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Originally from Calgary Alberta Elizabeth Hanson attended the University of Calgary obtaining degrees in political science and social work.

After graduation, she worked as a social worker in Souris, PEI before moving to the Yukon in 1978 where she worked for three years as the regional social worker for the Department of Indian and Inuit Affairs (from Old Crow, Yukon to Good Hope Lake BC). She subsequently worked for INAC in Nanaimo, and Ottawa. While working with the original federal Self Government policy unit she also did a temporary assignment with the OAG prior to returning to the Yukon in 1989 to lead the federal self-government negotiations team.

She served as Yukon director of land claims and self government for the federal government from 1994 to 2003. She and her family completed a federal interchange with the Aboriginal and Torres Islander Commission, in Canberra Australia (1999-2000).

In 2003, she became the Regional Director General of (then) Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in the Yukon, charged with reorganizing the department's regional presence to reflect the federal presence "post land claims and devolution". She retired from this position in 2007.

Hanson became active politically in 2009, serving as president and then leader of the Yukon NDP. She was first elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly, representing Whitehorse Centre in the December 2010 Byelection. She was re-elected in the 2011 and 2016 general elections. Hanson served on the Members’ Services Board and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. She Chaired the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in the 33^rd Legislative Assembly (2011-2016).