Although we tend to think of Louise McKinney's public
life largely as it relates to her leading role in the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)—at local,
provincial, national, and international levels—that was not
her sole public involvement.
McKinney and her husband were actively involved in
founding the Methodist church in the town of Claresholm,
Alberta. As with the WCTU, her involvement extended beyond
the local level. Both the McKinneys supported the Church
Union Movement, and Louise was a delegate to the final
Methodist General Conference in 1925. She also attended the
first General Council of the United Church of Canada and
signed the Basis of Union as one of the Commissioners—the
sole woman to do so.
To honour her as the British Empire's first woman
legislator, the women's organizations of Alberta raised a
fund to have her portrait painted by Mr. J. Forster of
Toronto. Although it was not yet finished when she died, the
portrait was completed with the aid of photographs, and now
hangs in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton.
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