Margaret Commodore

Margaret Commodore
Member of the Yukon Legislative Assembly
for Whitehorse Centre
(Whitehorse North Centre; 1982–1992)
In office
June 7, 1982 – September 30, 1996
Preceded byGeoff Lattin
Succeeded byTodd Hardy
Personal details
Born1932 (age 91–92)[1]
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada[2]
Political partyNew Democratic
OccupationPolitician

Margaret Muriel Commodore (or Margaret Joe; born 1932) is a Canadian politician. She represented the electoral district of Whitehorse North Centre in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1982 to 1992, and Whitehorse Centre from 1992 to 1996. She was a member of the Yukon New Democratic Party.

Under the Tony Penikett governments, she was Minister of Health and Human Resources from 1986 to 1989 and the first Aboriginal Minister of Justice in Canada from 1989 to 1992. She was also the first-ever First Nations woman to ever be named to a cabinet in Canada in 1985.[3][4]

Commodore is a member of the Sto:lo Nation. In 2013 she testified regarding her abuse at the hands of the residential school system at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.[5]

  1. ^ "We Welcome The Children Back Home: The Burden of Sorrow and Survival of the Indian Residential School Experience in Canada". University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  2. ^ Normandin, P.G. (1996). The Canadian Parliamentary Guide. P. G. Normandin. ISBN 9781896413143. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
  3. ^ "Yukon". Equal Voice Yukon. Retrieved 18 May 2021. Margaret Commodore: First-ever First Nation Woman named to Yukon Cabinet
  4. ^ "Timeline". Indicators of Yukon Gender Equality. Retrieved 18 May 2021. FIRST-EVER FIRST NATION WOMAN NAMED TO CABINET NDP MLA Margaret Commodore (formerly Margaret Joe) of B.C.'s Sto:lo Nation named Minister of Health and Human Resources.
  5. ^ Pemberton, Kim. "Former MLA shares tale of residential school abuse (with video)". vancouversun. Retrieved 18 May 2021.