Calgary honours first female 'alderman' Annie Gale with boardroom naming

Calgary is honouring political pioneerAnnie Galewith a boardroom named after her.

It's named for Calgary's first female alderman. Gale was elected to city council in 1917 and served three terms.

She was the first woman to hold any elected office in Canada and the first woman to hold a municipal office anywhere in the British Empire.

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Galepassed away in 1970 at the age of 93.

Her name is already on a Calgary Board of Education school in the northeast community of Whitehorn butuntil now, there was no recognition at city hall for the trailblazer.

The city clerk's office consulted with the city archives and selected the name, in keeping with a theme of honouring noteworthy Calgarians.

The previously-unnamed room is located just outside the new, temporarymayor's office in the administration building.

The mayor and councillors have been forced out of old city hall which is now closed for a four-year renovation project.

Councillor Druh Farrell said she's thrilled that Gale's name is now part of the city hall environment.

"She's a really important person," said Farrell. "We should be celebrating her."

She wishes more Calgarians knew about the pioneering politician.

"I speak in a lot of schools to Grade 6 students who are taking civics classes and I ask them if they know who Annie Gale was and very,very few people know," she said.

The city clerk's office has similarly honoured Calgary's first town clerk.Another previously-unnamed boardroom in the administration building is now called the Thomas T.A. Boys Boardroom.

The namings help council and officials locate where a particular meeting is being held.

With the closure of old city hall for renovations, some committees are meeting in new locations.

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