Linda McIntosh
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Linda Laughlin McIntosh (born December 14, 1943) is a former politician in
Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
, Canada. She was a member of the
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba () is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at List of Manitoba genera ...
from 1990 to 1999, and a
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 ...
for most of this period. Among other awards and recognitions, McIntosh has received both the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, for her contributions to Canada.


Early life

McIntosh was born in
Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. She’s the daughter of Hugh Laughlin a career military officer (
RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...
) and Gwen Ruth Hopper. She was educated in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, attending eleven different schools during the course of her elementary and high school education. In 1960 she graduated from Royal George High School in
Greenfield Park, Quebec Greenfield Park is a List of former municipalities in Quebec, former city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is currently a Boroughs of Longueuil, borough of the city of Longueuil. It covers an area of , with a population of 16,733 at the Canada ...
and moved to
Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
(the province in which her parents were raised and to which they eventually retired) and began studies at St. John's College, University of Manitoba. McIntosh graduated with honors from the Manitoba Teachers' College in 1963.


Personal life

In 1988, She married Donald John McIntosh. McIntosh’s nephew
Hugh McFadyen Hugh Daniel McFadyen (born 31 May 1967) is a lawyer and politician in Manitoba, Canada. From 2006 to 2012, he was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, and Leader of the Opposition in the Manitoba legislature. Followin ...
, is the former Leader of the Opposition in Manitoba, her grandfather John Bell Laughlin and her great grandfather Andrew Laughlin were also MLA’s in south western Manitoba.


Career


Teacher, artist/illustrator, TV Commentator, School Board, Civil Service

McIntosh worked as an elementary school
teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
and freelance
commercial artist Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...
for several years, and was also a political commentator on
CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
TV's Friday Night News "Week In Review" segment in 1985-86. She was the weekly cartoonist/illustrator for local Winnipeg Community Newspapers and the province wide Rupertsland News. She enjoyed a brief stint as an illustrator the Winnipeg Tribune prior to its untimely demise in 1980. McIntosh was elected as a
school trustee A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...
in the
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
region of St. James-Assiniboia in 1980, and served until 1989, becoming its first female chair in 1984. She was elected to serve as president of the
Manitoba Association of School Trustees Manitoba is a province of Canada at the longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's fifth-most populous province, with a population of 1,342,153 as of 2021. Manitoba has a widely varied landscape, from arctic tundra and the Hudson Ba ...
in the mid-eighties. In June 1988, she was hired as Special Assistant to Progressive Conservative leader
Gary Filmon Gary Albert Filmon (born August 24, 1942) is a Canadian politician from Manitoba who served as the 19th premier of Manitoba. He was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 1983 to 2000, and served as the premier from ...
, who had become Manitoba's
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
the previous month.


Legislature

McIntosh was herself elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1990, defeating incumbent Liberal Ed Mandrake by 1324 votes in the western Winnipeg riding of
Assiniboia Assiniboia District refers to two historical districts of Canada's Northwest Territories. The name is taken from the Assiniboine First Nation. Historical usage ''For more information on the history of the provisional districts, see also Distric ...
. On February 5, 1991, she was named Minister of Cooperative, Consumer and Corporate Affairs, with responsibility for the Liquor Control Act. In those roles she had the Residential Tenancy Act re-written and established a Residential Tenancy Court which enabled landlords and tenants with disputes to have their issues resolved quickly and inexpensively without lengthy civil court battles. McIntosh was appointed to the Manitoba Provincial Treasury Board on January 14, 1992 where she served for two years. On September 10, 1993, she was transferred from Consumer and Corporate Affairs to the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Housing. In this portfolio she worked closely with then Winnipeg Mayor
Susan Thompson Susan Ann Thompson was the 40th mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was born on 12 April 1947. She was the first and first to date only woman to serve as mayor of Winnipeg, serving two terms from 1992 to 1998. Thompson graduated with a BA from ...
on a wide variety of inter-provincial issues such as the Shoal Lake Aqueduct agreement and the Municipal/Provincial/Federal Infrastructure Agreements. Her work in the Housing Department earned her public recognition from public housing tenants. McIntosh was easily re-elected in the provincial election of 1995, defeating Liberal Allen Green by 1130 votes. On May 9, 1995, she was appointed Minister of Education and Training, responsible for K-12 education in public and independent schools and for post secondary education in universities, colleges and apprenticeship programs. As Minister of Education, she was responsible for developing measurable standards for literacy and numeracy at three-year intervals at grades 3, 6, 9, and 12. Mainly diagnostic in nature, these standards tests also counted for a portion of students' final marks at the upper levels of learning. McIntosh felt that her most significant work was the undertaking of a two-year-long Special Needs Study, culminating in recommendations, widely praised, which recommended how to best meet the challenges and opportunities of inclusivism; and how to create the most enabling learning experience for all students, in regular and special needs categories. As the minister responsible for all post-secondary education, she created the Council on Post-Secondary Education to be responsible for co-ordinating efforts amongst Manitoba's Universities and Colleges, to better avoid duplication and overlap, and to ensure seamless movement from one level of learning to another throughout the province. It was under McIntosh's tenure that the
Canadian Mennonite University Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is a private Mennonite university located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is affiliated with Mennonite Church Canada and the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba. It has an enrolment of 1,607 students. The ...
was established, and that a Task Force was established and completed recommendations on what needed to be done to arrange better opportunities for Apprenticeship and Trades training. She increased the student representation on the Universities' Boards of Governors and approved the
University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...
's Student Union's Pathways to Excellence brief to the provincial government. Under her Tenure the Red River Community College expanded and was granted new nomenclature, becoming
Red River College Red River College Polytechnic (RRC Polytech) is a college located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the province's largest institute of applied learning and applied research, with over 200 degree, diploma, and certificate programs, and more ...
. She also imposed a number of surcharges for certain university categories in 1995 and 1996, which were regarded by some as particularly severe on foreign students, since foreign students would no longer be given a preferential tuition rate and would have to pay the same fees as Canadian students. McIntosh was no stranger to controversy. Amongst many items which became the topic of public debate during her tenure as Education Minister was the whole question of patriotic exercises in schools and the significance of the monarchy in Canada. In 1998, school principals brought to her attention that the portion of the Manitoba Schools Act concerning patriotic exercises was not being followed in many schools. McIntosh won the support of the Monarchists across the province, and the ire of Canadian republicans, when she sent out a memo to School Divisions reminding them that the Act was to be followed. It became a provincial controversy, with many complaining that semestered school timetables made such exercises difficult to successfully accomplish since not all students would be present for them. In one memorable moment during this controversy, the entire opposition NDP caucus stood and with great gusto sang all the verses of
God Save the Queen "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...
in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. MLA
Doug Martindale Doug Martindale (born May 25, 1947) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1990 to 2011, serving as a member of the New Democratic Party. Early life and career Martindale was born in ...
(NDP, Burrows) said afterwards that the performance was a "serenade" for Minister McIntosh. In the final cabinet shuffle of Filmon's government on February 5, 1999, McIntosh was named Minister of Environment with responsibility for the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act. McIntosh was very narrowly defeated by
New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...
Jim Rondeau Jim Rondeau (born April 6, 1959) is a former politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1999 to 2016, and served as cabinet minister in the provincial governments of Gary Doer and Greg Sel ...
in the 1999 provincial election. McIntosh actually led Rondeau on election night, but fell three votes behind when the institutional and absentee ballots were counted. McIntosh did not seek a return to office in 2003.


Other Career Experience

In 1999 and 2000, McIntosh was Marketing Director for Winnipeg's Portsmouth Retirement Residence during its construction, development and start up, ensuring that accommodation was appropriate for prospective clients' needs. From 2000-2003 McIntosh was president and owner of Roaming Buffalo Communications, a company specializing in speech-writing, brochure design, editing, communications consulting and the production of a magazine, highlighting Manitoba's people and places. McIntosh was on the local Board of Directors for the federal Canadian Alliance Party of Canada
Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...
prior to its merger with the
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; ) was a Centrism, centre to centre-right List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 unti ...
in 2003. She was a strong supporter of the "Unite The Right" movement which led to that merger. She subsequently was elected to the local Board of Directors for the new Conservative Party of Canada. During the federal election of 2004 McIntosh campaigned for successful Conservative candidates Steven Fletcher and
Joy Smith Joy Ann Smith (born February 20, 1947) is a Canadian politician. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba between 1999 and 2003, and was in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. Education and business career Smith was born ...
. McIntosh served as Constituency Assistant for M.P. Steven Fletcher from June 2004 to June 2005.


Author

McIntosh is the author of three biographies of heroic Canadians. Her first book, "What Do You Do If You Don't Die?," published by Heartland Associates of Manitoba in 2008, is the story of geological engineer and award winning athlete Steven Fletcher's struggle to return to a full life after becoming paralyzed from the neck down. An inspirational book, it has been praised by advocates for the catastrophically injured, the severely disabled, and those who are struggling to overcome adversity. Linda McIntosh and Steven Fletcher have been friends and confidants since the mid-nineties. McIntosh's second book, "Child of Lamposaari", published in 2010, is the birth to death biography of Hilkka Nygard, the matriarch of the Nygard Fashion Empire, and a personal friend of McIntosh. The book has been praised by those who are interested in the history of Finland, in which much of the story takes place; and by those who are interested in the many challenges faced by Canadian immigrants. McIntosh has indicated that the book is a tribute, not just to Hilkka Nygard; but to all Canadian immigrant mothers, to the lands they loved and left behind and to the great country to which they came. A third book, Master of My Fate, a continuation of Steven Fletcher's saga, was written in response to a request for "more" from readers of the first book about Fletcher. This book takes readers through Fletcher's life from 2006 to 2015 and details the many challenges and circumstances he had to overcome during that period. It deals extensively with Steven Fletcher's mission to legalize physician-assisted-death (PAD)in Canada. It includes stories and opinions from advocates and opponents of PAD and the text of the two Bills Fletcher introduced as an MP into the Canadian House of Commons on the topic. At the time of writing the Parliament of Canada had not acted upon the Canadian Supreme Court's order to develop PAD legislation. Hence the book became widely read, discussed and debated. McIntosh is active as a community volunteer in her current locale in northwestern Ontario. She has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Mary Berglund Community Health Centre, serving the township of Ignace and surrounding area including Savant Lake; and to the Board of Directors, Conservative Party of Canada, Kenora, Ontario.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntosh, Linda 1943 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Canadian people of Irish descent Politicians from Montreal Politicians from Winnipeg Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs Women MLAs in Manitoba Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba Red River College alumni Women government ministers of Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba