Bette Stephenson
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Bette Mildred Stephenson Pengelly (July 31, 1924 – August 19, 2019) was a Canadian medical doctor and politician in
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. She served in the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...
from 1975 to 1987 and was a
cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...
in the Progressive Conservative governments of
Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the List of premiers of Ontario by time in office, second-longes ...
and Frank Miller.


Background

Stephenson was born in Aurora, Ontario, the daughter of Clara Mildred (Draper) and Carl Melvin Stephenson. She graduated from Earl Haig Secondary School in North York, Ontario in 1941 and was the only female in her class to go on to university. She entered University of Toronto Medical School at the age of 17, a year younger than what was then the minimum age for admission, after persuading the dean to waive both the rule and the $680 tuition fee. She attained her medical degree from the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
in 1946. Stephenson practised
medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
for more than 40 years. She was a member of the medical staff, a Director of the Outpatient Department, and Chief of the Department of General Practice at
Women's College Hospital Women's College Hospital is a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in downtown Toronto at the north end of Hospital Row, a section of University Avenue where several major hospitals are located. It currently functions ...
. She was also a member of the medical staff at North York General Hospital. She was a founding member of the College of General Practice in Canada, now known as the College of Family Physicians of Canada. She was also the first female member of the board of directors of the
Ontario Medical Association The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) is a membership organization that represents the political, clinical and economic interests of Ontario physicians. Practising physicians, Residency (medicine), residents, and Medical school, medical students en ...
and the Canadian Medical Association, and served as the first female president of both organizations. In 1974, she released a report stating that there were too many foreign-born students at the University of Toronto, particularly from China. The statements she made led some Chinese physicians to create the Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals of Ontario which later became the Chinese Canadian Medical Society. On behalf of the CMA, she lobbied then- Justice Minister
Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...
to remove
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
from the ''
Criminal Code A criminal code or penal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...
''. According to Stephenson, he agreed to do so but then reneged and instead introduced amendments to the ''Criminal Code'' that provided for abortions only when the health of the woman was in danger as determined by a three-doctor hospital committee.


Politics

Stephenson was elected to the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...
in the 1975 provincial election, representing the constituency of York Mills in North York. She was appointed to Bill Davis' cabinet as Minister of Labour on October 7, 1975. She won a convincing re-election victory over Liberal candidate Wilfred Caplan in the 1977 election. On August 18, 1978, she was named Minister of Education and Minister of Colleges and Universities. As Minister, she ordered Toronto schools to use the Lord's Prayer during opening or closing exercise instead of silent meditation. She was returned to the legislature with the largest majority of her career in the 1981 provincial election. Stephenson was a driving force behind the
ICON An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...
computer project, in which a
thin client In computer networking, a thin client, sometimes called slim client or lean client, is a simple (low-Computer performance, performance) computer that has been Program optimization, optimized for Remote desktop, establishing a remote connectio ...
networked computer was designed and built to Ontario specifications for classroom use. Introduced in 1984, the ICON was controversial and was eventually orphaned with support discontinued in 1994. Stephenson was not informed of Davis's decision in 1984 to extend full funding to Catholic high schools until the policy had already been decided, and was privately opposed but did not resign from cabinet in protest due to her loyalty to Davis. The Progressive Conservatives under Davis was considered a Red Tory party, however, Stephenson was on the party's
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
wing. She considered running to succeed Davis at the January 1985 PC Party of Ontario leadership convention but did not want to split the vote with fellow right-winger Frank Miller who was also considering running, so the two agreed that only one of them would run. When Miller decided to announce his candidacy, Stephenson supported him prominently. When Miller replaced Davis as Premier of Ontario on February 8, 1985, he named Stephenson as the Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet. Under Miller's leadership, the Progressive Conservatives were reduced to a tenuous
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
in the 1985 provincial election. Stephenson was personally re-elected without difficulty, and was named as Ontario's first female
Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...
and Deputy Premier on May 17. She accomplished little in these roles. Before having the chance as Treasurer to present a
budget A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...
, the Miller government was defeated by a motion of non-confidence in June 1985, after the Liberals reached an agreement allowing them to form government with the support of the Ontario New Democratic Party. In opposition, she served as her party's Critic for Health. She retired from politics at the 1987 provincial election.


Cabinet positions


After politics

In the 1990s, Stephenson was appointed as a board member on the province's new Education Quality and Accountability Office, which monitors and reports to the public on the performance of the education system. From 1997 to 2005, she was chair of the Learning Opportunities Task Force. and was involved with the Gwillimbury Foundation in its attempt to build a university in Queensville, Ontario. She is a founding member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and also served on the boards of the Ontario Innovation Trust and the police services board overseeing the
Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the State police, provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. The OPP patrols Provincial highways in Ontario, provincial highways and waterways; protects Government of Ontario, provincial government buil ...
. In 1992, she was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
in recognition of having "made exceptional contributions to society throughout her career". In 1999, she was awarded the
Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...
and the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case. The Bette Stephenson Centre for Learning, a York Region District School Board school in Richmond Hill offering adult education programs, was named after her. In 2013, she was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Stephenson died in Richmond Hill on August 19, 2019, at the age of 95.


References


Notes


Citations


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Bette 1924 births 2019 deaths 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 20th-century Canadian women politicians Canadian general practitioners Deputy premiers of Ontario Earl Haig Secondary School alumni Female finance ministers Ministers of finance of Ontario Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case winners Members of the Order of Ontario Officers of the Order of Canada Officers of the Order of St John People from Aurora, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs University of Toronto alumni Women government ministers of Canada Women MPPs in Ontario