# Jean Canfield

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**Ella Jean Canfield**, née **Garrett** (October 4, 1919 – December 31, 2000)[1] was a [Canadian](/source/Canadians) politician.[2] She was the first woman ever elected to the [Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island](/source/Legislative_Assembly_of_Prince_Edward_Island), as well as the first woman to serve in the [Executive Council of Prince Edward Island](/source/Executive_Council_of_Prince_Edward_Island).[3]

She was born in [Westmoreland](/source/Westmoreland,_Prince_Edward_Island), [Prince Edward Island](/source/Prince_Edward_Island), the daughter of Everett Garrett and Lydia Granville McVittie, and married Parker Canfield in 1939.

Canfield originally stood for office in the [1966 provincial election](/source/1966_Prince_Edward_Island_general_election) in [1st Queens](/source/1st_Queens), but failed against incumbent [Frank Myers](/source/Frank_Myers_(politician)).[2] She then stood again in the [1970 election](/source/1970_Prince_Edward_Island_general_election), and was successful.[2] She was reelected in the [1974 election](/source/1974_Prince_Edward_Island_general_election) and the [1978 election](/source/1978_Prince_Edward_Island_general_election),[4] but was defeated in the [1979 election](/source/1979_Prince_Edward_Island_general_election).

From October 10, 1972, to May 2, 1974, she served as Minister without Portfolio and Minister responsible for the PEI Housing Authority in the government of [Alex Campbell](/source/Alex_Campbell_(politician)).[5]

Following her death in 2000, the [Government of Canada](/source/Government_of_Canada) announced in 2005 that a new federal office building in [Charlottetown](/source/Charlottetown) would be named the [Jean Canfield Building](/source/Jean_Canfield_Building).[6] The building officially opened in 2007.[7]

## References

1. ["Minding the House : a biographical guide to Prince Edward Island MLAs, 1873-1993 (Blair Weeks, Ed.)"](https://www.assembly.pe.ca/sites/www.assembly.pe.ca/files/Historical%20MLA%20Bios/C.pdf). Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 2021-04-04.

1. "Involvement's the thing: minister". *[Ottawa Citizen](/source/Ottawa_Citizen)*, April 12, 1973.

1. "Jean Canfield, first woman elected to Island legislature, dead at 82". [Canadian Press](/source/Canadian_Press), January 2, 2001.

1. "The winners in PEI election". *[The Globe and Mail](/source/The_Globe_and_Mail)*, April 25, 1978.

1. "Woman joins P.E.I. cabinet". *[Vancouver Sun](/source/Vancouver_Sun)*, October 10, 1972.

1. "Federal building named for pioneer". *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian_(Charlottetown))*, August 18, 2005.

1. "New federal building hopes to soak up the sun". *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian_(Charlottetown))*, March 3, 2007.

## External links

- [Jean Canfield](https://web.archive.org/web/20070530155216/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/women/002026-845-e.html) at [Collections Canada](/source/Collections_Canada)
- [Ella Jean Canfield](http://www.peildo.ca/fedora/repository/leg:20917) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090827/http://www.peildo.ca/fedora/repository/leg:20917) 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jean Canfield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Canfield) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Canfield?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.