Early Life and Education
McDonough was born Alexa Ann Shaw in Ottawa, Ontario in 1944. Her parents were Jean MacKinnon and Lloyd Robert Shaw, a wealthy businessman who was committed to progressive politics. He served as the first research director for the federal NDP's predecessor, the national Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), and an early financial backer of the NDP when it formed in 1961.
McDonough was involved in social activism from an early age, when, at 14, she led her church youth group in publicizing the conditions of Africville, a low-income neighbourhood in Halifax. She attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, which was her family's alma mater. After two-years, she transferred to Dalhousie University in Halifax, where she completed a sociology and psychology Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965. She became a social worker, and during the 1970 Nova Scotia general election, worked for Gerald Regan's Liberal Party, writing that party's social policy platform. She quickly became disenchanted with Regan and the Liberals, and joined the New Democratic Party in 1974.
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