Bettie Hewes

Elizabeth Jane "Bettie" Hewes (March 12, 1924 – November 6, 2001) was a politician from Alberta, Canada.

Bettie Hewes
MLA for Edmonton-Gold Bar
In office 1986–1997
Preceded by	Al Hiebert
Succeeded by	Hugh MacDonald
Personal details
Born	(1924-03-12)March 12, 1924 Brampton, Ontario
Died	November 6, 2001(2001-11-06) (aged 77) Brockville, Ontario
Political party	Alberta Liberal Party

Hewes graduated from the University of Toronto in 1944 with a degree in occupational therapy. From 1964 to 1967, she was the executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association, and from 1967 to 1974, she was Director of the Edmonton Social Planning Council. She also served as chairman of the board of Canadian National Railway from 1984 to 1985; she was the first woman to hold that position.

She served on Edmonton city council from 1974 to 1984. During that period, she was a leading member of an enlightened urban reform group called Urban Reform Group Edmonton (URGE), which eventually elected several members to Council. She served as acting mayor after the death of William Hawrelak in 1975.^[1]

She was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1986 provincial election as the member for Edmonton-Gold Bar under the banner of the Liberal Party. She was re-elected in 1989 and 1993. In 1993, she received over 10,000 votes, the largest number won by any candidate in that election. In 1994, she served as the interim leader of the Liberal Party. She did not run in the 1997 election. She died of a heart attack in 2001.^[2]

References

1. "Mayoral by-election likely next year", The Globe and Mail, 10 November 1975, pg 10.
2. Bettie Hewes Macdonald, AlexView Profile. The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ont] 10 Dec 2001: A.22.

• "Biographies of Mayors and Councillors". Edmonton Public Library. Archived from the original on July 5, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2005.