Canadian Socialist League

A teacher and journalist by profession, Margaret Haile came to Toronto at the turn of the twentieth century after long experience as a prominent socialist leader in Massachusetts. In 1902, she ran as a socialist candidate for the riding of Toronto North in the Ontario election. She did this despite the fact that women were not entitled to vote at the time and it was not clear whether they could be candidates. She won 79 votes and a lot of attention as the first woman to run for legislative office in Canada.