Lynda Haverstock

Location: Saskatchwan | Profession: Politicians

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Karen Kain 1971

Lynda Haverstock was educated at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, where she received her BA, two Masters and a PhD. She then went on to be a farm stress expert, travelling around the province, examining the problems farmers encountered on a daily basis. In 1989, after running for office, she became the leader of the provincial Liberals, bringing the party from 4% of the popular vote to nearly 40% within the span of two elections. After leaving, she was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan in 2000.

Karen Kain 2005

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Studies:

When Lynda Haverstock finished high school, the University of Saskatchewan was offering a degree in the education of exceptional children. It was new, cutting-edge, internationally renowned and “probably the best program in Canada at the time”. Influenced by her experiences as an adolescent, she decided the course was for her.

She and her daughter moved to Saskatoon, 220 km north of Swift Current. She found a small basement apartment near the university with only a single bedroom, so her daughter had to sleep on a sofa in the living room. They survived on barely $1,200 a year (today’s equivalent is about $3,500). At times, the two of them had to scour back alleyways and collect pop bottles “just to put milk on the table”.

“It was really really hard,” she recalls. “We lived very very modestly.” Whenever she is asked about that period, she refuses to sway from her belief that every setback can be used to strengthen one’s character. Why didn’t she go on welfare? “Well, I didn’t need to go on welfare. I managed to do what I did. It’s why one needs to always understand that you’re living history. It’s all history in the end. We end up with retrospective knowledge. There’s always the lesson that we’re living. And in the end, when you look back, you don’t know it but it’s bringing you some sort of gift and that’s the real purpose of life.”

Then disaster struck. During her first year at university, her older sister came up to visit. They were out shopping when Lynda noticed a strange sensation in her leg. Within a few minutes she was limping. She shrugged it off.

Four days later her leg was completely immobile. It was strange, she thought, because she hadn’t incurred an injury of any sort. Her knee started to swell up as well. She went to the emergency room and saw an orthopaedic surgeon. He quickly examined the leg and concluded that she must have wounded it. “Well, I didn’t injure myself,” she tried to explain. But he refused to listen to her. “We’re going to have to run a variety of tests,” he said. “You might need surgery. You’ve probably done something.”

She restrains herself as she explains the consequence of the doctor’s negligence. “By the time I had surgery, I was done in. Because that was the last thing they should have done.” After the operation, she was in tremendous pain and the fluid continued to build up in her knees.