Ella Jean Canfield, née Garrett (October 4, 1919 – December 31, 2000) 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 ...

politician."Involvement's the thing: minister". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', April 12, 1973. She was the first woman ever elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island () together with the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island form the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The Legislative Assembly meets at ...

, as well as the first woman to serve in the

Executive Council of Prince Edward Island The Executive Council of Prince Edward Island (informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of Prince Edward Island) is the cabinet of that Canadian province. Almost always made up of members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, the ...

. She was born in Westmoreland,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, the daughter of Everett Garrett and Lydia Granville McVittie, and married Parker Canfield in 1939. Canfield originally stood for office in the 1966 provincial election in

1st Queens 1st Queens was an electoral district in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which elected two members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1873 until the riding was abolished in 1996 with the elimination of dual memb ...

, but failed against incumbent Frank Myers. She then stood again in the 1970 election, and was successful. She was reelected in the 1974 election and the 1978 election, but was defeated in the 1979 election. From October 10, 1972, to May 2, 1974, she served as Minister without Portfolio and Minister responsible for the PEI Housing Authority in the government of Alex Campbell. Following her death in 2000, the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

announced in 2005 that a new federal office building in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

would be named the Jean Canfield Building. The building officially opened in 2007."New federal building hopes to soak up the sun". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', March 3, 2007.

References

External links

Jean Canfield
at

Collections Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. Th ...

Ella Jean Canfield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canfield, Jean 1919 births 2000 deaths Members of the Executive Council of Prince Edward Island Politicians from Queens County, Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island Liberal Party MLAs Women MLAs in Prince Edward Island 20th-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island