NDP stalwart, social activist Margaret Mitchell dies in Vancouver at 92
Posted March 9, 2017 5:09 pm.
Last Updated March 9, 2017 5:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – Margaret Mitchell, a former New Democrat MP who became a leading voice in raising awareness about domestic abuse, died Wednesday. She was 92.
Mitchell represented the riding of Vancouver East from 1979 to 1993.
New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen paid tribute to Mitchell in the House of Commons, calling her a champion of women’s rights.
Shane Simpson, who represents Vancouver Hastings for the NDP in the provincial legislature, called Mitchell a lifelong mentor during a speech in the house.
When Mitchell raised concerns about domestic abuse 35 years ago in the Commons, her comments were met with laughter.
In her autobiography “No Laughing Matter,” she wrote that the initial jeering by the male-dominated House of Commons provoked a national uproar, but also opened the doors to discussing spousal violence in Canada.
