Former Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen died on March 28.
Pettersen served as MLA for Flin Flon from 2011 to 2015, and lobbied for projects including upgrades to the stretch of Highway 10 between Flin Flon and Bakers Narrows as well as upgrades to equipment and the building at the Flin Flon General Hospital. The emergency department redevelopment project, funded and begun while Pettersen was MLA, is set to open in early summer 2018.
“Health care in the north has been a passion of Clarence’s whether from a public or private perspective,” said Helga Bryant, CEO of the Northern Health Region.
“It has been my honour and privilege to work with Clarence over the years I have been CEO of the Northern Health Region…Each of us as members of this community must acknowledge Clarence’s role as we watch the final construction of the emergency department at the Flin Flon General Hospital.”
Pettersen made headlines in 2014 when he called on then-premier Greg Selinger to step down, concerned the premier had lost the trust of Manitobans.
Prior to his years in politics, Pettersen spent 33 years teaching in Flin Flon. Some of those years were spent teaching alongside his mentor and former teacher, Glenn Smith.
“He was a fun-loving, affable, considerate young man. He was a good students and good athlete, but more importantly, he was a good person, perfectly fitted to be a teacher,” said Smith.
“He has told me that I influenced him to become a teacher and I was very proud that he believed that. I knew Clarence as a teammate, a colleague and a friend. He was the best. He was honest, caring and diligent, always. It was always fun to be in his presence.”
Pettersen was diagnosed with cancer in 2013. He had surgery that year but the cancer returned in 2014 and grew slowly until it was deemed terminal.
