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Pam McConnell

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Pam McConnell
Pam McConnell in 2014
Deputy Mayor of Toronto
for Toronto and East York
In office
December 1, 2014 – July 7, 2017
MayorJohn Tory
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byAna Bailão
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 28 Toronto Centre—Rosedale
In office
December 1, 2000 – July 7, 2017
Preceded byWard created
Succeeded byLucy Troisi
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 25 Don River
In office
January 1, 1998 – December 1, 2000
Serving with Jack Layton
Preceded byWard created
Succeeded byWard abolished
Metropolitan Toronto Councillor
for Ward 7 Regent Park and Cabbagetown
In office
December 1, 1994 – January 1, 1998
Preceded byBarbara Hall
Succeeded byCity amalgamated
Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board
In office
October 21, 2004 – October 14, 2005
Preceded byAlan Heisey
Succeeded byAlok Mukherjee
Chair of the Toronto and East York Community Council
In office
December 1, 2008 – December 1, 2010
Preceded byJanet Davis
Succeeded byGord Perks
Personal details
Born
Pamela Margaret Ritchie[1]

(1946-02-14)February 14, 1946[2]
Carlisle, Cumberland, England
DiedJuly 7, 2017(2017-07-07) (aged 71)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		New Democratic
SpouseJim McConnell[3]
Children2[3]
OccupationTeacher

Pamela Margaret McConnell (February 14, 1946 – July 7, 2017) was a Canadian politician who served on Toronto City Council. She was first elected to the Metro Toronto Council in 1994, representing a series of downtown Toronto wards until 2017. She served as a deputy mayor of Toronto, representing Toronto and East York from 2014 to 2017.

McConnell was a teacher before entering politics. She was elected as a public school trustee in 1982 and held that position until she was elected to Metro Council in 1994. After the amalgamation of Toronto, she was elected to the new city council, serving from 1998 until her death in 2017.

McConnell received an award from the Duke of Edinburgh in 1997 for her work with inner city youth, and received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013. The Pam McConnell Young Women in Leadership Award was created in 2018 for women between the ages of 19 and 26. In addition, the Pam McConnell Aquatic Center in Toronto is named after her. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) created the Award for Gender Equality in International Development and named it the Pam McConnell Award.[4]

Early life

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McConnell was born on February 14, 1946,[2] in England; her family emigrated to Canada in 1954 when she was 9 years old.[5] She was a teacher before entering politics by being elected as a Toronto Board of Education school trustee in 1982. She held that position until 1994. She played a prominent role in advocating for adult literacy programs. In 1988, she became vice-chair of the Toronto School Board and, in 1992, became its chair.[6]

Political career

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In 1994, she left the school board and was elected to Toronto City Council in a close race. With the amalgamation of Toronto with five suburban municipalities in 1997, she was forced into a tough election. With wards electing two councillors each, she faced fellow New Democratic Party (NDP) incumbents Jack Layton and Peter Tabuns, edging out Tabuns for the second councillor position by just over two hundred votes. With Tabuns and Layton nominated as the "official" NDP candidates by the ward's NDP association, McConnell's decision to run caused her to be estranged from her fellow New Democrats for a period, and she supported Liberal-backed Barbara Hall as a candidate for Mayor of Toronto in the 2003 municipal election against New Democrat David Miller.[6]

She maintained her membership in the NDP, however, and became more active with the party since 2003. She was a Miller ally since the election and, served as chair of the Toronto Police Services Board from 2004 to 2005 overseeing the selection of a new Toronto police chief Bill Blair. She also served as vice-chair of the board.[7]

McConnell has also been an advocate of children's issues on city council.[8]

McConnell served as a member of Toronto City Council for Ward 28 from its creation in 2000, and was re-elected every term until her death.[9][10] In November 2013, she briefly became a subject of national and international news coverage when Mayor Rob Ford, during council debate on November 18 around him of discretionary powers following his drug use scandal, got up out of his chair and began to run in the council chamber, bumping into McConnell and knocking her to the ground.[11]

McConnell is credited for her role in advocating poverty reduction and the Regent Park revitalization.[5][6] She championed the development of an aquatic centre in Regent Park. Two million dollars of the cost the new centre was directed through section 37 funding (a part of the Planning Act which allows the city to receive community benefiting funding from developers) from the construction of the Trump International Hotel and Tower.[12] In a 2012 interview, Donald Trump described McConnell as a "tough negotiator" and a "terrific representant for her district", and credited her for securing the funding for the centre from his development.[13]

Following the 2014 Toronto municipal election, new mayor John Tory appointed McConnell as one of four deputy mayors representing the city,[14] and in 2015 he selected her as the champion of the city's poverty reduction strategy.[15] McConnell is credited for her role in advocating poverty reduction and the revitalization of the Regent Park neighbourhood.[6][5]

Awards and honors

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McConnell received an award from the Duke of Edinburgh in 1997 for her work with inner city youth.[16] In 2013, she received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of her decades of public service.[6][17] In January 2018, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced the creation of the Pam McConnell Young Women in Leadership Award for women between the ages of 19 and 26.[18][19] In June 2018, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities posthumously awarded McConnell a place in its Roll of Honour, as well as created the Pam McConnell International Award for Gender Equity, to recognize "the contributions of a Canadian municipal expert to the advancement and promotion of gender equality in FCM's programs."[20] In July 2018, Toronto City Council voted to name the city's aquatic centre in Regent Park after McConnell, the Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre was a key development that McConnell advocated for while serving on council.[21][22]

Personal life

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McConnell had two daughters, Heather Ann and Madelyn, with her husband Jim.[3] On July 6, 2017, McConnell was reportedly in hospital and was referred to as "gravely ill" by Mayor John Tory.[23] She died on July 7, 2017, from a lung condition.[3][6]

Election results

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2014 Toronto election, Ward 28[24]
Candidate Votes %
Pam McConnell 14,047 55.80%
David Blackmore 2,852 11.33%
Jonathan Hughes 2,416 9.60%
Andy Melnyk 1,964 7.80%
Daniel Patel 965 3.83%
Total 25,173 100%
2010 Toronto election, Ward 28[25]
Candidate Votes %
Pam McConnell 11,883 62.856%
Howard Bortenstein 3,730 19.73%
Dennis Hollingsworth 1,128 5.967%
Raj Rama 969 5.126%
Daniel Murton 633 3.348%
Eric Brazau 562 2.973%
Total 18,905 100%

References

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  1. ^ "Family, citizens, politicians celebrate Councillor Pam McConnell's life". The Toronto Star. August 25, 2017. Archived from the original on September 5, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "In Memory of Pamela Margaret McConnell". dignitymemorial.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Miller, Adam; Westoll, Nick (July 7, 2017). "Pam McConnell, veteran Toronto city councillor, dies at 71". Global News. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017.
  4. ^ "International Awards — Past Recipients". fcm.ca. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Fraser, Laura (July 7, 2017). "Veteran Toronto councillor Pam McConnell has died". CBC News. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Veteran city councillor Pam McConnell has died at 71". Toronto Star. July 7, 2017. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017.
  7. ^ Cruickshank, Ainslie (July 7, 2017). "Veteran Toronto city councillor Pam McConnell has died at 71". The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  8. ^ Simcoe, Luke (December 1, 2014). "Meet Toronto's four deputy mayors". Toronto Metro. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  9. ^ Lavoie, Joanna (October 27, 2014). "WARD 28: Pam McConnell secured eighth term on council". Inside Halton. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  10. ^ Black, Debra (October 27, 2014). "Pam McConnell wins Ward 28, Toronto Centre—Rosedale". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  11. ^ "Rob Ford knocks over city councillor". CBC News, November 18, 2013.
  12. ^ "Donald Trump Makes His Presence Felt In T.O." CityNews Toronto. October 12, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  13. ^ Warmington, Joe (July 8, 2017). "McConnell a 'tough negotiator': Trump". Toronto Sun. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  14. ^ Simcoe, Luke (December 1, 2014). "Meet Toronto's four deputy mayors". Metro. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017.
  15. ^ Brown, Wynna (July 7, 2017). "City of Toronto pays tribute to Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell" (Press release). City of Toronto government. Archived from the original on July 26, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  16. ^ "Councillor Pam McConnell – Members of Council – City of Toronto". City of Toronto government. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  17. ^ "Governor General of Canada – Honours". Governor General of Canada. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017.
  18. ^ "City of Toronto launches young women's leadership award in memory of Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell". toronto.ca (Press release). January 18, 2018. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018.
  19. ^ Simmons, Taylor (January 29, 2019). "Late councillor Pam McConnell's legacy endures in second annual award". CBC News. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  20. ^ "FCM – Municipal leaders honored for outstanding work building our communities". FCM.ca. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  21. ^ "MM44.120 Naming of Public Property after the late Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell". app.toronto.ca. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  22. ^ "Regent Park Aquatic Centre to be named for Pam McConnell". Toronto.com. August 7, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  23. ^ Fox, Chris (July 6, 2017). "City councillor Pam McConnell is 'gravely ill' in hospital, mayor says". CTV News Toronto. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  24. ^ Ulli S. Watkiss (October 30, 2014). "Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  25. ^ Ulli S. Watkiss (October 28, 2010). "Declaration of Results of Voting" (PDF). Toronto City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
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