Spouse of The Prime Minister of Canada - Other Notes

Other Notes

Canada has had two prime ministers who were bachelors, William Lyon Mackenzie King and R.B. Bennett. Mackenzie Bowell, a widower whose wife, Harriet, died in 1884, was also not married during his term in office. Pierre Trudeau began his term as a bachelor, became the first Canadian prime minister to get married while in office and ended it as Canada's first divorced prime minister.

Three Canadian prime ministers—John A. Macdonald, Alexander Mackenzie, and John Diefenbaker—were widowers, who were each married to their second wives during their terms as prime minister. Macdonald's first wife was Isabella Clark, Mackenzie's was Helen Neil, and Diefenbaker's was Edna Brower.

Canada has also had one female prime minister, Kim Campbell; however, as she had finalized her divorce from her second husband, Howard Eddy, in early 1993, there has never been a male spouse of the prime minister. Campbell's first husband, Nathan Divinsky, did try to attract media attention in 1993 by billing himself as the ex-husband of the prime minister. She briefly dated Gregory Lekhtman, the inventor of Exerlopers, during her term as prime minister, but kept the relationship relatively private and did not involve him in the election campaign. In 1997, she entered into a common-law marriage with Hershey Felder.

Maureen McTeer is the only spouse not to have been a housewife, and maintained a career both during and after their life at 24 Sussex.