Bette Stephenson served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1987 and was a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Bill Davis and Frank Miller.
20 Facts About Bette Stephenson
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Bette Stephenson 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.
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Bette Stephenson 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.
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Bette Stephenson attained her medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1946.
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Bette Stephenson 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.
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Bette Stephenson was a member of the medical staff at North York General Hospital.
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Bette Stephenson was a founding member of the College of General Practice in Canada, now known as the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
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Bette Stephenson was the first female member of the board of directors of the Ontario Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Association, and served as the first female president of both organizations.
9.
Bette Stephenson was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1975 provincial election, representing the constituency of York Mills in North York.
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Bette Stephenson was appointed to Bill Davis' cabinet as Minister of Labour on October 7,1975.
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Bette Stephenson won a convincing re-election victory over Liberal candidate Wilfred Caplan in the 1977 election.
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Bette Stephenson was returned to the legislature with the largest majority of her career in the 1981 provincial election.
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Bette Stephenson was a driving force behind the ICON computer project, in which a thin client networked computer was designed and built to Ontario specifications for classroom use.
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Bette 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.
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The Progressive Conservatives under Davis was considered a Red Tory party Bette Stephenson was on the party's conservative wing.
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Bette Stephenson 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 considering running, so the two agreed that only one of them would run.
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When Miller decided to announce his candidacy, Bette Stephenson supported him prominently.
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Bette Stephenson retired from politics at the 1987 provincial election.
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Bette Stephenson is a founding member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and served on the boards of the Ontario Innovation Trust and the police services board overseeing the Ontario Provincial Police.
20.
Bette Stephenson died in Richmond Hill on August 19,2019, at the age of 95.