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Added by you! Lady Aberdeen

Ishbel Maria Gordon—the Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair—came to Canada in 1893 when her husband, the Earl of Aberdeen, was appointed Governor-General.  During her five years here, Lady Aberdeen became known as an energetic social reformer willing to buck the establishment. Born an aristocrat, but a committed democrat, she used her office to unleash women’s social power—a stance that dismayed the autocratic elites of Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto. Shortly after her arrival, Lady Aberdeen became the first president of the National Council of Women of Canada, an organization dedicated to bringing locally generated policy proposals to the attention of government. In 1897, she founded the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Originally intended to provide rudimentary medical facilities to remote areas, the VON remains an important agency that today provides home care and other services to a multitude of Canadians.

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We travelled across Canada with stops in the cities listed below. Thank you to everyone who shared their ideas with us during our kiosk activities and our roundtable discussions.

Province City Date Venue
British Columbia Vancouver November 9 Vancouver Public Library
British Columbia Vancouver November 10 Vancouver Flea Market
Newfoundland St. John's November 20 Memorial University of Newfoundland
Newfoundland St. John's November 20 Centre scolaire et communautaire des Grands-Vents
Nova Scotia Halifax November 21 Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
Nova Scotia Halifax November 22 Halifax Stanfield International Airport
New Brunswick Fredericton November 23 Crowne Plaza Fredericton Lord Beaverbrook Hotel
Alberta Edmonton December 4 Prince of Wales Armouries
Alberta Edmonton December 5 University of Alberta
Ontario Toronto December 11 Toronto Reference Library
Ontario Toronto December 12 Centennial College
Saskatchewan Saskatoon January 15 Radisson Hotel Saskatoon
Saskatchewan Saskatoon January 16 The Mall at Lawson Heights
Quebec Montréal January 24 Promenades Cathédrale
Quebec Montréal January 24 Salon Cartier 1, Centre Mont-Royal
Quebec Gatineau January 31 Canadian Museum of Civilization