Nettie Wiebe, born on January 22, 1949, at Warman, Saskatchewan, graduated from the University of Saskatchewan and received a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Calgary in 1983. A farmer and activist, she served as women's president of the National Farmers Union (NFU) from 1988 to 1994, and was president and CEO of the NFU from 1995 to 1998. She was also vice-chair of the Farmer Railcar Coalition from 1998 to 2004, and Via Campesina coordinator for North America/Mexico from 1996 to 2004. She is the author of several publications including: Farm Women: Cultivating Hope and Sowing Change (1995), Weaving New Ways: Farm Women Organizing (1987), and Quest for Land (1991). She is a speaker at local, national and international forums such as the GATT rally (Geneva, December 1993), IATP (Minneapolis, 1993), as well as a panelist in local and national forums. In 2001, she ran for the leadership of the provincial NDP, losing to Lorne Calvert.
Daria Coneghan