Hiebert is a frequent candidate for the New Democratic Party at the provincial and federal levels. He is a retired pipe welder, and has also done development work in India and Upper Volta as a representative of the Mennonite Central Committee. In 1982, he was appointed to the board of directors for the Overseas Book Centre ("Globe and Mail", 2 January 1982). In 1996, he spoke before a provincial committee against the Gary Filmon government's decision to privatize the Manitoba Telephone System.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140407073021/http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/business/hansard/36th_2nd/punr_12/punr_12.html]