[2] Growing up in relative poverty, Lorje secured a governor general's scholarship and attended the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology.
She decided to run because working with women as a psychologist had made her realize that urban design and politics was a significant determinant of mental health.
[5] Her first inclination had been to run for provincial office with the New Democratic Party in 1979, but Premier Allan Blakeney called the election in 1978, leaving her without time to prepare.
Her 1979 win in Ward 2 was by a margin of less than 200 votes, but Lorje went on to serve four successive terms in the role and was influential in her priority areas of women, seniors, health, and social issues.
Her last win in 1999 was by a narrow margin of just 38 votes, which resulted in a short court battle with the losing Liberal candidate, Grant Karwacki.
[4] Through this time she had remained a popular figure in Saskatoon and was widely speculated to be considering a run for mayor 1997, though she announced that fall that she would not pursue the mayoralty as she had a duty to fulfill her term as MLA.
An investigation found that she had touched the face of an aide in an inappropriate way, which media reports referred to as an "affectionate slap," and Lorje was allowed to return to cabinet.
[5] However, she often found herself isolated on a variety of issues, such as being in favour of banning plastic bags and being against a future 33rd Street bridge, which earned her a reputation as a "fiercely independent voice" on Council, although also an uncompromising one.
[5] In 2014, Lorje was sanctioned by Council for revealing details of a confidential report to a member of the public, which was shown to be a former MLA colleague, Eric Cline.
[3] She eventually married playwright and theatre director Tom Bentley-Fisher, and the couple briefly moved to San Francisco after her retirement from provincial politics.