Canada’s own ‘Iron Ladies’

In the days after the death of Margaret Thatcher — the original ‘Iron Lady’ — Media Action and the REPRESENT project brought together a panel of political observers and had them come up with a list of Canada’s own.

The panel included the Star’s Susan Delacourt, Nancy Peckford of Equal Voice and Shari Graydon of Informed Opinions. “Women, for too long, have been seen as the people who do the bake sales in Canadian politics,” Delacourt said of the exercise.

Top of the list? Anne McGrath: “A quiet force behind Jack Layton, president of the New Democratic Party, then chief of staff to the NDP leader, she is known as someone who gets things done, turning Layton’s charisma into electoral success and conducting herself always as a bridge between conflicting forces, inside and outside the party.”

Click here for the full list, which also includes Audrey McLaughlin, Elizabeth May and Jenni Byrne.