Margaret Isabel Rideout (née Saunders; 16 June 1923 – 12 May 2010) 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, who represented the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

in 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 ...

from 1964 to 1968. She was the first woman elected to the House of Commons from

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. She was born to parents Vance and Dolena (McRae) Saunders of Bridgewater. A Liberal, Rideout first won the riding in a 1964

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 ...

following the death of Sherwood Rideout, her husband and the district's incumbent Member of Parliament. She was re-elected in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, and was named parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Health and Welfare in 1966. She served in that role until the 1968 election, when she was defeated by Charlie Thomas in the redistricted riding of

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

. After her service in Parliament was finished she worked as a Judge of the Court of Canadian Citizenship and ultimately became the Chief Judge. She was subsequently named a citizenship judge. She was a member of several Boards the likes of the

Board of Governors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly Undergraduate education, undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some Postgraduate education, graduate programs at the master's level and one at the Doctorate, doctor ...

where she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Civil Laws Degree, the Board of the ''Atlantic Baptist Senior Citizens Home'',

the Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

, the Canadian Bible Society, the Business and Professional Women's Association and was a long serving member of Board of the Moncton Hospital. She received the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Award in

for her work for women.Margaret Rideout
Retrieved on 20 Feb 2018 Margaret Rideout was the "public face of the ''Atlantic Division’s'' successful campaign to improve drug coverage to

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

".A change of heart, Drug coverage expanded in Newfoundland and Labrador
Retrieved on 20 Feb 2018 Margaret Rideout had three sons. Sherwood and Margaret Rideout's son George served in the House of Commons in the 1990s, and served a term as mayor of

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rideout, Margaret 1923 births 2010 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Canada from New Brunswick Liberal Party of Canada MPs People from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia People from Westmorland County, New Brunswick Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Canadian citizenship judges Women in New Brunswick politics 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 20th-century Canadian women politicians