Audrey Marlene McLaughlin, nee Brown (b. 1936)
Audrey Brown was born in Dutton, Ontario to Margaret Clark and William Brown.1) She was married at age 18 and completed a bachelor degree through correspondence while working on her husband’s mink ranch in Ontario. She taught school in Ghana, in western Africa, from 1964 to 1967. Her marriage ended five years after her return to Canada. She earned a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Toronto and in 1975 was the head of the Canadian Mental Health Association.2)
McLaughlin moved to the Yukon in 1979, started a consulting business, and worked on child welfare legislation, land claims, and self-government research. She was active in politics and won the Yukon federal seat in 1987, succeeding Erik Nielsen. In 1989, she replaced the retiring Ed Broadbent as the leader of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) which had forty-three seats in the legislature. The party was reduced to nine seats in the 1993 election.3) The NDP lost votes as unpopular NDP affiliates in British Columbia and Ontario reflected badly on the federal party and the rise of the Reform Party bled support for the NDP in western Canada. McLaughlin won her seat in the Yukon but resigned as leader in 1995 and was succeeded by Alexa McDonough.4)
In 1986, Audrey volunteered with Canadian Crossroads International. In 1991, she became a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. In August 2003, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. McLaughlin published an autobiography, My Life and Politics, in 1992. She joined the National Democratic Institute in 2000 and travelled to Kosovo to help women run in their first democratic election. She served as the President of the Socialist International Women and as a special representative for the Government of Yukon on Circumpolar Affairs. 5)
Audrey McLaughlin was the first woman in Canadian history to lead a national party. She is credited with coining the phrase “from sea to sea to sea” to redefine Canada and include the north.6)