Margarette Rae Morrison Luckock recognized with provincial plaque

ARTHUR – One of the first two women to ever sit in Ontario’s legislature was raised right here in Arthur. 

Margarette Rae Morrison Luckock was an activist who fought for rights for women and working-class families, as well as for public health care, environmental protection, affordable food and free post-secondary education.

More than a dozen of her descendents were in Arthur on May 22 to celebrate her legacy and the unveiling of a plaque in her honour. 

The plaque was a joint initiative from Ontario Heritage Trust (OHT) and the Township of Wellington North, and has been installed beside 284 George St. in Arthur.  

During the unveiling ceremony, OHT CEO Helen Chimirri-Russell called Luckock “a trailblazer of her time who was unafraid of championing ideas that challenged the status quo.” 

When Luckock served as MPP only two per cent of people sitting in Ontario’s legislature were women, said Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae. 

Now, women make up more than 35% of the chamber, he said, and “that progress didn’t happen by accident” – it happened thanks to tireless work from Luckock and others like her. 

Township councillor Steve McCabe, a big part of the push to recognize Luckock, said her story is “woven deeply into Ontario’s history, women’s history, and the community’s history,” and called the recognition long overdue. 

“She pushed for free university, rural education, equal pay for equal work, environmental issues and fair food prices,” he said. 

Mayor Andy Lennox praised Luckock for her sheer humility, noting she stepped aside so that Agnes Macphail could be the first woman to officially join the legislature.

“May this tribute ensure that her story no longer remains in the shadows and inspires the next generation of women in politics,” Lennox said. 

Luckock’s grandson, Brian Luckock, said he remembers her as a grandmother, not a politician, and visiting her at the family cottage in Haliburton. 

Many of Margarette Rae Morrison Luckock’s descendents have been named after her, and Brian said he spoke with his grandmother about what it means to carry on her name. 

She told him that there are many ways to leave a legacy, and that they don’t all have to do it like grandma, as there are a plethora of ways to make a difference in the world. 

Her 16-year-old great-great-granddaughter Georgia Rae, who aspires to become a nurse, read the words on the plaque in both English and French.

The plaque reads as follows.

Raised in Arthur, Margarette Rae Morrison Luckock had a radical vision for a better society, advocating for women’s equality, improved education, workers’ rights and disarmament. 

She persistently ran for school trustee in Toronto five times before succeeding in 1943. 

That same year, Luckock became one of the first two women elected to the Ontario legislature, serving as a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation member of provincial parliament for Toronto’s Bracondale riding from 1943 to 45. 

She called for universally accessible education and improved rural education. 

Women, Luckock urged, deserved equal pay for equal work, and she fought for women to stay in the post-war workforce. She advocated for daycare for working mothers, and that women’s essential work as mothers and homemakers deserved greater recognition. 

After the Second World War, as the Housewives Consumers Association’s co-founder, Luckock led a campaign for price controls to ensure the economic security of working-class families. 

During the 1950s, as president of the Congress of Canadian Women, she became a champion of disarmament and peace. 

As fear of communism during the Cold War intensified, Luckock received opposition and criticism for her work. 

Her efforts to create a more egalitarian, fair and compassionate society paved the way for generations to continue breaking barriers and forged a path for a brighter future of equality and progress in Canadian politics.