Media: Which cause is it today, Betsy?

Originally published in MAC the magazine

BY SARAH JANES ‘13 | SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Betsy McGregor ’68 ’72 takes her activism from McMaster’s quad to the political arena and the publishing house.

Author and activist Betsy McGregor traces her passion for political activism back to her mother, Eileen.

Eileen was Peterborough’s first female police commissioner, the first woman to head the local United Way (then named the Red Feather Campaign), female adviser on gender policy at Fleming College and a mother of four who never missed her children’s sports games.

Eileen was 10 when women became “persons” in Canada and was 40 when women were universally given the right to vote.

“I caught the bug from my Mother,” says McGregor, who is an outspoken advocate for women’s rights.

McGregor earned her BA at McMaster in 1968 and her master’s in 1972, both in geography.

“The concepts I learned [in geography] made me aware of how much that discipline is connected to the way we design our cities and the science of driving social issues.”

She credits her McMaster professors, Derek Ford, Les King and Harold Wood, for helping her think through macro issues and policies.

During her time at McMaster, McGregor was a student council member and could be found constantly advocating for social justice and political change.

“I was frequently marching in front of the President’s office,” recalls McGregor.

“The president would open his window and say, ‘Which cause it is now, Betsy?’”

Her protests eventually made their way, in the form of a picture, into The Globe and Mail newspaper, much to her parents' surprise.

“I had this constant political urgency. It was the sixties. Campus activism and civic engagement was at a high. Human rights and women’s rights compelled me.”

When she received her undergraduate degree, McGregor also earned the McMaster Student Union’s Honour M award, which recognizes outstanding leadership, volunteer service, contribution and special achievements in extra-curricular activities. She was also named to the Maroon Key Society.

After her BA, McGregor was backpacking across Europe when Wood enlisted her help for a field research trip for three months in Ecuador. That experience led her to return to Mac to complete a master’s degree. This launched her international career working for the United Nations in Indonesia with the Food and Agriculture Organization.

McGregor is also a two-time federal political candidate. “I believe that women bring an important voice to the decision-making table,” she says.

During her campaigns and candidacy, she learned about leadership: specifically the lack of female representation in leadership roles.

McGregor set course to write a book to inspire, equip and empower women to “put their names on the ballot” - a book of personal stories, insights, and advice from 95 Canadian women trailblazers, across Canada, party lines and at all levels of politics, including First Nations governance.

So what motivates her? Since confederation, Canada has had one female Prime Minister. There have been 13 female premiers and in 2013 there was a high-water mark when 7 were governing simultaneously. Today, in 2019, there are none.

“The book [Women on the Ballot] is not only about highly successful women who made it to the top of politics — including Kim Campbell but it also contains narratives from women who disappeared at the hardest hurdle — the nomination who carry rich lessons and insights about the journey.”

Just released, the book theme of women in politics comes weeks before Canada’s 2019 Fall federal election.