Ivor Dent had a passion for people
by Lawrence Herzog
Inside Edmonton | Vol. 27 No. 15 | April 16, 2009
Mayor Ivor Dent, circa 1970. Photo courtesy City of Edmonton Archives.
Ivor Dent was a driving force in bringing the 1978 Commonwealth Games to Edmonton and he was the father of the city’s LRT system. Yet that only begins to tell of the exceptional impact and remarkable legacy of a man who served as Edmonton’s mayor from 1968 to 1974.
When he passed away March 30th at the age of 85, Dent was remembered by friends, relatives and colleagues as a determined public servant who was driven by a need to make a difference in the lives of citizens. Distinguished by his silver hair, broad smile and infectious laugh, Dent’s life and purpose were shaped by an abiding belief in social justice and the power of education.
Dent was elected in 1968, a time of profound change in Canada. Flush from the celebrations of the Centennial, Trudeaumania was sweeping the nation, and Alberta was changing along with it. Dent came to office as a pioneer, both in his thinking and approach to the job. He brought contemporary flair to the mayor’s chair, and an understanding of what was right, but not always what was popular at the moment.
He was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in 1924, grew up there during the Depression, graduated from the University of Saskatchewan and served as an Royal Canadian Air Force pilot during the Second World War. He earned two more degrees at the University of Alberta and then a PhD in education administration from the University of Oregon.
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, who had both served as municipal councillors, he entered politics and joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. He helped it to become the New Democratic Party and served as the first president of the Alberta NDP.
After several attempts, Dent was elected to city council as an alderman in 1963. Five years later, he won a tight race to succeed Vincent Dantzer as mayor.
In 1968, the city council under his leadership voted unanimously to push ahead with rapid transit as a way to move people efficiently and control growth. The resistance at the time was strong, and taxpayers were ready to revolt over the anticipated expenditure.
“Fix the roads, build new roads,” was the mantra of the day. There was even a plan to build a maze of freeways into the heart of the city. In 1970, consultant Louis Grimble stoked the resistance with a warning that Edmonton would become “the laughing stock of North America” if it forged ahead and built light rail transit.
Led by Dent and a council that was daring and visionary, city planners were directed to push ahead with designs for three new rapid transit lines. One would have gone from downtown south to the University of Alberta and beyond. Another would have run from what was then called the Industrial Airport to downtown and then to the exhibition grounds. A third would have traveled from the exhibition grounds east to the city limits.
In the quest to land the 1978 Commonwealth Games, Dent championed a public plebiscite to raise money and travelled overseas to attract support for the bid. He was re-elected easily in 1971, but his determination to move forward cost him the mayor’s chair in 1974.
He campaigned on a pledge to extend the LRT to all quadrants of the city, but the citizens weren’t willing to spend that kind of money on public transit. Some 35 years later, history shows that he saw the future and now the city is building Dent’s LRT piece-by-piece – at a substantially greater cost.
In that 1974 election, Dent was clobbered at the polls by William Hawrelak, and only the northeast line from downtown to Belvedere was to be built. After his defeat, Ivor Dent went to Oxford University to study public administration, and then returned to his passion for teaching, and served as principal at Rundle Elementary School.
When he received the Order of Canada in 1983, Dent was lauded for community service here and abroad, his key role in securing Edmonton the 1978 Commonwealth Games, and his service in education.
On a personal note, I have some great memories of Ivor Dent, both from my time as a reporter and newsreader at CFRN and as a freelance writer. Nearly 20 years ago, when I began writing these heritage columns in Real Estate Weekly, he called to offer congratulations, and a few story ideas.
“Don’t forget to tell the stories of the people,” he reminded me. “People built the buildings, and people made them great.”
In 1999, Dent heard that I was working on a history book about Beverly, Edmonton’s working-class town. He called to say how delighted he was, and how much he appreciated the effort to resurrect and tell the stories of the pioneers who built the neighbourhood.
In 2001, I was proud to be one of six recipients along with Ivor Dent who were presented with the Edmonton Historical Board’s Recognition Award. “You see, I told you all your historical interest would lead to something fun,” he quipped. “Fame and fortune without the fortune.”
When a proposal to turn 75th Street into a freeway came along in 1998, Dent came out of retirement to speak up. “Every so often an idea comes along that is so dramatic and stupid that people have to get involved,” he told a citizen-led public meeting on the plan. “This is one of those times.”
Always, his beloved wife Aileen was nearby, whispering names in his ear, and keeping a watchful eye. “I’m terrible with names, Lucy,” he told me once.
Aileen and Ivor had four children – Charles, Peggy, Nick and Peter – and they lived in a great house on Rowland Road. Aileen died suddenly in 2005, and the twilight years for Ivor were a tumble into darkness, afflicted with symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s.
It would have been a great tribute while he was still alive to name a sports facility or something in the river valley after Ivor Dent. He was once quoted as saying he figured “Ivor Dent Commonwealth Stadium” had a nice ring to it, and that sounds just fine by me.
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