On coming up in politics (1982)

This brief article from the December 1982 issue of Priorities (p.14 of the .pdf) describes McDonough’s speech at a fundraising event for the B.C. NDP Women’s Rights Committee, speaking as the leader of the Nova Scotia NDP.  Author Jo Dunaway Lazenby notes that “Alexa spoke warmly about the B.C. women who have led the way in the struggle for women’s rights within the party. She also stressed the importance of Priorities in providing a link between NDP women across the country.” 

On reproductive choice (1990)

In this article from the January 1990 issue of Pandora(p.10), McDonough examines Nova Scotia House of Assembly Bill 107, which sought to restrict abortion services in the province to hospitals, ensuring that freestanding clinics could not operate. She writes:

“When I cast the sole dissenting vote on Bill 107 in June, it was not the first time I had stood alone in opposition to all government and Opposition members on a major issue of public policy. […] It was, however, the clearest example in my ten years in the public life of my male counterparts […] being influenced more by ‘moral judgement…than out of any concern for the needs of women or the conviction that women have a right to reproductive choice.”

On women’s leadership (1992)

The Spring 1992 issue of The Womanist included contributions from several women in politics reflecting on leadership, including Rosemary Brown, Marion Boyd, Iona Campagnolo, and Alexa McDonough. In her short essay (p. 4), McDonough reflects on how “women leaders and the women’s movement need a mutual support system to persevere in a male dominated world.” She continues:

“We who seek to change our roles and set new standards must be true to ourselves, to our sisters, and to the men who support us. That’s how our actions will be consistently directed toward the vision we share of a society that nurtures and empowers each member, rather than one which exploits people and the environment.”

On feminist organizing against poverty (1996)

This image is from the 1996 Women’s March Against Poverty — For Bread and Roses, For Jobs and Justice. The march built on the work of the Women’s March Against Poverty in Quebec in 1995, and was part of a cross-country action organized by the National Action Committee on the Status of Women and the Canadian Labour Congress. This photo taken in Ottawa includes many well-known feminist activists and leaders. McDonough is visible between Sunera Thobani and Angie Schera in the second row.

On the campaign trail (1997)

After stepping down from the leadership of the Nova Scotia NDP, McDonough turned her attention to Ottawa. In Why Women Run, filmmaker Meredith Ralston chronicles the 1997 federal election campaign in one riding, Halifax, where McDonough ran against incumbent Liberal member Mary Clancy. It is a film that provides an intimate portrait of both candidates on the campaign trail, while also examining the particular challenges that face women in electoral politics.