Margaret Konantz

Who was Margaret Konantz?

Margaret McTavish Konantz, née Rogers was a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Winnipeg South in the Canadian House of Commons from 1963 to 1965. She was the first woman elected to the House of Commons from Manitoba.

She was the daughter of Robert Arthur Rogers, a businessman, and Edith Rogers, the first woman ever elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. She married Gordon Konantz in 1922.

During World War II, Margaret Konantz was an active volunteer for the Patriotic Salvage Corps, Bundles for Britain and the Women's Volunteer Services. In 1944, she was one of four women sent to Great Britain by the Canadian government to work with the Women's Voluntary Service. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire posthumously for her volunteer work in the war effort. Following the death of her husband in 1954, she volunteered for UNICEF, travelling to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Rhodesia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and the United Arab Republic on behalf of the organization.