Pearl Kathryne McGonigalCM OM (born June 10, 1929) is a retiredManitoba politician and office-holder. She was a prominentWinnipeg-area municipal politician from 1969 to 1981, and served as the province's19thLieutenant Governor from October 23, 1981 to December 11, 1986. She was the first woman to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and only the secondwoman to serve as a viceroy in Canadian history, afterPauline McGibbon ofOntario.^[1]

McGonigal was born inMelville,Saskatchewan. Before entering politics, she spent nine years in the banking sector and seven as a merchandising representative.

McGonigal was elected to the city council of St. James-Assiniboia in 1969, two years before its amalgamation withWinnipeg. Following amalgamation, she served on the Greater City Council from 1971 to 1981, and was the city's Deputy Mayor from 1979 to 1981.^[2] Throughout her time on council, she was a member of theIndependent Citizens' Election Committee, an unofficial alliance of right-wing and pro-development interest groups in the city (McGonigal's husband was a prominent Winnipeg-area developer).

McGonigal was appointed Lt. Governor of Manitoba byGovernor GeneralEdward Schreyer, on the advice ofPierre Trudeau, in 1981. The office was essentially a ceremonial post by this time, and McGonigal had little if any practical influence over the government ofHoward Pawley during her time in office. She was notable, however, as the first woman in Manitoba (and only the second inCanada) to hold such a position.

McGonigal has also worked as the Manitoba chair of theCouncil for Canadian Unity. She was appointed to theOrder of Canada in 1994^[3] and theOrder of Manitoba in 2000. In 2003, she received the President's Award from theWinnipeg Press Club. She is a gourmet cook that has written regular columns on the subject in Winnipeg's daily and community newspapers.^[4][5]

Also during the early 2000s, McGonigal served as Chairman of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council in Manitoba, which regularly lobbies public bodies and private businesses to grant time off to military reservists for training purposes.

• 1929 births
• Living people
• Lieutenant governors of Manitoba
• Winnipeg city councillors
• Members of the Order of Canada
• Members of the Order of Manitoba
• People from Melville, Saskatchewan
• Women municipal councillors in Manitoba
• Canadian Anglicans
• Women in Manitoba politics
• Canadian women viceroys
• 20th-century Canadian municipal councillors
• 20th-century Canadian women politicians

• Articles with short description
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