LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR VOWS TO KEEP WORKING TO HER 100TH BIRTHDAY
EDMONTON Alberta Lt.-gov. Lois Mitchell and her husband Doug Mitchell want to make sure never forgotten are the 67,000 Canadians killed and 173,000 injured in the First World War and the 42,000 who died and 55,000 wounded in the Second World War.
In 2015, Her Honour chose the focus of her tenure to be history education for Alberta’s youth.
“I wanted to make history come alive for Alberta’s students while encouraging different skill sets, including public speaking and self-confidence,” she says. “The foundation’s goal is to help all Albertans understand their province’s history and its peoples’ significant contributions to the history of our nation.”
With her husband Doug and Edmonton businessman and philanthropist Stan Milner, she created the History and Heroes Alberta Foundation, designed to ensure all Albertans have a greater knowledge and respect for Alberta’s provincial history and of the heroes who contributed to its heritage.
“I am pleased to announce our $1-million target for the foundation’s endowment fund has just been reached, entirely by private donations,” says Her Honour.
The foundation annually rewards Alberta post-secondary students who demonstrate an interest in history with the Lt.-gov.’s Alberta Historian Awards.
Prizes have also gone to students who highlighted Alberta and Canadian history through interactive contests: The Spirit of Vimy, launched in 2016; the Spirit of Peace (2018) and earlier this month the Spirit of Victory, commemorating the Allies’ 1945 Victory in Europe.
The calendar of Her Honour is jammed with commitments and, with superb stamina she sets the pace wherever she goes.
Among her many constitutional duties, Mitchell gives Royal Assent to bills passed by the Alberta Legislative Assembly, swears in the premier and MLAS and opens each legislative session by reading the speech from the throne.
Duties in her ceremonial role include honouring the services of Albertans, including the Alberta Order of Excellence and the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards winners. Her social role includes attending events across the province, celebrating volunteer efforts and community milestones and taking part in such annual events as the New Year’s Day Levee.
Born and raised in Vancouver, Mitchell from an early age developed a passion for sports, particularly team sports, which led her to studying education at UBC and teaching Grade 6 physical education and English.
In 1960, she met Calgarian
Doug Mitchell, who was studying law at UBC and playing with the BC Lions Football Club.
“I love sports and only wanted to go out with someone who loved sports as much as I did,” said Mitchell. “Within a month of meeting, we were dating and 18 months later we married.”
One year later, they moved to Calgary, where her husband articled with a local law firm and the two felt at ease. In 1970, Mitchell, a mother of four who did not want to return to teaching full time, launched a business from home.
“It began when I realized there were no souvenirs at any Alberta football games,” she says. “Doug was a practising lawyer but also did the play-by-play for the Stampeders and we were fortunate to attend many football games across Canada.
“The Edmonton Eskimos gave me the first opportunity to have souvenirs at their games and the next year the Calgary Stampeders came on board. I expanded my business and sold it 10 years later.”
Mitchell later founded Amherst Consultants, a corporate training firm, and lived in Toronto for five years while her husband served as the Canadian Football League (CFL) commissioner.
Back in Calgary, she became a founding partner of Rainmaker Global Business Development, a firm dedicated to connecting companies with worldwide business opportunities.
The lieutenant-governor, a holder of the Order of Canada and the Alberta Order of Excellence, has maintained her commitment to community service throughout her career and it would take a newspaper page to list her accomplishments.
In 2007, she created the Hayley Wickenheiser Thunderbird Ice Hockey Endowment to support the UBC Women’s Ice Hockey team and that same year Edmonton Oilers’ Bob Nicholson, then Hockey Canada’s president and CEO, invited her to chair the Inaugural World Women’s Under-18 Championships which was held in 2008.
“I asked Hayley Wickenheiser, the best known female hockey player, to be my honorary chair,” Mitchell said. “Hayley became a good friend and Bob became a mentor.”
She has also been a board member of many national organizations including UBS Bank of Canada; Hockey Canada Foundation; Special Olympic Foundation and the League of American Symphony Orchestras.
She has been the chair of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
“I really enjoy meeting new people and hope to make a difference wherever I go,” she says. “I plan to continue working until I am 100 years old.”