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Margaret Haile was a Canadian
socialistDemocratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a teacher and journalist by profession. She was active in the socialist movements in both
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Frederic Heath's "Socialism in America," published in January 1900 in the
Social Democracy Red Book, lists her, along with Corinne Stubbs Brown and
Eugene V. DebsEugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
, among "One Hundred Well-known Social Democrats".
Born in Canada, Haile spent some time working for socialist causes in
New EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. A resident of Massachusetts in 1901, Haile was a member of the Executive Board of the
Social Democratic PartyThe Social Democratic Party of America was a short-lived political party in the United States, established in 1898. The group was formed out of elements of the Social Democracy of America , and was a predecessor to the Socialist Party of America, established in 1901.-Forerunners:Following the...
as it planned the formation of the
Socialist Party of AmericaThe Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
. She was one of two women on the nine-member board, and may have been the first woman to serve on the board of an American Socialist organization.
Haile returned to Canada shortly thereafter, and became in 1902 the first woman to run for legislative office in Canada, when she was nominated on the platform of the Canadian Socialist League as a candidate in
Toronto NorthToronto North was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1925. It was located in the city of Toronto in the province of Ontario...
in the
1902 Ontario provincial electionThe Ontario general election, 1902 was the tenth general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on May 29, 1902, to elect the 98 Members of the 10th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ....
. She may have been the first woman to run for major elected office within the entire British Empire.
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