Catherine Callbeck

Catherine Sophia Callbeck (born July 25, 1939) is a Canadian politician and a current member of the Senate of Canada.

She was the 28th Premier of Prince Edward Island from 1993 to 1996, the second female provincial premier in Canadian history, and the first to win a general election (the first female premier, Rita Johnston of British Columbia, became premier after winning the party leadership but lost the subsequent election).

Born in Central Bedeque, Prince Edward Island, the daughter of Ralph R. Callbeck and Ruth Campbell,^[1] she received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mount Allison University in 1960 and a Bachelor of Education degree from Dalhousie University in 1962. She took post-graduate courses in business administration from Syracuse University.^[2]

Callbeck was a business teacher in New Brunswick and Ontario before returning to the island to enter the family retail business.^[1]

Early political career

A Liberal, she was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 1974. She was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Health and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Disabled Persons. She decided not to seek re-election in 1978 in order to work in the family business.

Callbeck returned to politics in 1988 when she was elected to the federal House of Commons as an MP for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Premier of Prince Edward Island

In January 1993 she returned to provincial politics to successfully run for the leadership of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party and was appointed Premier on 25 January. Under her leadership the Liberals won the provincial election on 29 March 1993, making her the first female leader of a political party in Canada to lead her party to victory in a general election.

Callbeck was premier at the same time as the other three most important public offices in the province were also held by women: Elizabeth II was Sovereign in Prince Edward Island, Marion Reid was the Lieutenant Governor, and Patricia Mella was the Leader of the Official Opposition.

Callbeck's government proved to be unpopular, however, mainly because of her breaking of a signed legal contract to implement a 7.5% rollback on public sector employees salaries, as well as implementing controversial municipal amalgamation policies, staining her party's image for years to come. Callbeck's administration had been faced with rapidly increasing health care costs at the same time as federal equalization and transfer payments were decreased.

Resignation

Callbeck resigned in October 1996 after only three and a half years as PEI's premier. The Liberal party lost the provincial election in November 1996 as well as the next two general elections, only returning to power in the 2007 election.

Senator

In September 1997 she was appointed on the recommendation of Jean Chrétien to the Senate. She can serve in the Senate until 25 July 2014, when she reaches the Senate's mandatory retirement age.

On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal Senators, including Callbeck, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents.^[3] According to Senate Opposition leader James Cowan, the Senators will still refer to themselves as Liberals even if they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus.^[4]

See also

• List of female first ministers in Canada

References

External links

• Catherine Callbeck – Parliament of Canada biography
• Liberal Senate Forum
• Ontario College of Teachers Record

v t e Premiers of Prince Edward Island Crown Colony of Prince Edward Island (1850–1873) Coles Holl Coles E. Palmer Gray Pope Coles Hensley Haythorne Pope Haythorne Province of Prince Edward Island (1873–present) Pope Owen Davies Sullivan McLeod F. Peters Warburton Farquharson A. Peters Haszard J. Palmer Mathieson Arsenault Bell Stewart Saunders Lea Stewart MacMillan Lea T. Campbell Jones Matheson Shaw A. Campbell B. Campbell MacLean Lee J. Ghiz Callbeck Milligan Binns R. Ghiz

v t e Current members of the Senate of Canada AB Black McCoy Mitchell Tannas Tardif Unger BC Campbell Jaffer Greene Martin Neufeld one vacancy MB Buth Chaput Johnson Plett two vacancies NB Day Kinsella Lovelace Nicholas McIntyre Mockler Poirier Ringuette Robichaud Stewart-Olsen Wallace NL Baker Doyle Furey Marshall Manning Wells NS Cordy Cowan Greene MacDonald McInnis Mercer Moore Ogilvie two vacancies ON Ataullahjan Beyak Charette-Poulin Cools Eaton Enverga Eggleton Frum Gerstein Kenny LeBreton Meredith Munson Ngo Oh Runciman Ruth Seth D. Smith White four vacancies PE Callbeck Downe Duffy Hubley QC Bellemare Boisvenu Brazeau Carignan Champagne Dallaire Dagenais Dawson Demers Fortin-Duplessis Fraser Hervieux-Payette Housakos Joyal Maltais Massicotte Nolin Rivard Rivest Seidman L. Smith Verner Watt one vacancy SK Andreychuk Batters Dyck Merchant Tkachuk Wallin Territories NT Sibbeston NU Patterson YT Lang Conservative (C) Independent (Ind.) or Not affiliated (N/A) Liberal (L) Progressive Conservative (PC)

v t e Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology Chair Art Eggleton Vice Chair Kelvin Ogilvie Members David Braley Catherine Callbeck Andrée Champagne Jane Cordy Lillian Dyck Nicole Eaton Yonah Martin Pana Merchant Bob Runciman Judith Seidman