Julia Verlyn LaMarsh (December 20, 1924 – October 27, 1980) was a Canadian politician, lawyer, author and broadcaster. In 1963, she became the second woman to serve as a federal

Cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

. Under Prime Minister

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...

's minority governments of the middle and late 1960s, she helped push through the legislation that created the

Canada Pension Plan The Canada Pension Plan (CPP; ) is a contributory, earnings-related social insurance program. It is one of the two major components of Canada's public retirement income system, the other being Old Age Security (OAS). Other parts of Canada's retir ...

and Medicare. As Secretary of State, she was in charge of Canada's Centennial celebrations in 1967. After leaving politics in 1968, she wrote three books, and had her own radio show on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

. She was stricken with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

in 1979 and was given the Order of Canada at her hospital bed. She died a few days short of the 20th anniversary of her first political election victory, in 1980.

Early life

LaMarsh was born December 20, 1924, in Chatham, Ontario. Of French and English descent, she was raised in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

. Although she trained as a teacher, she never taught school. In high school, she was a member of Alpha Chapter, Theta Kappa Sigma Sorority in Niagara Falls. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she enlisted in the

Canadian Women's Army Corps The Canadian Women's Army Corps was a non-combatant branch of the Canadian Army for women, established during the Second World War, with the purpose of releasing men from those non-combatant roles in the Canadian armed forces as part of expandi ...

, travelled the country from 1943 to 1946, and attained the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. LaMarsh worked with the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers in Halifax and then, after studying Japanese in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, served as a Japanese translator in Intelligence with Japanese-Canadian soldiers. After the war, she attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

's Victoria College and

Osgoode Hall Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart (architect), John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is n ...

, where she was trained as a lawyer, graduating in 1950. She was called to the Bar of Ontario, and joined her father's law practice in Niagara Falls.

Political career

After unsuccessful forays into Ontario provincial politics, LaMarsh was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

in a 1960 by-election. Sitting as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for

, she joined the

Canadian Cabinet The Canadian Ministry ( French: ''Conseil des ministres''), colloquially referred to as the Cabinet of Canada (), is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms ...

after the Liberals defeated the Progressive Conservative government of

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker (September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 an ...

in the 1963 election. Serving under Prime Minister

, she was the second female federal cabinet minister in Canadian history, and the first to serve in a Liberal cabinet. LaMarsh served as

Minister of National Health and Welfare The minister of health () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing health-focused government agencies including Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as enforcing the ''Canada ...

and Minister of Amateur Sport from 1963 to 1965, and as

Secretary of State for Canada The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London. Sco ...

from 1965 to 1968. Her period as Minister of National Health and Welfare coincided with the introduction of the

and the drafting of what was to become Canada's Medicare system. Besides shepherding the Medicare bill through parliament, she also became the first major western-world government official to oppose tobacco smoking publicly. On June 17, 1963, she rose to speak on the floor of the House of Commons and declared: "There is scientific evidence that cigarette smoking is a contributory cause of lung cancer and that it may also be associated with chronic bronchitis and coronary heart disease." As Secretary of State, she presided over the

Canadian Centennial The Canadian Centennial was a yearlong celebration held in 1967 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Celebrations in Canada occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1. Commemorative coins were m ...

celebrations in 1967, presented the Broadcasting Act of 1968 to Parliament, and served on the

Royal Commission on the Status of Women The Royal Commission on the Status of Women was a Canadian Royal Commission that examined the status of women and recommended steps that might be taken by the federal government to ensure equal opportunities with men and women in all aspects of ...

. In the 1968 Liberal leadership convention to choose a successor to Pearson, she supported

Paul Hellyer Paul Theodore Hellyer (August 6, 1923 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian engineer, politician, writer, and commentator. He was the longest serving member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada at the time of his death. Early life Hellyer w ...

. When it became clear after the first round of voting that Hellyer could not win, she urged him to drop off the ballot and throw his support to another candidate in order to stop

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

. Her words, uttered on the floor of the convention hall: "Paul, you've got to go to obertWinters. Don't let that bastard win it, Paul – he isn't even a Liberal" were, unbeknownst to her, broadcast live over

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

. She retired from politics after Trudeau won the party's leadership.

Post-political career

After politics, she returned to her work as a lawyer. She often took on

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

cases, including the defense of the

Brunswick Four The Brunswick Four were four lesbians involved in a historic incident in Toronto, Ontario in 1974. The four were evicted from the Brunswick House (Toronto), Brunswick House, a working-class beer hall on Bloor Street, and subsequently arrested, and ...

in a prominent

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

case in 1974. She published her political autobiography, entitled ''Memoirs of a Bird in a Gilded Cage'', in 1969, and the book sold very well. LaMarsh worked as a broadcaster including a part-time job with

, hosting '' This Country in the Morning'' in 1974. From fall 1975 to spring 1976, she hosted her own show called ''Judy''. It was broadcast weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon, nationally. In April 1975, Ontario Premier William Davis chose her to head the Ontario government's Royal Commission on Violence in the Communications Industry. It spent two years coming up with 68 recommendations, many highly controversial ones like an omnibus government agency controlling all television content, and newspapers to be governed by a national council on ethics, that would police the industry for violations. Civil liberty groups criticized the media recommendations as violations on free speech and freedom of the press grounds.

Later life and death

In 1979, she decided to go back into law, and opened a family law practice. In December 1979, LaMarsh was rushed to Sunnybrook Medical Centre where she was diagnosed with inoperable

. While receiving treatment for her cancer at Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital, Governor General

Edward Schreyer Edward Richard Schreyer (born December 21, 1935) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as the 22nd governor general of Canada from 1979 to 1984. He previously served as the 16th premier of Manitoba from 1969 to 1977. Schr ...

invested her as an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

, at her hospital bed on July 22, 1980. A few months later, just days away from the 20th anniversary of her first federal political victory, she died on October 27, 1980, aged 55. Her funeral was held in Niagara Falls on October 29, 1980. She had six female pallbearers including: Edith Druggan and Florence Rosberg, of Niagara Falls, broadcaster

Barbara Frum Barbara Frum (née Rosberg; September 8, 1937 – March 26, 1992), OC was an American-born Canadian radio and television journalist, acclaimed for her interviews for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Personal life Barbara Frum was born ...

, British Columbia Judge Nancy Morrison, lawyer Pamela Verill Walker, and

Doris Anderson Doris Hilda Anderson, (November 10, 1921 – March 2, 2007) was a Canadian author, journalist and women's rights activist. She is best known as the editor of the women's magazine ''Chatelaine'', mixing traditional content (recipes, décor) w ...

, president of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. It was a short service, attended by 300 friends and dignitaries including Ontario's premier William Davis, former Ontario Lieutenant-Governor

Pauline McGibbon Pauline Mills McGibbon (21 October 1910 – 14 December 2001) served as the 22nd Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1974 to 1980. In addition to being the first woman to occupy that position, she was also the first woman to serve as a vi ...

, and several federal politicians including the man she backed for federal Liberal leader in 1968, Paul Hellyer. She was laid to rest next to her parents, at a graveyard that bordered the historic Canadian battleground, Lundy's Lane.

Books

* * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamarsh, Judy 1924 births 1980 deaths Lawyers in Ontario Ministers of health and welfare of Canada Canadian Presbyterians Canadian talk radio hosts Women government ministers of Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Canadian women novelists CBC Radio hosts Deaths from cancer in Ontario Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Osgoode Hall Law School alumni People from Chatham-Kent People from Niagara Falls, Ontario University of Toronto alumni Women in Ontario politics Canadian women memoirists 20th-century Canadian women politicians 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian lawyers 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian women radio hosts 20th-century Canadian women lawyers 20th-century Canadian memoirists Canadian Screen Award winning journalists 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Novelists from Ontario