Memorable Manitobans: Edythe Irene MacDonald (1931-2009)

Lawyer, judge.

Born at Winnipeg on 22 March 1931, daughter of Irene and Angus MacDonald, she won the Governor General’s Medal as the top student in Viscount Alexander High School and also won the Gold Medal in her law class at the University of Manitoba in 1957. On her admission to the Bar, she joined the Department of Justice in Ottawa and drafted some of the most important federal legislation of the period: The Divorce Act, The Canadian Grains Act, and portions of the Canadian Constitution with regards to women’s rights. She was made a Queen’s Counsel. In 1982, she was appointed to the Court of Queens Bench of the Province of Ontario in the judicial district of Niagara South (Welland). She died on 20 July 2009 and was buried in the Fonthill (Ontario) Cemetery.

Sources:

“New QCs include Zuken, two women,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 January 1971, page 9.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 22 July 2009, page C11.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 December 2015

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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