Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my honour to rise today to recognize and pay tribute to a Yellowknife pioneer, a true Northerner in spirit and action. Barb Bromley passed away on February 15th here in Yellowknife. She’s been described as a pillar of the community, and our community is leaning due to the loss of that pillar.
As we’ve heard, Mrs. Bromley came north in 1948 and never left. Her life’s work was nursing, and as Yellowknife developed and grew, she advanced public health nursing services in Yellowknife and beyond. She was instrumental in starting the NWT Registered Nurses’ Association and in establishing “well baby” clinics, Meals on Wheels program and immunization clinics.
Barb Bromley was also well known as an advocate and an activist. She was perhaps best known for her work in later years to advance care for seniors in Yellowknife. Aven Manor is the result of her work, and that one seniors home has grown into a community for seniors, providing many levels of care and housing for Yellowknife and NWT seniors.
Because of her personal commitment to meaningful engagement and her friendship with thousands of individuals, Barb Bromley has been described as someone who loved people, who loved working on teams and who loved to help people out. She was recognized for this work with the Commissioner’s Award for Public Service in 1981 and the Order of Canada in 2001 for exceptional volunteerism.
The first bed and breakfast in Yellowknife that started in 1984 was Barb’s Bed and Breakfast. Mrs. Bromley remained in touch with many of the people who stayed at her B and B. She was a people person and she was also a family person, the matriarch at the centre of a large family.
Several rituals emerged over the years. Saturday morning buns at mom/grandma/great-grandma’s house and the August long weekend at Victory Lake were two of those family and neighbourhood events. The Bromley Christmas cookie exchange party is a well-known Yellowknife social event that’s been running since 1954, something I’ve had the pleasure of attending for a number of years.
Barb Bromley was a huge part of the history and the fabric of the Yellowknife community and she will be sorely missed. As her son Bob has said, “She was a giant in every respect, except in her physical stature.”
A service will be held for Mrs. Bromley this Saturday, February 28th, 2:00 p.m. at Sir John Franklin School. This will be a chance to celebrate the amazing life of a warm-hearted, successful, positive and genuinely good person. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
