Margaret Muriel Commodore (or Margaret Joe) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

politician. She represented the electoral district of

Whitehorse North Centre Whitehorse North Centre was a territorial electoral district in the Canadian territory of Yukon, which was represented on the Yukon Territorial Council from 1974 to 1978 and in the Legislative Assembly of Yukon The Yukon Legislative Assembly (fre ...

in the

Yukon Legislative Assembly The Yukon Legislative Assembly (french: Assemblée législative du Yukon) is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only territorial legislature which is organiz ...

from 1982 to 1992, and

Whitehorse Centre Whitehorse Centre is an electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a co ...

from 1992 to 1996. She was a member of the

Yukon New Democratic Party The Yukon New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Yukon) is a social-democratic political party in the Yukon territory of Canada. The Yukon NDP first formed the government of the territory under the leadership of Tony ...

. Under the

Tony Penikett Antony David John "Tony" Penikett (born November 14, 1945) is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada, who served as the third premier of Yukon from 1985 to 1992. Early life and political activity Born in Sussex, Engl ...

governments, she was Minister of Health and Human Resources from 1986 to 1989 and the first

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

Minister of Justice in Canada from 1989 to 1992. She was also the first-ever First Nations woman to ever be named to a cabinet in Canada in 1985. Commodore is a member of the Sto:lo Nation. In 2013 she testified regarding her abuse at the hands of the

residential school system In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school sy ...

at the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC; french: Commission de vérité et réconciliation du Canada []) was a truth and reconciliation commission active in Canada from 2008 to 2015, organized by the parties of the Indian Residen ...

References

External links

Margaret Commodore
profile excerpted from Joyce Hayden's book ''Yukon's Women of Power''
archive copy

Recording of Commodore
from ''The Legislature Speaks'' Living people 20th-century First Nations people First Nations women in politics People from Chilliwack Politicians from Whitehorse Sto:lo people Women MLAs in Yukon Year of birth missing (living people) Yukon New Democratic Party MLAs 20th-century Canadian women politicians {{Yukon-politician-stub