The Curator

Pauline Browes and the Spirit of Canada Gallery

Pauline Browes was elected as the Member of Parliament in 1984 representing the riding of Scarborough Centre in the Canadian House of Commons. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed Pauline to the federal Cabinet as Minister of State for the Environment in 1990. She served in two further portfolios Minister of State for Employment and Immigration as well as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

Pauline was born into a political family at the Drope Century Farm in the village of Harwood on the south shore of beautiful Rice Lake. Although she lived and raised her three children in Scarborough, she never really left her roots in rural Ontario. Her father, Major R. Earle Drope was the elected M.P. for the local area of Northumberland in 1945 election. Pauline was educated at the Cobourg District Collegiate Institute, Toronto Teachers' College and York University. Following her departure from elected political office, she served as Vice Chair of the Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal and a Committee member on the Committee of North America Agreement on Environmental Co-operation. She now serves as Director of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, Chair of the Friends of the Rouge National Urban Park, Chair of the Friends of the Harwood, Rice Lake Waterfront, and various other volunteer organizations.

For many years, Pauline's keen interest in Canadian history prompted her to begin a collection of photographs, paintings, lithographs and literature of Canadian pollical leaders who have served our great country of Canada with distinction. Sharing this collection, the Spirit of Canada Gallery was established in 1999. She says that, "The Gallery gives me an opportunity to talk about Canadian history and politics without being an elected official”.