Bernt Nicole Gilbertson (March 17, 1912 – June 21, 1995) 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 of Algoma in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1967 to 1975. He was a member of the Progressive Conservatives. Born in Norway, Gilbertson's family emigrated to Canada and settled on St. Joseph Island in Ontario's

Algoma District Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The name was created by an American ethnologist, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864), who was appointed Indian agent to the Ojibwe in ...

. He began his working career on the freighters plying the Great Lakes, and later ran a

maple syrup Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...

business before his election to the legislature,Members' Statements
''

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...

'', October 5, 1995. and was known for bringing cans of syrup to the legislature as gifts for his fellow MPPs each spring. He also owned a trucking business and a pancake house. In his riding, he was particularly known for his efforts to have the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

on Highway 548 built to connect St. Joseph Island to the mainland. The bridge was named in his honour in 1994. In the Legislative Assembly, Gilbertson served as caucus chair and chief government whip, in addition to serving on a variety of standing committees. Gilbertson died in summer 1995 on St. Joseph Island. On October 5, in one of the first sessions of the legislature following the 1995 provincial election, tributes to Gilbertson were delivered in the Assembly by

Bud Wildman Charles Jackson "Bud" Wildman (born June 3, 1946) is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1975 to 1999, representing the riding of Algoma, ...

Norm Sterling Norman William "Norm" Sterling (born February 19, 1942) is a Canadian politician, who served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 2011. Background Sterling attended Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, and worked as a ...

and Mike Brown. Gilbertson's family business, Gilbertson's Maple Syrup Products, is still in operation as the largest producer of maple syrup in Ontario. It is now owned by Gilbertson's son Don."Maple syrup is an all-Canadian treat"
. '' Sudbury Living'', Spring 2010.

References

External links

* 1995 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs People from Algoma District Businesspeople from Ontario Norwegian emigrants to Canada 1912 births {{ProgressiveConservative-Ontario-MPP-stub