Ruth Wildgen, née Besharah (1921 – September 11, 1999) was a Canadian politician and activist. She represented Britannia Ward on

Ottawa City Council Ottawa City Council () is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents wards throughout the city. Council member ...

and the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Council from 1985 to 1988. Wildgen was born in 1921 in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, the second of eight children of Lebanese immigrants. The family moved to

Almonte, Ontario Almonte ( ; ) is a former mill town in Lanark County, in the eastern portion of Ontario, Canada. Formerly a separate municipality, Almonte is a ward of the town of Mississippi Mills, Ontario, Mississippi Mills, which was created on January 1, 199 ...

when she was three. Wildgen married her husband Francis in 1952, but would later be estranged from him. In 1974, two of her children were making candles in the basement when a fire erupted that led to her house at 1146 Merivale Road being burnt down, forcing her and her children into public housing. Wildgen was the founder of the

Foster Farm Foster Farm, nicknamed "the Farm", is a neighbourhood in the Britannia area of Bay Ward in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly bounded to the north by Richmond Road, to the east by Pinecrest Road, to the west by the former O ...

Soup Kitchen and the Foster Farm Food Co-operative. She was also one of the founding partners of At Your Service Restaurant, a training program for people having difficulty finding employment, Operation Break, a camp for disadvantaged families and the West End Legal Clinic. She was also the president of the Ottawa Council for Low Income Support Services and served on the board of the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Housing Authority. Wildgen was elected to city council in the

1985 Ottawa municipal election The city of Ottawa, Canada held municipal elections on November 12, 1985. Riverside Ward alderman Jim Durrell defeated Britannia Ward alderman Marlene Catterall to become the new mayor of Ottawa. Mayor Durrell swept 12 of the city's 15 wards en ...

defeating

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

by just 47 votes. At the time of the election, she was area supervisor for the city's recreation and community development branch. She was also on the boards of the Social Planning Council of Ottawa-Carleton, the Ottawa Women's Credit Union and the Ottawa Distress Centre. She ran on a platform of a traffic study for a local intersection, more support services for seniors to stay in their homes, and implementing a 911 emergency number for the region. While sitting on council, Wildgen represented the region on a provincial committee looking at social services. She usually voted with the left wing councillors. In the 1988 Ottawa municipal election, Wildgen lost in another close race against Jones, who was seen as being more "pro-development". After a recount, Jones defeated her by 10 votes. In her campaign, she supported a one-tier municipal government and keeping tax increases to a minimum. Marlene Catterall nominated Wildgen for a

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

in commemoration of the

Persons Case ''Edwards v Canada (AG)'', also known as the ''Persons Case'' (), is a Canadian constitutional case that decided in 1929 that women were eligible to sit in the Senate of Canada. The legal case was put forward by the Government of Canada on the ...

, for her work with social causes. Wildgen died in her home in

Dunrobin, Ontario Dunrobin is a community in West Carleton-March Ward in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located about northwest of Downtown Ottawa. Dunrobin lies within a valley, nestled between the Ottawa River and the Carp escarpment. It is locate ...

on September 11, 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildgen, Ruth 1921 births 1999 deaths Ottawa city councillors Activists from Saskatchewan People from Almonte, Ontario Canadian people of Lebanese descent Canadian women activists Activists from Ontario Women municipal councillors in Ontario 20th-century Canadian women politicians Ottawa-Carleton regional councillors 20th-century Canadian municipal councillors