Maureen Anne McTeer

Maureen Anne McTeer (born February 27, 1952) is an author and a lawyer, and the wife of Joe Clark, the 16th Prime Minister of Canada.

McTeer was born in Cumberland, Ontario and raised in Ottawa, and worked as a staffer in Clark's office before marrying him in 1973. She earned an undergraduate degree in 1973 and a law degree in 1976, both from the University of Ottawa. McTeer was later awarded an MA in Biotechnology, Law and Ethics from the Department of Law at the University of Sheffield and in 2008 received an honorary LLD from that institution.

When Clark became leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1976, McTeer became controversial — feminism still being a relatively new social phenomenon at that time — for keeping her own surname and maintaining her own career.[1] McTeer did play a significant role in the 1975-76 Tory leadership race, assisting her husband's campaign. She later created some controversy by not accompanying Clark during his electoral campaigns, and she did not undertake the hosting duties that other Prime Minister's wives have traditionally done.

In 1982, McTeer and athlete Abby Hoffman were among the organizers of the Esso Women's Nationals championship tournament for women's ice hockey. One of the tournament's trophies, the Maureen McTeer Trophy, is named for her.

In the 1988 federal election, McTeer ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in Carleton—Gloucester, hoping to get elected alongside her husband. Despite the party's re-election victory, McTeer was not elected in her riding. As of 2008, however, she remains the only spouse of a former Canadian Prime Minister to have run for political office herself.