Ellen Webber
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Ellen Webber | |
|---|---|
| Ottawa Alderman | |
| In office 1961–1962 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Groves |
| Succeeded by | Des Bender & John Powers |
| Constituency | Rideau Ward |
| Ottawa Controller | |
| In office 1963–1969 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Tardif, Wilbert Hamilton |
| Succeeded by | Claude Bennett, Pierre Benoit, Lorry Greenberg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 10, 1926 |
| Died | April 6, 2003 (aged 76) |
| Party | Liberal[1] |
| Spouse | Simon Webber (m. 1947;[2] died 1961)[3] |
Ellen Douglas "Dougie"[4] Webber, née Macdonald[2] (October 10, 1926 – April 6, 2003) was a Canadian politician and lawyer. She served as an alderman on Ottawa City Council from 1961 to 1962 and on the Ottawa Board of Control from 1963 to 1969. She was the second woman ever to be elected to the city's Board of Control.
Webber was born October 10, 1926, in Bruno, Saskatchewan, the daughter of Joseph W. MacDondald, a Charlottetown-based lawyer[5] and Charlotte Hughes.[6] She came from a family involved in Liberal Party politics on Prince Edward Island. Her grandfather was James Joseph Hughes, an MP and Senator, and her uncle William Wade Hughes was a provincial cabinet minister.[5]
Webber grew up in Ottawa,[5] Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.[4]
Webber attended Saint Dunstan's University for a year prior to joining the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC) during World War II, where she was stationed at Kitchener and Ottawa, and achieving the rank of corporal. After 10 months with the CWAC, she was commissioned lieutenant for eight years with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps militia. Webber spent two years in arts and journalism at Dalhousie University, before enrolling at Dalhousie Law School in 1951,[5] and graduating with a law degree[7] in 1954. She practised law in Halifax, Nova Scotia for two years before moving to Ottawa[8] in 1956[3] or 1957.[5] After moving to Ottawa, she joined the legal staff at Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation.[9]
Alderman
Webber decided on the last day of nominations to run for a seat on Ottawa City Council in the 1960 Ottawa municipal election. She was convinced to run after receiving discouraging phone calls the night before suggesting she shouldn't run because she didn't grow up in Ottawa, and because "women had no business participating in municipal politics".[8] She ran on a program of "'must do', 'should do', 'could do'", with her must dos being public housing plans, more hospital beds, attracting new industry and construction of subsidized and low-lost housing and building a new centre for the performing arts.[10]
She was elected with 3,354 votes in Rideau Ward, in second place in the two-seat ward. Her election along with Cecile O'Regan marked the first time two women held alderamic seats at the same time in Ottawa[7] At the time of her election, she was president of the Dalhousie Alumnae, a past president of the Elizabeth Fry Society, a director of the Federal Lawyers' Club and the International Law Association, a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the Business and Professional Women's Club, the Soroptimists and the University Women's Club.[2] Following her election, Webber planned to ask for sidewalks near schools and an access to the MacArthur shopping centre, the hospital bed situation and urban renewal of public housing.[2] In her first year on council, Webber was appointed to the Children's Aid Society, Arena Council, Air Pollution Control, Emergency Measures Organization, Tourist and Convention, and Train Speeds committees.[11] She would later become the chairman of the air pollution committee.[5]