Claudette Millar (February 3, 1935 – February 10, 2016) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician, most noted as the first mayor of

Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand and Speed River, Speed rivers, in the central part of the Ontario Peninsula. The city had a population ...

Biography

Millar was born February 3, 1935, in Belleville. She grew up primarily in Kitchener after relocating there with her family as a child. She obtained her pilot and driving licenses at age 16. Following graduation from Kitchener Collegiate Institute, Millar went on to study at

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Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

. She graduated in with a Bachelor of Arts. Millar was elected mayor of Preston in 1969, becoming Canada's youngest mayor at 35. When Preston, along with Galt, Hespeler and Blair, was amalgamated into Cambridge in 1973, Millar was elected the city's first mayor. She served two non-consecutive terms: from 1973 until 1974 and again from 1978 to 1988. As mayor, Millar was noted particularly for her work in preserving the city's cultural and environmental heritage. She opposed the construction of a

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bypass which would have disrupted parkland in the city, including the Dumfries Conservation Area and the Rare Charitable Reserve. She was a three-time

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...

candidate for the electoral district of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, losing to

Monty Davidson Montgomery Bryden Davidson (23 October 1935 – 26 March 2017) was a Canadian politician. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the riding of Cambridge from 1975 until 1981. Background Monty Davidson was a st ...

in the 1975 election and the 1977 election, and to Mike Farnan in the 1987 election. She sought the Liberal nomination for Cambridge again in the 1999 election, but lost to Jerry Boyle. Following the end of her term as mayor, Millar was appointed to the

Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was an independent administrative board, operated as an adjudicative tribunal, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It heard applications and appeals on municipal and planning disputes, as well as other matters s ...

. In 2003 she returned to municipal politics, winning election to a seat on Waterloo Regional Council. In that role, she was instrumental in bringing the Toyota plant to Cambridge. She held the role until announcing her retirement in 2014. In 2015 Millar was inducted into the Region of Waterloo's Hall of Fame. Millar died February 10, 2016, of stomach cancer after a brief stay at a

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

hospice. In November 2017,

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

announced the naming of a recently opened residence building as Claudette Millar Hall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, Claudette 1929 births 2016 deaths Mayors of Cambridge, Ontario Women mayors of places in Ontario Ontario Liberal Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections 20th-century mayors of places in Ontario 20th-century Canadian women politicians