The woman who paved the Village of Hazelton, as well as, a path for other women to get involved in local politics turns 90 this summer.
Alice Maitland, the petite powerhouse, was first elected to council in 1965, served as a councillor until 1970 and become mayor in 1976. She held that position for 42 years, the longest-serving mayor in B.C. history.
Now, Alice’s life and legacy has come full circle as she was pregnant while on council with her fourth child, Julie, who would end up becoming mayor herself in the 2022 municipal election.
DEEP ROOTS
Alice’s roots run deep in Hazleton.
Her father moved to the area from the United States to homestead because land was affordable and her mother’s parents came from Ontario for work. Her parents met in the area.
She was born in the hospital in Hazelton in June 1933, although it wasn’t the same hospital that stands now on Highway 62. While she did have to leave the area for part of high school and college, she has always called Hazelton her home.
“I breathe this place,” she said. “There’s no place like it. I often wonder, who would I be if I weren’t here?”
After college, when she came back, she was working for the Department of Indian Affairs and was volunteered to help with the secretarial work for incorporating the village in 1956. It was there she got her first taste of municipal politics.
Polly Sargent was the first mayor of the newly incorporated village.
“She was probably the reason I got into politics,” Alice noted. “And my dad was on the first council. He and Neil Sterritt and my two uncles were always involved in getting things going. The hall… which is now the theatre, it was the Hazleton Horticultural Hall and they built that hall for community events, and to pull the community together, so when we were kids we had badminton and stuff like that.”
Alice joined council herself shortly thereafter, but during her second term, while pregnant with future-mayor Julie, she left because her husband, Bill, wasn’t overly supportive of her being in politics while raising their young children.
She said her father-in-law was also very against women working outside the home and they would often get into arguments about it.
However, after Polly Sargent got ill, Alice’s uncle Perry become mayor and according to Alice, he was not a good mayor.
“He was a nightmare,” she recalled. “He was no good at getting grants because he drank a lot. He would drink with the ministers and they’re getting [into] fights so they wouldn’t give him any grants. So, we booted him. He said, ‘if you run for mayor, I’ll resign.’ So I ran for mayor and he resigned. He didn’t cry.”
Polly and Alice had first tried to get Alice’s husband, Bill, to take over but he was too busy with work. He then became more supportive of Alice’s aspirations to get involved with politics.
She was acclaimed in 1976. She said she was almost always acclaimed, but does remember one time someone ran against her just to have an election.
“We did have the election and I beat him by 11 votes,” she said. “I think 15 people voted. It’s kind of weird.”
Alice said she was mayor for so long because no one else wanted the job. But she got a lot done in her 42 years at the helm.
BIG ACCOMPLISHMENTS
She said her biggest accomplishment in office, besides just keeping the town alive, was getting the village paved.
“I can remember other people saying to me, like other ministers and other mayors, you even got your garbage area paved,” she recalled with a chuckle.
Getting grants wasn’t always easy but Alice said she always had good help.
“We always had good administrators that were good at looking for money and keeping track of that. Nobody could have run without good administrators who cared and who knew what they were doing. We had lots of those, but when I first came on, we had one who was a drunk. He was the funniest guy, he still knew what was good for the town. So I worked with him for a couple of years. Finally, I fired him. That was probably the hardest thing I ever did.”
Former Stikine MLA Doug Donaldson said she was an incredible advocate for the community and was so good at putting a tiny village, with a population of around 300, on the map.
“The regional approach and her name was always known by premiers. I remember, Premier Campbell knew her name well, and maybe wasn’t in the best circumstances,” Donaldson said with a laugh.
“Premier Horgan knew who she was. You think about this often soft-spoken woman coming from a community of 300 in the Northwest and a remote area, the impact she had regionally, provincially, where premiers even knew who she was and what her agenda was pretty incredible.”
Another big accomplishment when the regional districts were being formed, was fighting for Hazelton to be part of Kitimat-Stikine (RDKS) instead of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) because Hazelton’s hospital and school districts go that way, toward Terrace. But initially, the lines were drawn for Hazelton to be part of the RDBN.
“We had some long chats,” she said “And then finally when they finally smartened up, they drew a bubble around us and put us in Kitimat-Stikine. It only makes sense.”
Alice also ended up being a director for RDKS for more than 40 years.
According to FCM (the Federation of Canadian Municipalities), she was also a pioneer when it came to combining politics and environmental causes, fighting alongside the Gitxsan nation against unfair forestry practices, often joining them in blockading to protect their land and communities.
LASTING LEGACY
While involved in local politics, Alice worked for the Northwest Community College. She retired from that in 2016, saying she felt guilty not working for a couple of years before finally realizing she deserved it.
Later that year, she received a lifetime achievement award at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities in Victoria for her 40 years as mayor.
Then in 2018, she lost the election. Alice was defeated by Dennis Sterritt, the housing and infrastructure advisor for the Gitxsan Government Commission. The vote total was 76-45 for the new mayor-elect.
At the time, Alice said she wasn’t surprised by the results and she felt it was time for the next generation to take the reins.
“I know that it’s considered as a loss, but it really isn’t. I think it’s a change and changes are not always bad,” Maitland told The Interior News in 2018.
She still feels that way today.
“I was ready and he was somebody I wanted in.”
Fast forward to 2022, Alice’s youngest daughter Julie Maitland was elected mayor.
“She has that basic instinct about how things should work and how they should be,” Alice said. “She’s good. I know that she didn’t take it for the glory, whatever glory there is. It’s sometimes hard work, not always, but it’s good work. And you got this beautiful little town to deal with. Nice people generally, good possibilities.”
Julie said she sometimes gets advice from her mom, but moreover, she is always a good source of information on the history of projects and decisions that were made over the years.
“I always thought when I was younger that I would never run to be the mayor,” Julie said. “But after being on council for four years it definitely changed my mind. My mom has always been my biggest fan and I hers. She inspires me to do a good job and that is all I can try to do. I have big footsteps to fill. Not sure it’s possible.”
Most recently, in 2020, Alice was awarded the Ann MacLean Award for Outstanding Service by a Woman in Municipal Politics because she served as a champion of women in politics and has had a significant influence on women in the north participating in local government.
However, she credits the women before her, for opening the door.
Carrie Jane Gray, the first female mayor of Prince George was inspirational to Alice. She was elected in 1958 and Alice said she was a powerhouse.
Alice also described Polly Sargent as her mentor.
“I really think that a lot of other women who are in politics that are really conscious of being a woman in a man’s world. And I never had that, but probably because Polly Sargent was such a strong woman,” she said.
Donaldson said Alice had a major influence.
“For women, not just in leadership roles, but also in being true to themselves and being advocates for themselves and having determination,” he said. “And I think being a mentor to so many, including myself, has been a lasting legacy.”
Alice’s advice for other women wanting to get into politics? Be unapologetic and it doesn’t hurt to like scotch.
READ MORE: Alice Maitland’s 42-year reign as Hazelton mayor ends
@MariscaDekkema
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