Barbara Hall

Barbara Hall served as mayor of the old City of Toronto — the smaller, downtown-centred municipality that existed before amalgamation — from 1994 to 1997, having previously served as a city councillor representing downtown wards. Her mayoralty coincided with the Ontario provincial government's push to merge Toronto with five surrounding municipalities, including Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke, into a single "megacity," a plan Hall and many local councillors publicly opposed.

The last mayor of the old city

Despite a municipal referendum in which Toronto voters rejected amalgamation by a large margin, the provincial government proceeded with the merger regardless, and Hall became the last person to serve as mayor of the old City of Toronto before the new amalgamated city took shape in 1998 under Mel Lastman. She later served as Ontario's Chief Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission, continuing a public career built substantially around social justice and housing advocacy.

Sources

• The Canadian Encyclopedia — Barbara Hall
• Wikipedia — Barbara Hall

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Scarborough

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North York

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Etobicoke

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Mel Lastman

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