Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Whitehorse Star

Plain-Speaking Minister Remembered – left: former Yukon cabinet minister Bill Brewster shows off the new mile Post signs for the Alaska Highway in 1991. Right: Brewster attends the Yukon Party government’s announcement of a controversial wolf-kill program with fellow mla Doug Phillips in 1993. today, Phillips is the territory’s commissioner.

Former minister, hockey coach dies in Alberta

A former Yukon MLA and cabinet minister has died.

By Rhiannon Russell on November 18, 2014

A former Yukon MLA and cabinet minister has died.

Bill Brewster was in his 90th year.

Brewster worked in territorial politics in the 1980s and ’90s as Kluane’s MLA, and was a minister for the Conservatives and the successor Yukon Party.

Before that, he spent two decades coaching and developing hockey in Haines Junction.

Born in 1924 in Alberta, Brewster first visited the Yukon in 1938 as a horse wrangler with the Geological Survey of Canada.

Upon his return to Alberta, he joined the army and served in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Brewster moved to the Yukon in 1950.

In the 20 years that followed, he was a key player in Haines Junction hockey.

Brewster served as president of the Yukon Amateur Hockey Association and chair of the Haines Junction Minor Hockey Association.

In 1972, he assisted with fund-raising for a Haines Junction hockey rink – donating a guided hunt from his outfitting company to the raffle and organizing walk-a-thons and bottle drives.

As of a result of his efforts, the Bill Brewster Arena was named after him.

In 1980, Brewster was inducted into the Sport Yukon Hall of Fame.

He retired from the Haines Junction hockey scene in the 1980s to enter politics.

Elected four times as Kluane MLA, Brewster was also deputy speaker from 1983 to 1985. He served as minister of Renewable Resources (now Environment) and deputy premier.

He and his wife, Ricky, who predeceased him, retired in Alberta to be closer to their grandchildren.

Brewster will be sorely missed, Senator Dan Lang told the Star this morning. He worked with Brewster for 10 years, up until Lang retired from the legislature in 1992.

“Bill was a great guy,” Lang said. “He was cantankerous but he had a heart of gold.

“He was just a real fine example of an MLA and what an MLA can accomplish when they’re committed to what they do.... Just a very, very fair and generous man.”

Art Webster, a former NDP MLA and minister, recalls when Brewster was his critic for Renwable Resources.

“He was a really crusty guy who was also very likable, and you could see from his motives, his arguments, that he was of the very best intentions,” Webster said this morning.

“He had a lot to say. Sometimes we disagreed very strongly on some major issues.”

Like the time a road into Kluane National Park was proposed: Webster opposed it, while Brewster saw it as a way to bring more tourism and business to the area.

“He was a good MLA in the sense that he served his constituents well. He was very good at doing his casework and making sure all the concerns raised by constituents were addressed in a timely fashion,” Webster said.

When Webster was a backbencher in the ’80s under then-NDP government leader Tony Penikett, he and Brewster sat on select committees and toured the Yukon, hosting public meetings.

Webster laughed at the memory.

“I can remember it was a good time, because we had a lot of time, driving around from community to community, to share some stories,” he said.

“Bill liked telling stories ... He was a good storyteller. The way he told a story was just as humorous as the story itself.”

And Brewster was honest. He wouldn’t beat around the bush, a quality that’s pretty rare in politics today, Webster said.

“He would tell a constituent exactly what he thought, even knowing that it wasn’t what the constituent wanted to hear,” he said with a laugh.

Webster said the two had a “very positive” relationship despite their differing political views.

“I thought he was a great guy.”

The late politician, who could be withering in the legislature when criticizing the ideas of NDP politicians, was also known for his devotion to his family.

He’s especially remembered, for example, for helping Ricky cope with the difficulties of day-to-day life after she had a bad fall in the 1980s, breaking both her wrists.

The Brewsters were proud of the handsome log home they built on the eastern edge of Haines Junction after they had lived in the village’s interior for a number of years.

Comments (1)

Up 95 Down 89

Gord Allison on Nov 19, 2014 at 6:24 pm

Bill Brewster was a very special man. He served his country (WW2) and his Territory with distinction, and was one of the primary builders of the Haines Junction community. In addition to the achievements listed in the article, he should be acknowledged as the government minister who negotiated and brought the 2007 Canada Winter Games to Whitehorse. He lived his life with the highest of principles, ethics and integrity. The Yukon is fortunate to have had him choose this place as his home for so many years.

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