Margarette Rae Morrison Luckock 1893-1972
Raised in Arthur, Ontario, and commonly known as Rae Luckock, she was instrumental in transforming the social and political landscape of the province in the 1940s and 1950s. She paved the way for a more equal Ontario, expanding opportunities for women and working-class families.
Location:
In the small park next to the old registry office, at 284 George Street, Arthur
Themes:
Communities, Education, Organizations, People, Politics and law, Women's history
Plaque text:
Raised in Arthur, Margarette Rae Morrison Luckock had a radical vision of a better society, advocating for women’s equality, improved education, workers’ rights and disarmament. She persistently ran for school trustee in Toronto five times before succeeding in 1943. That same year, Luckock became one of the first two women elected to the Ontario legislature, serving as a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation member of provincial parliament for Toronto’s Bracondale riding from 1943-45. She called for universally accessible education and improved rural education. Women, Luckock urged, deserved equal pay for equal work, and she fought for women to stay in the postwar workforce. She advocated for daycare for working mothers, and that women’s essential work as mothers and homemakers deserved greater recognition. After the Second World War, as the Housewives Consumers Association’s co-founder, Luckock led a campaign for price controls to ensure the economic security of working-class families. During the 1950s, as president of the Congress of Canadian Women, she became a champion of disarmament and peace. As fear of communism during the Cold War intensified, Luckock received opposition and criticism for her work. Her efforts to create a more egalitarian, fair and compassionate society paved the way for generations to continue breaking barriers and forged a path for a brighter future of equality and progress in Canadian politics.
