Article

Marilyn Trenholme Counsell

Published Online January 29, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, physician, politician, lieutenant-governor of NEW BRUNSWICK (b at Baie Verte, NB). She grew up in the coastal village of Baie Verte, New Brunswick, and received her high school education at the Port Elgin Regional Memorial School where she graduated as valedictorian.

Trenholme Counsell, Marilyn

Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, physician, politician, lieutenant-governor of NEW BRUNSWICK (b at Baie Verte, NB). She grew up in the coastal village of Baie Verte, New Brunswick, and received her high school education at the Port Elgin Regional Memorial School where she graduated as valedictorian. In 1954, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics at Mount Allison University in nearby Sackville. This was followed by a Master of Arts degree (cum laude) in 1960, and the degree of Doctor of Medicine (cum laude) in 1967, both from the University of Toronto.

As a family physician, Trenholme Counsell practised in Toronto on the staff of the Toronto General Hospital, and in Sackville and Port Elgin on the staff of the Sackville Memorial Hospital. She also worked as a nutritionist for the governments of New Brunswick and Ontario and, during her early years in Toronto, as a freelance journalist.

Trenholme Counsell began her political career in 1987 when she was elected to the New Brunswick Legislature to represent the riding of Tantramar. She won re-election twice, in 1991 and 1995. As a member of the Legislature, she served on numerous committees and chaired the Committee on School Integration. Her years of service in government culminated in her appointment as New Brunswick's first Minister of State for the Family. As minister, she presented the report "Foundations for the Future: A Proposed Framework for Family Policy in New Brunswick" and played a leading role in organizing the first Atlantic Symposium on Community Action for Children and Youth, which drew 1100 participants from across Atlantic Canada. She also participated in the Canada-US Women's Health Forum in Ottawa. In recognition of the initiatives of her ministry, the United Nations presented the Province of New Brunswick with the 1995 International Year of the Family Award.

On 18 April 1997 Trenholme Counsell was installed as New Brunswick's 28th Lieutenant Governor. Her term concluded in 2003, and she was succeeded by Herménégilde CHIASSON on 29 August 2003.