Pamela T. Barrett (November 26, 1953 – January 21, 2008) was a Canadian politician who sat in the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

as a member of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

Early political career

Barrett started working for the

Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party (Alberta NDP; ), is social democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left to left-wing of the political spectrum and is a provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democra ...

as a researcher in the legislature office of Grant Notley. She also worked for the Alberta Federation of Labour. Barrett ran in the

1986 Alberta general election The 1986 Alberta general election was held on May 8, 1986, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Peter Lougheed, who had created the modern Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, Alberta Progressive Conservatives, ...

and was elected in the riding of Edmonton-Highlands. She defeated incumbent David Thomas King, the Minister of Technology, Research, and Telecommunications, in what many regarded as a substantial upset. She, Marie Laing and a few others were identified in local newspapers as "giant-slayers" for un-seating Conservative cabinet minister/MLAs. She was named to a prominent position in the NDP Official Opposition, which for the first time in that party's history was 16 MLAs strong. She served as the New Democrats' Deputy House Leader from 1986 to 1993, backing up caucus leader Ray Martin. She retired from the legislature in 1993 owing to poor health resulting from job stress.

Leader of Alberta New Democrats

Barrett came back to politics when she contested and won the Alberta NDP leadership in 1996 following the resignation of Ross Harvey. In the

1997 Alberta general election The 1997 Alberta general election was held on March 11, 1997, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Ralph Klein won its eighth consecutive mandate going back to 1971, inc ...

she ran and won in the re-drawn district of Edmonton-Highlands. Under Barrett in the 1997 election, the New Democrats won two seats after having been shut out in the 1993 election. Her aggressive leadership style inspired observers to nickname her "Mighty Mouse."

Near death experience

Barrett resigned the NDP leadership and her seat in 2000 after having what she claimed to be a

near-death experience A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death, which researchers describe as having similar characteristics. When positive, which the great majority are, such experiences may encompa ...

in a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

's chair. After her retirement from politics she went on a "spiritual search". Her near death-experience was a subject of both serious and satiric attention in the Canadian media. She was parodied on the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

show '' The Royal Canadian Air Farce'' and featured on the front cover of the May 2000 issue of lifestyle magazine '' Elm Street''.

Death

Barrett died on January 21, 2008, aged 54, at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, from

oesophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Ot ...

, after battling the disease for at least two years.

References

External links

FFWD Weekly September 3, 1998
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* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121103212749/http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/cityplus/story.html?id=a4a17c3f-e5fc-46cb-b843-23683126bc1f&k=97674 Obituarybr>ObituaryObituaryObituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Pam 1953 births 2008 deaths Leaders of the Alberta CCF/NDP Alberta New Democratic Party MLAs Women MLAs in Alberta Politicians from Brandon, Manitoba Politicians from Edmonton Deaths from esophageal cancer in Canada Female Canadian political party leaders Deaths from cancer in Alberta Place of birth missing 20th-century Canadian women politicians 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta