I am thankful to have lived at the tail end of the golden age of Charlotte
Whitton.
Charlotte Whitton was born on March 8, 1896. Born in family of
rather modest means, Whitton grew to become the first female mayor
of the City of Ottawa, a tireless defender of the less fortunate and
a relentless crusader for professional standards of juvenile
immigrants and neglected children. She was the driving force behind
the Canadian Council on Child Welfare and was in high demand, across
North America, as a lecturer on social programs.
Whitton was a study in the modern woman. She attended
Queen's University, where she studied for a Master of Arts and
played hockey.
In November 1950, she entered Ottawa municipal politics winning a
seat on the Board of Control (now city council). The newly
elected Mayor of Ottawa, Grenville Goodwin, died in office and
Whitton was appointed to succeed him for the remaining 14 months of
the mandate. She was elected mayor in 1952, 1954, 1960 and
1964 and later served as an alderman until 1972
While Whitton was a power house in social welfare and politics
she is best known for her immortal quote:
| Whatever women do they must do
twice as well as men to be thought half as good.
Luckily, this is not difficult. |
She was also the author of lesser-known, but
still great, quotes such as:
| “Turn your face to the sun
and the shadows fall behind you.”
“When one must, one can.”
and my favourite,
“It's how you deal with
failure that determines how you achieve success.” |
Whitton did not shy away from controversy.
During the Flag Debate in 1964 she confronted Lester Pearson
over his choice of three maple leafs for the flag. She
declared:
| ... Pearson's design as a ‘white badge of
surrender, waving three dying maple leaves’
which might as well be ‘three white feathers on
a red background,’ a symbol of cowardice. ‘It is
a poor observance of our first century as a
nation if we run up a flag of surrender with
three dying maple leaves on it,’ she said. |
For Whitton, the Red Ensign, with its Union
Jack and coat of arms containing symbols of England,
Scotland, Ireland and France (or a similar flag with
traditional symbols on it) would be a stronger embodiment of
the Canadian achievement in peace and
war. She lost the battle but made her mark.
During her time as Mayor she pioneered the
communications of city politics by hosting her own TV
program and writing a column in the local paper.
Never married, Whitton lived for 32 years
with her companion, Margaret Grier, whom she had met at
Queen's University. Grier died in 1947
at the age of 55 years.
Charlotte Whitton died on January 25, 1975
and was laid to rest in the Thompson Hill Cemetery in
Renfrew.
|
