User:Connormah/Robert Brett

Robert George Brett (November 16, 1851 – September 16, 1929) was a politician and doctor in the Northwest Territories and later Alberta, Canada.

Early life and education
Robert George Brett was born on November 18, 1851 in Strathroy, Canada West, (now Ontario) to James Brett and Catherine Mallon. His father was a prominent businessman, farmer and carpenter in his hometown. He was educated at the Strathroy Grammar School, and left in 1867 to apprentice with Dr. F. R. Eccles. He graduated from Victoria University in 1874 with a medical degree, and attended post-graduate education in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Vienna in 1894.

In 1869, Brett trained the the 29th Regiment in Toronto, and served as a lieutenant in the 27th Battalion in Middlesex County, Ontario, and an assistant surgeon in a battalion in Winnipeg. He was appointed an honourary colonel of the 82nd Battalion in 1916.

Medical career
Brett initially apprenticed with Dr. F. R. Eccles in Arkona, Ontario before opening up a practice of his own, and operated it from 1874 to 1881, along with serving as the town's mayor. He registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, upon moving to Winnipeg in 1882. He traveled to Calgary in 1883 and contracted with the Canadian Pacific Railway to provide medical service for crews working in the mountains. He established a temporary hospital in Laggan when he eventually became the CPR surgeon for the mines at Anthracite, Bankhead and Canmore, where he also ran a hospital. By 1889, Brett provided medical services for the entire CPR Mountain Division.

After moving in 1883, Brett opened a hospital in Banff, becoming the town's first physician and surgeon. He opened the town's first pharmacy in 1884, and in 1886, founded the Sanitorium, a hospital and hotel, where he served as it's physician. He established the Brett Hospital in 1909, where he served as its senior surgeon.

Politics
Brett was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories for the district of Red Deer in 1888.

He was married in 1873 to Louise T. Hungerford and had four children, all four of whom predeceased their parents (their eldest daughter, Genevieve, died as a four month old infant in October 1881 and is buried at Arkona). Although it has been stated that Brett moved to Manitoba in 1880 he and his family were listed in the 1881 census in Arkona. In any case in the early 1880s he helped found the Manitoba Medical College and sat as a board member on the University of Manitoba.

In 1888 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories. He became a de facto leader of the government as Chairman of the Lieutenant-Governor's Advisory Council. Robert Brett had a rivalry with longtime member Frederick Haultain.

In 1898 Robert Brett became the first Leader of the Official Opposition during a time in which the Territories Legislature made a transition to party politics. In the 1902 election he unexpectedly dropped out of the race, a move that hurt the Northwest Territories Liberal Party.

When Alberta became a province in 1905 he ran in Banff for the Conservative Party but was defeated.

He served as a senior surgeon in Banff at Brett Hospital. In 1909 he became President of the Alberta Conservative Party. During his time in the early 20th century he served on a number of boards in Alberta. He was appointed as the second Lieutenant Governor of Alberta in 1915 and served in the post for one decade.

He died in Calgary, Alberta; he was buried in Banff. Mount Brett, west of Banff, was named in his honour.