Marjaleena Repo

Marjaleena Repo passed away on March 28, 2026, at the age of 88 at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, following a long battle with cancer. She faced her illness with the same independence, curiosity, and determination that characterized her life.

How do you capture the life of a woman who influenced so many people and used that influence to make the country she chose and loved—Canada—a better place? Marjaleena was an incisive analyst, brilliant strategist, defender of Canadian rights and freedoms and a supportive mentor, friend, and leader to many. Her work was grounded in a consistent commitment to social justice.

Marjaleena earned a BA from the University of Toronto, became active in the Graduate Student Union, and worked with other feminists to establish permanent university daycare. In the 1960s she worked with residents of Toronto’s Trefann Court, challenging conventional approaches to urban renewal, and later published Transformation Magazine, exploring new directions for social change.

Her interests were wide-ranging. She produced documentaries for CBC Radio, researched the psychiatric system, and worked at the Queen Street Mental Health Institute. After moving to Vancouver in 1973, she organized an intentional community and helped lead the Total Health Movement, the Real Life School, and the Vancouver Women’s Group. Her guiding belief was that “the personal is political.”

Marjaleena moved to Saskatchewan after reconnecting with David Orchard, whom she had first met in Toronto. They became lifelong partners and worked together on issues of Canadian sovereignty and democratic participation. In 1985 they helped found Citizens Concerned About Free Trade, holding public meetings across Canada during the debate over the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. She and David went on to establish the David Orchard Campaign for Canada, based on his book The Fight for Canada: Four Centuries of Resistance to American Expansionism. Their work was driven by a conviction that Canadian sovereignty and independence deserved a central place in Canadian political life.

Throughout her life, Marjaleena was an independent thinker and persistent advocate for justice. In Saskatoon she made numerous deputations to City Council and spoke publicly on issues ranging from freedom of expression and public accountability to social justice. She advocated for David Milgaard and challenged what she saw as miscarriages of justice in the Martensville “Satanic Panic.” She also opposed military interventions abroad and participated as an international election observer in Yugoslavia in 1999. She remained a keen critic of American imperialism and military intervention.

Marjaleena never stopped testing accepted assumptions. After being charged $2,800 for attending a 2021 demonstration concerning pandemic restrictions, she challenged Saskatchewan’s pandemic policies in court, arguing for stronger protection of individual rights under the Saskatchewan Bill of Rights. She lost at two levels of court and was prepared to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Canada, leaving that as unfinished business. At the heart of all of this was Marjaleena’s belief in listening to those whose voices were overlooked. Her guiding principle was ‘audi alteram partem’—‘consider the other side’.

Born in Helsinki, Finland, Marjaleena was the daughter of Helvi Ström (née Räsänen) and Lauri Repo, who was killed in the Winter War. As a child, she spent an extended period in a tuberculosis hospital, where she developed her lifelong love of reading. During the postwar years she was one of thousands of Finnish sotalapset, or war children, sent to Sweden, where she was cared for by a loving family and remembers discovering delicious smoked eel.

After high school, Marjaleena became part of Helsinki’s Finnish cultural and intellectual scene. Among her close friends were actor Elina Salo, journalist Eeva Lennon, and sculptor Pekka Aarnio. She came to Canada in 1960 to help her sister Satu with newborn twins, intending eventually to return to Finland. Aarnio’s tragic death in a car accident changed the course of her life, and Canada became her home. She never forgot her Finnish roots and took great care to pass the family history on to her daughters and grandchildren.

Marjaleena was a loving partner to David Orchard, mother to Satu Repo-Hendsbee (Mathis) and Laura Repo-Davis, and devoted mummi to Sami Safarian and Elina, Anni and Marya Natvik. She is survived by her sister Satu Repo (Peter) of Toronto and brother Hannu Ström (Mirja) of Helsinki. She was predeceased by her sisters Liisa Repo-Myllynen and Riita Höhenthal. She leaves behind not only a family who loved her, but generations of people she encouraged to question, participate, listen and think for themselves.

Writing was essential to Marjaleena. Near the end of her life, she wrote about the task of preparing an end-of-life plan that she had been avoiding: “Maybe I can make it a daily habit:”nulla dies sinelinea”—no day without a line.

The family wishes to thank Dr. Wright and staff at the Cancer Centre, Dr. Kolbenson, Hailey Walkeden and staff at Royal University Hospital, the Prairie Hospice Society, including drivers Anne Andrews, Joan Bauml and Kay Robertson, Danielle Stevenson at Pasqua Hospital, and Carl Dyck at Pebblestack Wellness, for their care and kindness

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. at Emmanuel Anglican Church, 609 Dufferin Avenue, Saskatoon, SK. The celebration of life will include a musical tribute, since Marjaleena always looked forward to and supported live music concerts in her hometown.

The family invites friends and acquaintances to consider a donation to Prairie Hospice Society or Fair Vote Canada to honour Marjaleena’s life.