JOHN McNEILL/The Globe and Mail
One of Dr. Stephenson’s childhood memories involved a visit to a doctor after which she announced her intention to become one herself. Prevailing public opinion of the day suggested she pursue nursing instead because there were no female doctors. “There are” she insisted. “I don’t know any but they’re out there.”Born on July 31,1924, in Aurora, just north of Toronto, Bette Mildred Stephenson, the eldest of three, was eager to begin her education.
In 1941, Bette Stephenson graduated from Earl Haig Secondary School intent on studying medicine at the University of Toronto. Inwritten by educator Joan Green, Dr. Stephenson stated, “I was a teenager from 11 to 16, when I finished high school, but when I started medical school at 17, I no longer considered myself a teenager.”
“He was there for my mother through 65 years of marriage, no matter what,” Stephen Pengelly said. Allan Pengelly died in 2013.For many years, Dr. Stephenson ran her medical practice out of the basement of the family home in the city’s Willowdale neighbourhood. Parents, grandparents and siblings lived nearby, close enough to lend a hand with her growing brood. Mr. Paikin tells the story of a very pregnant Dr.
Dalton Bales, a Conservative MPP in the riding of York Mills who was stepping down for health reasons, called three times to ask her to run in his place. Each time she refused, but her family finally convinced her to seek the nomination. She ran in the 1975 provincial election, winning by almost 4,000 votes. Five days after the election, Premier Bill Davis asked her to be minister of labour. She told him “The only thing I know about labour is delivering babies.” Mr. Davis was adamant.
He commended her for her work during his tenure as Premier as chair of a learning opportunities task force to study how students with learning disabilities could be accommodated in post-secondary institutions. “At the end of it she coerced many institutions into participating. It was something she believed in all her life,” he said. She also helped Mr. Eves set up a foundation named after his son Justin to assist underprivileged students with university tuition.
Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)
'First Female' is an insignificant title in a genuinely Liberal society. 'Most meritorious' is significant. We see which you focus on. Ideologues, go home.
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