The Women of Calgary City Council

Early Years

Isabella Stevens was born Isabella Kathleen Little in 1891 in Coaticook, Quebec. She received her early education in a Roman Catholic convent there and came to Calgary in 1912, allegedly arriving on the last day of the first Calgary Stampede ever held. She married Hermon Stevens in Calgary in 1924 and they had two children together. She was an assistant editor at Burroughs and Co Ltd of Calgary (law publishers), a job she held for over 40 years.

As she prepared for her first run for Council, Stevens – touted as “one of Calgary’s busiest women … and one of the most effective” – was active in many welfare organizations across the city, including the Council of Social Agencies, the Calgary Family Bureau, and the John Howard Society. She remained connected to her religious upbringing, active also in Catholic women’s activities including serving as the vice president of the National Council of the Catholic Women’s League.

First Campaign & Election

Once again the only woman on the civic ballot in 1952, Stevens ran for city council as an Independent candidate and one of 12 candidates who would contend six vacancies on council. She was touted as “a person whose work in welfare circles could be of considerable use at City Hall”. During her campaign she argued about the “deplorable” state of Calgary’s recreation facilities, noting that “Calgary, a city of almost 150,000 people, has only one large civic swimming pool” and advocating for creative solutions such as opening schools in the evening to physical recreation activities and supervisor led workshops for children. Stevens also called for a survey of Calgary’s welfare services which she argued were too “many and too complicated”. She publicly committed to pledging herself to specializing in solving these particular problems should she be elected.

Stevens was elected on the ninth count, with about a thousand fewer votes than the candidate elected on the first count. The 1952-53 council would be the first in the city’s history to have three women on it, as Stevens joined Mary Dover and long-time alderman Rose Wilkinson who were already serving.

There was public consternation in April 1953 regarding keeping information about the annual city budget confidential until a special meeting at city council where estimates for the current year would be considered. An editorial article in the Herald took a swipe at those aldermen who voted for the motion to withhold information on the budget from the public, including Stevens – the author wrote: “by their ineffably muddleheaded action last Monday, these sagacious guardians of the public welfare have managed to raise every conceivable suspicion in the public mind about the contents of the 1953 budget”.

In the end, the numbers were held in confidence until the May 4 council meeting, when the “record-smashing” budget was revealed. The budget included an increase of nearly 10 per cent in taxes, an increase in transit fares, and a 10 per cent increase in water rates. During debate, council agreed almost unanimously that “lack of financial assistance from the provincial government was the major factor in this year’s 10 per cent increase in civic taxes”.

The mayor and commissioners received a $1000 increase, which did not contribute to positive public sentiment about the budget. Upon seeing the city budget, Calgarian Gordon Wray immediately declared he would run for mayor in the fall (he lost to incumbent mayor Mackay). It was decried as “a shocking punch in the taxpayer’s pocketbook” and “will be denounced as confiscatory and extravagant”. The editorial did agree with council that the province was at least in part to blame for the tax hike – it noted: “the city is being forced to spend this year around $26M for current and capital works, a large number of which are laid down by provincial policy in relation to schools, hospitals, and health services. And of that vast sum, the government at Edmonton is granting Calgary the measly sum of $3M, a bare 12 per cent”. The editorial concluded that “no matter how we squirm and scream under this latest civic imposition, we must remind ourselves that it is the price we pay for urban living in a farm country beset by an oil boom”.

Beyond the attention she paid to welfare causes on council, Stevens also championed the provision of parks and greenspaces, particularly in the inner city and downtown core. In June of 1953 Stevens proposed the development of a park adjacent to what was, at the time, the 4th Street subway. It was to be a “touch of greenery”, a “lovely little park” located in the heart of the city; unfortunately, Stevens’ proposal was not supported, and council instead decided to continue development of the site for off-street parking.

The Surprising Election Loss

Stevens made her intention to serve a second term on council public early, and by August 1954 she had formally indicated that she would seek re-election. By October, three women had declared their intentions to run for civic office –Nettie Mowers, a Labor candidate who had previously served as a school trustee for six years was running for a seat on council, and Evelyn Harcourt Leew, a CGA candidate who was running for a second term on the public school board.

During an election panel the mayor queried panelists, including Stevens, about the need for a new sports centre to replace Mewata Stadium. When another panelist scoffed that developing such a grandiose scheme given the city’s debt was “just dreaming”, Stevens replied, “surely we can dream”. The new sports centre would eventually be located in the northwest quadrant of the city, funded by the McMahon family.

Stevens was often on CFCN radio – she took to the airwaves to share her accomplishments and discuss what she wanted to achieve in another council term. She wrote short articles for the Calgary Herald in which she highlighted the state of specific City affairs and how they had evolved over the 2 years she had been on council.

For instance, the homemaker’s service (operated by the Calgary Family Bureau, one of the services she had previously volunteered for) was now assisted by an annual grant from the City. It was a family support program she called “of inestimable help to families when a mother is ill”. She noted the clearing of slum areas and the implementation of a family court in Calgary, as well as giving financial aid directly to aid recipients, reimagining the city’s former system of giving vouchers for rent, groceries, and clothing. Another such article noted that “by another year Prince’s Island Park (right downtown) will be in use”.

In the end, a hard-fought campaign was not rewarded. Stevens lost the election, eliminated in the seventh and final count. It was considered to be the “biggest surprise of the election” – certainly the media, and likely her fellow candidates, assumed she would be returned to council for a second term.

Undaunted, Stevens ran again right away in the 1955 election as an “all-women’s candidate”. Only a year later, this election was to be different – early in 1955 rumors began that, after 20 years, Alderman Rose Wilkinson would not be running for re-election. As such, the question of who could fill Wilkinson’s empty seat permeated the election period. Wilkinson ended speculation as to whether or not she was going to run in September when she did not file nomination papers and instead chose “to support former Alderman Mrs. Isabella Stevens, who is seeking re-election after being defeated in the 1954 campaign”.

Stevens won her seat, elected on the 11th count. She was returned to office along with DH Mackay, who swept to a landslide victory and his fourth consecutive term as Mayor of Calgary.

Second Term on Council

Stevens returned to council in time to participate in the decision regarding the “early closing bylaw”, which required retail businesses to close at a certain time. Some businesses were skirting this bylaw by holding “open houses” – that is, opening their stores after hours so that consumers could visit businesses and browse goods, but weren’t permitted to actually purchase anything. Some businesses used this as a loophole to actually sell their goods, causing an uproar amongst those in the business community who abided by the rules (or did not have the labour at their disposal to hold open houses and take advantage of the loophole themselves). Council deemed it the fairest course of action by voting to remove the early closing bylaw. Abolishing this bylaw led to some labour issues as businesses began demanding longer hours of their employees – the chairman of the Civic Labor Group went so far as to publish an ad in the Calgary Herald, claiming that Stevens and the other aldermen had voted “to destroy the security retail workers have won in the years since 1917”.

1956 was the year of the Hungarian Uprising, “a countrywide revolution against the Stalinist government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hungarian domestic policies imposed by the USSR”. Refugees poured out of the country as the Hungarian government fought against anti-communist revolutionaries and the USSR military eventually moved in. Thousands of Hungarians made their way to Canada as immigrants, and Stevens was appointed the head of a steering committee to prepare for the arrival of these refugees in Calgary. She was in her welfare element, responsible for organizing more than 30 representatives from 116 Calgary agencies who pledged their support to coordinate and receive the refugees. In December Calgary received its first group of 50 Hungarian refugees, who were to be taken in by their relatives already living in the city. By February that number had grown to nearly 400.

Stevens advocated for the refugees through 1957, ensuring they had not just their food and shelter needs taken care of, but that the “comfort fund” originally set up for essentials was maintained. She noted “such things as razor blades, smokes, haircuts, even bus tickets, are out of their reach without the comfort fund”. As the Chair of the Hungarian Refugee Committee of the Calgary Canadian Citizenship Council, Stevens later advocated for the refugees to be able to sign up for Canadian army service even if they did not yet meet the foundational requirements of service in order for them to gain employment, and later drawing attention to the plight of two Hungarian youths Sandor Imre and Laszlo Kovacs, who were charged with assault but were not represented by legal counsel at their trial.

Stevens ran once again as an Independent candidate for her third council term in the 1957 civic election alongside fellow Independent Flo E. Frawley, another woman seriously engaged in her community (Frawley was a Prince Albert business college graduate, a bookkeeper and linotype operator, and active in several local women’s groups including the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Local Council of Women, and the Calgary North Women’s Conservative Association – and a married mother of two). After a 19 hour ballot counting process, Stevens was re-elected on the eleventh count (Frawley was, unfortunately, not elected).

Providence Creche

Perhaps one of the most lasting contributions Stevens made to Calgary was not related to actions she took while on Calgary city council, but her instrumental role in the founding of Providence Creche. As a member of the Catholic Women’s League, Stevens was one of several volunteers who felt there was a need for a place in Calgary where Catholic babies could stay while waiting to be adopted. Thus was the foundation of Providence Creche Babies Home, a foster home that opened in 1943 in a small house and was initially home to five orphaned babies. By 1944 running the home was already beyond at a scope of work the women could handle, and as such the Creche was relocated to a new location at 1811 Centre Street S, and the Reverend Sisters of Providence took over the operations of the home. The Providence Creche was able to expand their scope of operations too – the home began taking in children of all denominations, and additionally began providing daytime care for children of working mothers. By 1945 19 babies had been adopted from the Providence Creche, and in 1947 Steven reported the purchase of two additional bungalows east of the Providence residence which allowed the Creche to extend accommodations. She reported that two hundred and fifty babies had been admitted to the creche since its opening 5 years earlier.

By 1948 what started as a small voluntary effort had become a flourishing institution, with two Sisters (one a registered nurse) directing a staff of eleven”. Stevens worked tirelessly to support this cause, organizing fundraisers and donations, and speaking at teas and events and on the radio about its significant importance to Calgary.

Outgrowing their home again, Providence Creche relocated to a brand new, expansive facility at 5233 4 St SW. It opened June 29, 1958, and nearly 400 people attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the $473,000 building. The Bishop of Calgary’s speech noted Providence Creche came into existence to solve an urgent social problem that couldn’t be ignored. It stated: “[Providence Creche] owes its foundation to the foresight, zeal and charity to one woman. I am happy to have this opportunity to pay a tribute of deep appreciation for this glorious achievement to Ald. Mrs. Hermon Stevens. She realized the need of an institution such as this in the city and part of Alberta”.

Later Years

Stevens chose not to seek re-election at the end of 1958-1959 term. Although she was not as vocal or direct about her opinions about women taking on traditionally masculine public roles, Stevens was quoted in an article from 1971 as saying: “I used to work in the days when people were shocked at women working”. She said her son once remarked to her “Oh, mom, I’m glad you work. Isn’t it wonderful – look at all the interesting things we talk about at the dinner table”. She said “I loved my home and my family – probably much more than if I had been at home all day. And the family never felt neglected”. Of her time on council, she said those years were “not the happiest of her life” – “I always like to get things done sideways. I couldn’t fight, hated fighting, and one day I said to myself ‘you silly old woman, you don’t like all this fighting so get out of it’”.

Stevens did not continue to serve on council, though it was not the end of her service to the city of Calgary. Over the course of her life Stevens served as a member of 32 community groups, including the General Hospital Board and City Council. Stevens received an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary in 1965, and would go on to receive the Order of Canada in 1976. In 1963 the Roman Catholic Church awarded her the Pro Ecclesia medal – she was one of very few Canadians to have ever received the award, and at the time the only Canadian woman.

Stevens’s departure marked an interesting time of transition for Calgary city council. No women were elected to council in the 1959 election, and a woman would not sit on council again until Barbara Scott was elected in 1971. Perhaps this was an inevitable result of women returning to the home and their traditional role of homemaker in the post-War period, and it simply took a little longer for this transition to affect city council given its bi-annual terms and small number of members. Whatever the reason for the dearth of women’s voices at the city table throughout the 1960s, Stevens and the five women who came before her set the foundational stage for the women who would come after them, from the 1970s to the present day.

Sources

Calgary Herald, 11 October 1952. Pg. 11. https://www.newspapers.com/image/480799016

Calgary Herald, 11 October 1952. Pg. 2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/480798983

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