MARCH 22, 2006
Members Statements
Margaret Strongitharm

R. Cantelon: I rise in the House today to honour one of Nanaimo's most prominent citizens, Margaret Strongitharm. If I were to stand here and cite the accolades that Margaret has received for exemplary community leadership, I would consume the entire two minutes and not have time to tell you about what a warm, sincere and wonderful person she is.

           But here are a few: the Order of Canada for her work on many federal women's commissions; freeman of the city of Nanaimo to recognize her as a leader and community builder; receiving an honorary doctorate of laws from Malaspina University College. There is a room named in her honour at the Port Theatre, which she was instrumental in seeing built. Margaret has served as a city councillor, on the school board and with too many other organizations to name.

           She was married to Ted, a lawyer by profession but a great raconteur and storyteller by avocation. Ted was a prominent leader of the Conservative Party. Theirs was a political family, and the dinner table was a daily forum of current events. Their son Bruce, however, became permanently afflicted by this constant exposure to political environment and now works in this building for the Minister of Forests and Range.

           It was my good fortune to have Margaret on my board when I chaired what is now the Port Theatre Society. There was no theatre then, just a dream. It was a dream Margaret was able to imbue in us as a reality. It was not a time for smooth sailing for the Port Theatre Society. We were running out of money, and the city was running out of patience with us, but Margaret never wavered.

           You might envision a steely persona — the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher. Our Margaret, however, is a sincere, serene lady, always polite, calm and fully self-possessed. She had a unique connection to the truth and positive hope. She would never overreact to a crisis, real or imagined. Margaret would give a little, amused laugh, and that was a signal that nothing on earth is that serious. Then her wonderful, calm insightfulness would bring us back to the task.

           She was the type of person who would walk into a barroom brawl, ask people to sit down, and they would sit down. It was her working evidence of the power of the meek. Her manner may have been meek, but she was never cowed and never taken off her game. She is a living legend to me and a blessing to all who know her.

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