28 Linda

Linda was born on June 27, 1960. 

Linda graduated from the Foothills Hospital School of Nursing in 1982 and began work as a registered nurse. She soon became involved in the Staff Nurses Associations of Alberta (which she led from 1992 until 1997), the National Federation of Nurses Unions, and the Alberta Association of Registered Nurses.

In 1997, Linda successfully ran for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the riding of Edmonton Riverview as a candidate for the Liberal Party of Alberta. While in the legislature, Linda served as Liberal opposition critic for social services, child welfare, and disability programs. In this capacity, she supported extending adoption rights to same-sex couples and sponsored a private member’s bill calling for the creation of a children’s advocate who would report directly to the legislature. Linda declined to seek re-election in 2001.

Linda was elected to Edmonton City Council in 2004. She was a passionate advocate for senior citizens, the Edmonton Public Library and the preservation of the North Saskatchewan River Valley and the City’s urban forest.

The two most difficult issues debated during Linda’s service on Council were the closure of the Edmonton Municipal Airport and the building of a new hockey arena. In 2019, Linda co authored with Jay Scherer and David Mills a book Power Play: Professional Hockey and the Politics of Urban Development, providing an historical account of the role hockey has played in Edmonton’s development as a City and the process of the new arena’s approval.

Sources: City of Edmonton Archives; Edmonton Journal