Oh Canada!

I learned Tuesday night that Canada has had a woman Prime Minister! Go Canada! I was thrilled of course, but where the hell was I when it happened, and how come I didn't know? It's no secret Americans are geographically challenged and oblivious of their northern neighbour, but still. Shame on me!

After a tiny bit of research, I learned that Kim Campbell was Prime Minister of Canada back in 1993. OK, no longer too upset with myself, as I was not an IR enthusiast WAAY back then. My god, what was I doing with myself? Oh yeah, high school, but that shall be a topic for another day :).

Campbell was also the first woman Minister of Justice and Attorney General, the first woman Minister of National Defence, and the first woman elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. YAY! She's also QC: Queen's Counsel. Posh, no?

Unfortunately, she was only PM for six months. The government had to call an election in October, and in November 1993 her party won 2 seats after previously having 169. Ouch! The Progressive Conservatives lost the election for various reasons.

After her brief tenure as Prime Minister, Kim Campbell went on to teach at Harvard for a few years, and in 1996 she became Canadian Consul General in Los Angeles. How sweet, she's also an Angelino :).

Let's all go learn about Canada now!