Beatrice Ann Firth (January 27, 1946 – June 20, 2008) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who represented the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Riverdale South Riverdale South is an electoral district which elects a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon Territory in Canada. Along with Riverdale North, it makes up the subdivision of Whitehorse called Riverdale ...

in the

Yukon Legislative Assembly The Yukon Legislative Assembly (french: Assemblée législative du Yukon) is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada, three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only terri ...

from 1982 to 1996. She was a member of the

Yukon Progressive Conservative Party The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Yukon) was a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. It was succeeded by the Yukon Party. History The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party was founded in ...

. Born in

Yorkton Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about 450 kilometres north-west of Winnipeg and 300 kilometres south-east of Saskatoon and is the sixth largest city in the province. As of 2017 the census population of the ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

in 1946, she worked as a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

before entering politics. Firth moved to

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

in 1967 and worked at the

Whitehorse General Hospital Whitehorse General Hospital is a hospital in Whitehorse, Yukon. It is the biggest hospital in the Yukon, providing 24/7 In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is service that is available at a ...

. She first ran in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in Riverdale South in 1981, losing to

Ron Veale Ronald Stuart Veale is a Canadian jurist and former politician, who represented the electoral district of Riverdale South in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1982. He was a member of the Yukon Liberal Party, and the party's leader ...

, but won the seat in the 1982 election. She sat as a member of the

until 1991, when she was one of two MLAs, along with

Alan Nordling Alan Ronald Nordling (born May 25, 1952) is a Canadian former politician, who represented the electoral district of Whitehorse Porter Creek West from 1986 to 1992, and Porter Creek South from 1992 to 1996, in the Yukon Legislative Assembly. He ...

, who quit the caucus in protest against the party's change of name to the

Yukon Party The Yukon Party (french: Parti du Yukon) is a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. It is the successor to the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party. Formation With Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative federal go ...

. Firth and Nordling thereafter sat as the only members of the Independent Alliance. Firth did not run in the 1996 election. She died on June 20, 2008, of cancer.

References

2008 deaths Women MLAs in Yukon Independent MLAs in Yukon Deaths from cancer in Yukon Yukon Party MLAs Politicians from Whitehorse 1946 births People from Yorkton 20th-century Canadian women politicians {{Yukon-politician-stub