Pauline Jewett
Born December 11, 1922, Pauline Jewett spent her formative years in St. Catherine’s, Ontario. As a young adult, Pauline attended Queens University, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy, as well as her Master of Arts in 1945. She then completed her Ph.D. in Political Science at Harvard University in 1949 as the sole woman in her graduating class. She then went on to continue her postgraduate work at the London School of Economics.
Beginning in 1947, Pauline taught part-time at Queen’s University. In 1949, she was dismissed from the role. The reason for her dismissal was “never explained to her, though [she] suspected that the all-male selection panel had decided it would be better to have a man in that position.” The experience furthered her growing sense of social responsibility and advocacy, as evidenced in her early writings, including articles on the Padlock Law and critiques of Diefenbaker’s Canadian Bill of Rights.
In the early 1950s, Canadian universities offered few academic positions, and often prioritized hires from the U.S. and the U.K. As a young, female academic, Pauline struggled to find work, applying to 18 different universities before joining Carleton University as a lecturer in 1955. She would later become its first female professor of political science. In 1958, she was offered the role of Dean of Women at Queen’s University but declined the position which would have required her to complete custodial tasks, including supervising the laundry and dining rooms. These expectations were not applied to her male counterparts. In 1960, she became the chair of the Department of Political Science at Carleton University where she remained until 1961.
Convinced the Liberals offered a “new vision for Canada,” Pauline entered federal politics in 1960. After an unsuccessful run in Northumberland in 1961, she was elected Liberal MP in 1963 and served until 1965. Following her defeat in 1965, she returned to teaching and became Vice President of the federal Liberal Party in 1966. In 1968, she published a Maclean’s article highlighting discrimination faced by women, drawing on testimony from the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. Disillusioned by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s use of the October Crisis War Measures Act in 1970, Pauline left the Liberals for the New Democratic Party and ran unsuccessfully in Ottawa West in 1972.
In 1974, Pauline moved to British Columbia to become the first woman in Canada to lead a co-educational university as president of Simon Fraser University. During her four-year tenure, she advanced feminist reforms by increasing the hiring and pay of women faculty and staff, establishing a women’s advisory committee, creating women’s studies and childcare programs, supporting employee unionization, and refusing to hold university events at male-only institutions.
Pauline returned to federal politics in 1979 as the Member of Parliament for New Westminster–Coquitlam and was re-elected in 1980 and 1984. As an NDP MP, she served as critic for the Status of Women and External Affairs, consulted on the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, and helped found the party’s Participation of Women group.
In 1976, Pauline became the founding President of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW-ICREF). In an interview for the Queen’s University Dean of Women Oral History Project, Pauline recalled that a group of scholars from Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, led by Susan Mann Trofimenkoff and Naomi Griffiths, recognized the need for scholarship by and about women from both contemporary and historical perspectives. Rather than forming another advocacy or interest group, the organizers invited influential figures from across Canadian society, including Pauline, to attend the inaugural conference. CRIAW-ICREF’s focus on both politics and research — areas in which Pauline had extensive experience — ultimately convinced her to join.
At the inaugural conference, Pauline was elected President and tasked with securing funding to establish CRIAW-ICREF as a bilingual, membership-based organization with two full-time staff and a head office in Ottawa. The organization aimed to secure major research funding to support scholarship by and about women, develop research and social audit programs to address male-dominated data and decision-making, and create retraining opportunities for women re-entering the workforce or returning to school.
Drawing on her networks and experience in academia and politics, Pauline submitted a funding request to the federal government on behalf of CRIAW-ICREF, seeking four years of core funding as well as project funding for research on women and work. Despite meetings with 11 cabinet ministers, the application was rejected by the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Pauline later recalled receiving conflicting advice throughout the process and speculated that opposition within both the minister’s office and the public service contributed to the decision. In an effort to build support, the minister was invited to attend a board meeting to discuss the funding decision but declined.
Although the initial requests were unsuccessful, Pauline continued advocating for federal support and leveraging her political relationships to keep CRIAW-ICREF afloat. Her efforts helped secure funding from Secretary of State John Roberts for the organization’s 1977 annual general meeting in Winnipeg. In 1978, the organization received a three-month, $15,000 start-up grant from the Women’s Program within the Secretary of State. Approximately $8,000 was allocated to research grants, while the remainder supported administrative and staffing needs, including office space, the hiring of coordinator Marion Porter, and the installation of a telephone line. Pauline’s persistence ultimately contributed to CRIAW-ICREF securing federal core funding in 1979.
In 1988, Pauline became the Chancellor of Carleton University. In recognition of her advocacy for social equality for Indigenous peoples and women as a politician, academic, and social activist, Pauline received the Order of Canada in 1991. Sadly, in 1992, Pauline died of cancer, the same year in which she was appointed to the Privy Council by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
References
Anderson, Doris. “Pauline Jewett Blazes Trails for Women: [SA2 Edition].” Toronto Star, Jul 16, 1988. https://ezproxy.lib.torontomu.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/pauline-jewett-blazes-trails-women/docview/435757141/se-2.
Anderson, Doris. “Jewett Set Example Few Dare to Follow: [AM Edition].” Toronto Star, Jul 27, 1992. https://ezproxy.lib.torontomu.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/jewett-set-example-few-dare-follow/docview/436672046/se-2.
Apted, Hayley.“Pauline Jewett.” Femmes remarquables Ottawa Distinguished Women. Accessed May, 2026. https://frottawadw.ca/biog/pauline-jewett/.
Cherry, Zena. “This board meeting an all-women affair.” The Globe and Mail, February 23, 1978. https://ezproxy.lib.torontomu.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/this-board-meeting-all-woman-affair/docview/1238318235/se-2?accountid=13631
The Governor General of Canada. “Pauline Jewett.” The Governor General of Canada Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon. Accessed May, 2026. https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-3588.
“Jewett, Pauline, Jewett, Pauline”. Interview by Susan Jackson and Dean Reid. Oral History Project. Kingston, Ontario, 1977. Queen’s University Archives. https://hdl.handle.net/1974.1/5b817df5-fca3-4c05-b801-4a4f79fcf905.
Bonnett, Laura. “Building Bridges and Expanding Expectations: the Work of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, 1976-1996.” Master’s of Arts in Canadian Studies, Carleton University, 1996.
McKenzie, Judith. Pauline Jewett: A Passion for Canada. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1999.
Mitchell, Margaret. 1982. “A Tribute to Pauline Jewett, 1922-1992.” Priorities: a publication of the NDP Women’s Committee 20, no. 3 (Fall): 8. https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/priorities-20-3-fall-1992-OCR.pdf.
Shniad, Sharon. 1984. “Two women MPs interviewed.” Priorities : a feminist socialist perspective XII, no. III (Summer): 5-11. https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/priorities-12-3-summer-1984-OCR.pdf.
Workers History Museum. 2021. “Pauline Jewett.” Workers History Museum. https://web.archive.org/web/20210619122109/https://workershistorymuseum.ca/pauline-jewett/.
Wyman, Georgina. 1974. “An interview with Pauline Jewett.” Branching Out : Canadian magazine for women, (September/ October), 20-23, 38. https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/periodical/branching-out-vol-1-no-4-september-october-1974?highlight=Pauline+Jewett&_rt=M3wxfHBhdWxpbmUgamV3ZXR0fDE3Nzc4MzIzNzY&_rt_nonce=18f957ea7d.