Queen’s alumna Susan Holt, Artsci’99 (chemistry), Artsci’00 (economics), rewrote the history books in October when she became the first woman elected premier of New Brunswick. The resounding victory saw the Hon. Holt’s Liberals win 31 of 49 seats in the legislature.
With a strong mandate in her pocket, the newly elected government’s throne speech outlined health care as one of its six priorities along with affordability and housing, education, economic development, environment, and trusted leadership.
A key area of focus will be improving New Brunswickers’ access to health care and making changes to the way the province delivers primary care. On that front, she’s already looking back to Queen’s and its former Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Director of the School of Medicine, Dr. Jane Philpott, who began a new role as chair of a new primary care action team in the Ontario Ministry of Health at the beginning of this month.
“I’m looking to Queen’s when we talk about transforming New Brunswick’s health-care system because it had Dr. Jane Philpott there advancing her views on primary care and patient medical homes,” says Premier Holt.
Born and raised in Fredericton, Premier Holt moved to Kingston after high school to study chemistry at Queen’s, but soon began working on a second degree after political discussions in economics classes amid an Ontario election campaign resonated with her.
Along the way to two degrees, she gained valuable experience in Kingston working in the service industry at local businesses, but especially through her involvement with the , which not only helped her develop skills she used in her professional life in human resources and technology, but also gave her that first experience working with elected officials.
“Queen’s is one of the best schools in the country. The experience that I had there, the people I met and learned from continue to guide me today,” says Premier Holt.
See a full interview with Premier Holt in the next issue of the Queen’s Alumni Review, out in February.
