Joe Clark

Joe Clark: MacDonald longtime executive assistant Margit Herrman says Mac Donald died in Ottawa Sunday morning — the cause of death was not immediately available, according to The Waterloo Record. MacDonald was the first woman to hold the foreign affairs portfolio, handling the job in Joe Clark short-lived government in 1979 and early 1980. She was 89. She headed the department during the Iranian hostage crisis when Canadian diplomats gave shelter to six Americans who escaped capture when their embassy was overrun by student demonstrators. MacDonald pulled Clark out of the House of Commons to brief him. She was among the first to hear that Canada ambassador in Iran, Ken Taylor, was hiding the diplomats. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.