Elsie Gibbons

Elsie May Gibbons (; May 23, 1903 – January 28, 2003) was a Canadian Liberal Party later Progressive Conservative Party politician and businessperson who was the first woman to be elected mayor of a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec. She was elected to serve as mayor of the small village of Portage-du-Fort from 1953 to 1971 and again between 1975 and 1977. Gibbons oversaw the construction of a waterworks system, paving of all roads and sidewalks in the village, renovation of several buildings, development of leisure and sport facilities, and organisation of law and fire services. An award to honor an elected female politician in Quebec for their work in municipal politics was named for her.

Biography

Early life and career On May 23, 1903, She was a member of the Anglican Church of Canada, and she married Gordon Gibbons on October 25, 1920, with whom she had a son born in 1936. The family sold milk to a local cheese family to earn an income and Gibbons was a writer for the local Ontario newspapers, the Pembroke Observer and the Renfrew Mercury. She also did sowing and working as a cook and maid for a successful Portage-du-Fort merchant. Following the burning down of their uninsured home, the Gibboneses sought one reliable income source to pay off their debts, and were employed to work on the Hiram Robinson steamship.

The two opened a small grocery store in Portage-du-Fort during 1930. Following the expiration of their governmental contract, Gibbons remained in the business world. Her business received extra attention when from 1948 to 1953 around 1200 Ontario Hydro workers were constructing the Chenaux Generating Station and Dam close to Portage-du-Fort. She was elected to the position for Portage-du-Fort by acclamation (and in absentia) on May 13, 1953, Gibbons' administration saw her persuade villagers to vote for a water distribution system notwithstanding it would put the village in debt since the government did not frequently funding infrastructure projects of that type during this period. She was able to get a hold of $15,000 from Raymond Thomas Johnston, the local Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Union Nationale party, to begin construction. renovated multiple buildings, developed leisure and sport facilities, Gibbons changed her federal political party allegiance from the Liberal Party of Canada to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. She also served as warden of Pontiac County (today the Pontiac Regional County Municipality) between March 1959 and 1961. served on the Order of the Eastern Star, the Rebekahs and the Western Quebec Economic Council. Gibbons was elected as councillor in 1973 and was again elected mayor of Portage-du-Fort between 1975 and before leaving office in 1977.

Legacy Maude-Emmanuelle Lambert in Gibbons' entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia wrote that the mayor "was a true pioneer in Québec politics" even though she had a mostly local political life. Lambert noted Gibbons "is increasingly mentioned in government literature on women in politics" when the number of women mayors increased over the years. The Fédération Québécoise des Municipalités created the Elsie-Gibbons Award in order to recognize women's work in municipal politics in March 2017. The accolade is awarded to an elected female individual "elected official whose commitment has fostered maintenance or progress with regard to the place of women in Quebec society and, in particular, within the municipal political sphere."