Head and shoulders image of Dr. Nettie Wiebe, St. Thomas More; outdoor image.

Bio/Historical Note: Image appeared in 12 March 1999 issue of OCN.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Nettie Wiebe (b. 1949) grew up near Warman, Saskatchewan. She earned a BA and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Saskatchewan and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Calgary. Dr. Wiebe first became widely known as Women's President (1988–1994) and President and CEO (1995-1998) of the National Farmers Union. In 2001 Dr. Wiebe sought the leadership of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (and by implication, the office of Premier of Saskatchewan, as the party was in government at the time), following the retirement of then-premier and party leader Roy Romanow. Dr. Wiebe ran on the most explicitly left-wing platform of the major contenders, and placed third. She made an unsuccessful run as the federal NDP candidate in the 2004 federal election in the riding of Saskatoon-Humboldt, against Conservative candidate Brad Trost, Liberal candidate Patrick Wolfe, and incumbent independent Jim Pankiw. In what was the closest four-way race in the country, Wiebe placed second. In the 2006 Canadian federal election, Dr. Wiebe ran as the NDP candidate in the riding of Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, but lost to incumbent Conservative Carol Skelton. She was once again the NDP candidate in Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar in the 2008 federal election, but Conservative candidate Kelly Block defeated her by just 262 votes (0.98%), Dr. Wiebe's narrowest loss to date. She was considered a potential candidate for the 2009 Saskatchewan NDP leadership convention, following Premier Lorne Calvert's resignation on 17 Oct. 2008. Dr. Wiebe later announced she would not run for the provincial leadership and instead focus on federal politics. She was re-nominated as the NDP candidate for Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar for the 2011 federal election. Block once again defeated Dr. Wiebe, this time prevailing by 538 votes. Dr. Wiebe is currently a professor of church and society at St. Andrew's College in Saskatoon (2021).