Catherine Callbeck

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Image:Catherine Callbeck.jpg Catherine S. Callbeck, B.Comm. , B.Ed. (born July 25, 1939 in Central Bedeque, Prince Edward Island, Canada) was premier of Prince Edward Island from 1993 to 1996, and the first woman in Canadian history to become premier subsequent to a general election. (She was preceded by Rita Johnston, who became premier by winning the leadership of the governing party but lost the subsequent provincial election, and Nellie Cournoyea, who became premier of the Northwest Territories under a consensus government system.)

Callbeck was premier at the same time as the other two most important public offices in the province were also held by women: Marion Reid being the Lieutenant Governor and Patricia Mella being the Leader of the Official Opposition.

A Liberal, she was first elected to Prince Edward Island's provincial legislature 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. In January 1993 she returned to provincial politics to successfully run for the leadership of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party. Under her leadership the Liberals won the provincial election in March 1993 becoming the first female leader of a political party in Canada to lead her party to victory in a general election.

Her government proved to be unpopular, however, mainly because of her 7.5% rollback on public sector employees salaries, staining her party's image for years to come. Callbeck resigned in October 1996 after only three and a half years as PEI's premier. In September 1997 she was appointed to the Senate. She can serve in the Senate until July 25, 2014, when she reaches the Senate's mandatory retirement age.

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