Hilda Pauline Watson (January 13, 1922 – July 14, 1997) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

schoolteacher and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from the

Yukon Territory Yukon () is a territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s westernmost territory and the smallest ...

. She was the first woman in Canadian history to lead a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

which was successful in having its members elected. First elected to the

Yukon Territorial Council The Yukon Territorial Council was a political body in the Canadian territory of Yukon, prior to the creation of the Yukon Legislative Assembly. Although not a full legislature, the council acted as an advisory body to the Commissioner of Yukon, and ...

in the 1970 election to represent the district of Carmacks-Kluane, she was one of the first two councillors to be appointed to the new executive committee. This gave her ministerial responsibilities over

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

in the territory."Yukon pupils on strike since Easter". ''

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'', May 3, 1974. Watson and her fellow executive councillor Norman Chamberlist built a voting bloc with two other non-executive councillors, which gave them effective control over virtually all council business."Dissension racks council in Yukon". ''

'', April 4, 1972. In 1974, Watson survived a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

brought against her for her handling of a student strike in Pelly Crossing. Watson was reelected in the 1974 election, but the validity of her election was challenged in court by former executive councillor John Livesey on the basis of allegations that 26 ineligible voters had cast ballots in the district — although it was impossible to determine which way the invalid votes had been cast, the result was in doubt because the number exceeded the 17-vote margin between Watson and Livesey. Watson resigned the seat and recontested it in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

, in which Livesey ran as her main challenger; Watson won the by-election. After the legislation authorizing the creation of the

Legislative Assembly of Yukon The Yukon Legislative Assembly () is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only territorial legislature which is organized along political party lines. In contr ...

, and the resulting establishment of

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the territory, was passed in 1977, Watson narrowly won the leadership of the new Progressive Conservative Party over federal Member of Parliament Erik Nielsen."Leader loses, but Tories win first party-line election in Yukon". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', November 22, 1978. She led the party to victory in the 1978 territorial election, in which she was the party's candidate in the electoral district of Kluane. However, she lost her own seat to Liberal opponent Alice McGuire, and therefore did not become government leader. She was succeeded as leader of the party and of the government by Chris Pearson."Watson Cries Foul". ''

Whitehorse Star The ''Whitehorse Star'' was a newspaper in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. History The newspaper was founded in 1900 about a year after the Klondike Gold Rush ended. The paper was originally called the ''Northern Star'', by was later changed to th ...

'', November 28, 1978.

References

External links

Feature on the 1978 Yukon election
at the

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Archives (includes film clip in

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format) {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Hilda 1922 births 1997 deaths Members of the Yukon Territorial Council Women MLAs in Yukon Female Canadian political party leaders 20th-century Canadian women politicians Yukon political party leaders