 and 1980.

      MacDonald and Atkey ensured that the government matched the number of refugees who were privately being sponsored by churches and other organizations.

      Vancouver's "Little Saigon" along Kingsway can be directly traced to this act of humanitarianism.

      MacDonald was the sixth woman ever appointed to the federal cabinet. She represented Kingston and the Islands from 1972 to 1988 and at different times, she oversaw the external affairs, employment and immigration, and communications portfolios.

      Many Canadians don't realize that former prime minister Pierre Trudeau had a fairly dreadful record in bringing women into his cabinet. None were appointed in his first term. Prior to the Progressive Conservative victory in 1979, Trudeau only appointed three: Jeanne Sauvé, Monique Bégin, and Iona Campagnolo.

      MacDonald ran for the leadership of her party in 1976. When it was clear that she wasn't going to win, she threw her support to Clark, a fellow Red Tory. That likely prevented either Brian Mulroney or Claude Wagner from becoming leader.

      Even though MacDonald fell short in 1976, she blazed a trail for another woman, Vancouver's Kim Campbell, to win the Progressive Conservative leadership in 1993. With this victory, Campbell became Canada's first female prime minister.

      Today, women are premiers in Canada's three largest anglophone provinces (Ontario, B.C., and Alberta). In their own way, they all owe a debt to MacDonald for helping shatter a glass ceiling that had existed for more than a century in Canadian politics.

      After MacDonald was defeated in the 1988 election, she focused on humanitarian issues and volunteered her time with many groups, including the Canadian Council for Refugees, CARE Canada, and the World Federalists Movement—Canada.

      “As a parliamentarian Flora MacDonald was someone who was highly regarded by members of all political parties," said WFM—Canada president and former Liberal cabinet minister Warren Allmand in a statement issued today. "And as a humanitarian and internationalist her reputation extended well beyond Canada, as someone who was passionately committed to international development.”

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