Robert George Brett (November 16, 1851 – September 16, 1929) was a politician and physician in the North-West Territories and Alberta, Canada, and was the second lieutenant governor of Alberta.
Early life
Robert George Brett was born on November 16, 1851, in Strathroy, Adelaide Township, Middlesex County, Canada West (Ontario), the eldest of four children to James Brett (b. 1821) and Catherine Mallon (b. 1825). Brett's parents were both immigrants from Ireland and early settlers of the Middlesex region. James Brett was a farmer and carpenter, and later worked as a merchant and insurance agent.
Brett was well educated, attending Strathroy Grammar School, leaving in 1867 to apprentice under Dr. F. R. Eccles before attending the University of Toronto's Victoria College and attaining his medical degree in 1872. Brett briefly practiced in Arkona, Ontario from 1874 to 1879, and during this time Brett also completed his postgraduate work in New York City, Philadelphia and later in 1894, Vienna, Austria.
Brett was married on June 26, 1878, to Louise T. Hungerford, and together 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.
Medical career
In 1874 he located in the small village of Arkona, Ontario, to begin his practice with Dr. F. R. Eccles. While in Arkona, Brett served a term as the village reeve.
Brett moved west to Winnipeg sometime between 1880 and 1882 (his family were listed in the 1881 census in Arkona). Brett arrived during a real estate boom in Winnipeg, which subsequently crashed causing Brett to lose his investments. In August 1883, Brett travelled west on the second train to Calgary with his brother-in-law Dr. Neville James Lindsay where he provided medical services on contract with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) for railway workers in the Kicking Horse and Rogers passes. During this time Brett established a hospital in the Banff area.
Brett returned to Winnipeg in fall of 1883 when he was one of the founders of the Manitoba Medical College, where Brett was the first professor of and therapeutics, and was later appointed professor of obstetrics and gynaecology. Brett later sat as a board member on the University of Manitoba.
In June 1884, Brett returned to Calgary and the mountains to provide medical services to the CPR. Brett established a temporary field hospital in Laggan (later Lake Louise), where he was joined by his brother Dr. William Brett, who died during the period. After the railway was completed in 1885, Brett became the CPR surgeon for mining communities in the area and ran a small hospital in Canmore, Alberta. Later in 1889, Dr. Lindsay relinquished his CPR medical contract, which Brett added to his own, becoming responsible for all CPR medical care west of Calgary to Donald, British Columbia.
Brett was a strong proponent of standardized examination and licensing in the medical profession, and in 1909 proposed the four western provinces form a licensing body for medical practitioners in the West.
Political career
In May 1888, the 6th Canadian Parliament passed The North-West Territories Act of 1888 which brought responsible government to the North-West Territories. The act abolished the 1st Council of the North-West Territories which consisted of a mixture of appointed and elected seats, and formed a new primarily elected assembly, however the assembly did lack aspects of responsible government in other Canadian provinces such as an Executive Council and control over federal grant spending.
Chairman of the Lieutenant Governor's Advisory Council
In the first election of the responsible government age in 1888, Brett was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories as a member of the electoral district for Red Deer, defeating Alfred Brealey with 325 votes to 208. His nomination had taken place without his knowledge while he was on a trip in central Canada. He became a de facto leader of the government as chairman of the Lieutenant-Governor's Advisory Council. Robert Brett had a rivalry with long-time member Frederick Haultain.