Margaret Konantz

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Margaret Konantz

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OBE|size=100%}}

| smallimage =

| caption =

| riding = Winnipeg South

| parliament = Canadian

| term_start = 8 April 1963

| term_end = 7 November 1965

| predecessor = Gordon Chown

| successor = Bud Sherman

| birth_name = Margaret McTavish Rogers

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1899|4|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|5|11|1899|4|30|df=y}}

| death_place = Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

| restingplace =

| party = Liberal

| children = 3

| profession = {{hlist|Humanitarian}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Gordon Konantz|1922|1954|end=died}}

| relatives = Edith Rogers (mother)

| education =

}}

Margaret McTavish Konantz {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OBE|size=100%}} (née Rogers; 30 April 1899 – 11 May 1967) was a Canadian politician of Métis ancestry, who represented the electoral district of Winnipeg South in the House of Commons of Canada from 1963 to 1965.Michele Landsberg, "Golf, Bird Shooting Pastimes of Lady MP." The Globe and Mail, June 20, 1963. She was the first woman from Manitoba elected to the House of Commons."Voters Decide: It's Still a Man's Job, Only 5 Women Elected." The Globe and Mail, April 9, 1963.

Konantz was the daughter of Edith Rogers, the first woman ever elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, and Robert Arthur Rogers, a businessman."Former MP long active in welfare." The Globe and Mail, May 12, 1967. In 1922, Margaret married Gordon Konantz, the president of the North American Lumber Company, with whom she had three children: Barbara, Gordon, and William.{{cite web |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/konantz_mmr.shtml |work=Memorable Manitobans |title=Margaret McTavish Rogers Konantz (1899-1967) |publisher=Manitoba Historical Society |accessdate=2021-10-12}}

During World War II, Margaret Konantz was an active volunteer for the Patriotic Salvage Corps, Bundles for Britain and the Women's Volunteer Services."Liberal MP Elected Chairman". The Globe and Mail, June 3, 1965. In 1944, she was one of four women sent to Great Britain by the Canadian government to work with the Women's Voluntary Service. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire for her volunteer work in the war effort. Following the death of her husband in 1954, she volunteered for UNICEF, travelling to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Rhodesia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and the United Arab Republic on behalf of the organization.

She originally stood as the Liberal candidate for Winnipeg South in the 1962 election,John Dafoe, "City Folk Against Country Folk." The Globe and Mail, June 16, 1962. but lost to Progressive Conservative incumbent Gordon Chown. When John Diefenbaker's minority government fell the following year, however, Konantz defeated Chown in the 1963 election. As the Liberals replaced the Tories as the governing party, she also served as a backbench supporter of the new Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson's government in the 26th Canadian Parliament. In 1964, she was the only woman on a committee of 15 MPs selected by Prime Minister Pearson to choose a new flag for Canada.Archbold, Rick. I Stand for Canada: The Story of the Maple Leaf Flag. Toronto, Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 2002. p. 72. She served as an MP until the 1965 election, when she was defeated by new Progressive Conservative candidate Bud Sherman."Men favored at polls, 4 out of 37 women win." The Globe and Mail, November 1, 1965.

Also in 1963, she was a delegate to the United Nations Third Committee on Social, Economic and Humanitarian Problems. In this capacity, she toured several Indian reserves in Canada to study economic and health conditions.

She became national chair for UNICEF Canada in 1965, and undertook several further international tours with the organization after leaving elected politics."UNICEF sends PM thanks for $100,000 gift." The Globe and Mail, November 8, 1966. She died on May 11, 1967, after collapsing of a heart attack at a radio station while preparing to conduct an interview about her UNICEF work.