34 Facts About Alexa McDonough

Alexa McDonough was the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Nova Scotia from 1980 to 1994.

Alexa McDonough stepped down as the NSNDP's leader and as a member of the legislature in 1994.

Alexa McDonough subsequently ran for and was elected, leader of the federal New Democratic Party in 1995.

Alexa McDonough was elected the Member of Parliament for the federal electoral district of Halifax in 1997.

Alexa McDonough stepped down as party leader in 2003 but continued to serve as an MP for two more terms, until 2008, when she retired from politics altogether.

Alexa McDonough's parents were Jean MacKinnon and Lloyd Robert Shaw, a wealthy businessman who was committed to progressive politics.

Alexa McDonough served as the first research director for the federal NDP's predecessor, the national Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and was an early financial backer of the NDP when it formed in 1961.

Alexa McDonough was involved in social activism from an early age, when, at 14, she led her church youth group in publicizing the conditions of Africville, a low-income, predominantly Black neighbourhood in Halifax.

Alexa McDonough attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, which was her family's alma mater.

Alexa McDonough became a social worker and, during the 1970 Nova Scotia general election, worked for Gerald Regan's Liberal Party, writing that party's social policy platform.

Alexa McDonough quickly became disenchanted with Regan and the Liberals and joined the New Democratic Party in 1974.

Alexa McDonough received 237 votes, compared to Arsenault's 42 votes, and MacEachern's 41 votes, giving her a first ballot landslide victory.

Alexa McDonough's first provincial election as leader was fought in the Halifax Chebucto riding, where the Liberals and Conservatives were more or less evenly matched in terms of voter support, and the NDP was a distant third in the previous election.

Alexa McDonough won her seat, the first one for the NDP in Mainland Nova Scotia, but the NDP lost all of its Cape Breton Island seats in the process.

Alexa McDonough spent the next three years as the only New Democrat, and the only woman in the House of Assembly.

Alexa McDonough took on the "old boys' network", that permeated Nova Scotia's politics at the time, by attempting to dismantle the province's entrenched patronage system.

Alexa McDonough was personally popular throughout Nova Scotia, consistently being the voters' top choice in leadership polls, but her popularity did not rub off on the party.

Alexa McDonough led the party through three more elections, eventually building the caucus up to three members: all from the mainland, including future Nova Scotia NDP leader, Robert Chisholm.

Alexa McDonough became the first person from Atlantic Canada to lead a major party since Robert Stanfield retired as the Progressive Conservatives' leader in 1976.

Alexa McDonough herself won Halifax by 11,000 votes, pushing Liberal incumbent Mary Clancy into third place.

Alexa McDonough would continue to win it consecutively three more times until she retired from politics in 2008.

About the only solace the NDP and Alexa McDonough could take from the 2000 campaign was that they kept official party status in the House of Commons, unlike McLaughlin in the 1993 campaign.

The 2001 Winnipeg convention was where Alexa McDonough easily defeated a leadership challenge by Socialist Caucus member Marcel Hatch, who was an NPI supporter.

Alexa McDonough led the charge on the national scene to repatriate Mahar Arar, an Arab-Canadian who was wrongly detained as a terrorist by United States border officials, on an erroneous tip from Canada's secret service.

Alexa McDonough was re-elected to Parliament in the 2004 federal election and again in 2006.

On June 2,2008, Alexa McDonough announced that she would not run again in the riding of Halifax in the next federal election.

Alexa McDonough made the announcement at the Lord Nelson Hotel, the same place where she celebrated her 1997 victory as the MP for Halifax.

Alexa McDonough said that she would continue on as the MP for Halifax until the next federal election.

On June 29,2009, it was announced that Alexa McDonough was named the new interim president of Mount Saint Vincent University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Alexa McDonough received an honorary Doctor of Civil Laws degree from Acadia University, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia on May 13,2012.

In 1993, she separated from Alexa McDonough, later divorcing him; she said her political career did not play a part in it.

On May 3,2013, Alexa McDonough announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer about four months earlier during a mammogram.

Alexa McDonough died at a long-term care home in Halifax, on January 15,2022, at the age of 77.

Alexa McDonough suffered from Alzheimer's disease in the seven years prior to her death.