Career
Born Iona Victoria Hardy on Galiano Island, she got her start in politics in 1966 when she was elected an alderwoman in the city council of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. In 1974, she turned to federal politics, and ran as a Liberal Party candidate for the Canadian House of Commons in the riding of Skeena. She was elected, and in 1976, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau recommended her appointment to Cabinet, as Minister of Amateur Sports. She lost her seat to NDP challenger Jim Fulton in the 1979 election.
In 1982, she became president of the Liberal Party of Canada, a largely administrative position. During the 1984 convention which elected John Turner as Party leader, Campagnolo created a minor furor within the Liberal Party: she said that second-place leadership candidate Jean Chrétien was "second in the balloting, but first in our hearts".
When John Turner became Liberal leader in 1984, a television camera caught Turner patting Campagnolo's bottom. Although Campagnolo herself dismissed it (and patted Turner right back), the incident was used to paint Turner as being out of touch with contemporary women's issues.
Campagnolo ran in North Vancouver—Burnaby in the September 1984 election but was defeated in the Mulroney landslide that reduced Turner's Liberals to 40 seats. She did not run for re-election as party president at the next Liberal convention in 1986.
In 1973, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada and promoted to Officer in 2008. In 1998, she received the Order of British Columbia.
In 2001 she was appointed by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the advice of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, as British Columbia's first female Lieutenant Governor. At her swearing-in, Campagnolo concluded her remarks in Chinook, saying, "konoway tillicums klatawa kunamokst klaska mamook okoke huloima chee illahie" - meaning: "everyone was thrown together to make this strange new country (British Columbia)."[http://thetyee.ca/Life/2006/01/10/StillSpeakChinook/
As the Queen's Vice-Regal Representative in British Columbia, she is styled The Honourable for life. However, as she was already a Member of The Queen's Privy Council for Canada before she became Lieutenant-Governor, she was already styled The Honourable.
In 2003 the Chief Herald of Canada granted armorial bearings to Campagnolo.
Read more about this topic: Iona Campagnolo
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