Mike Hancock is a former mayor of the city of

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. He was elected to the position in the 2003 municipal elections, defeating three-term incumbent Chris Friel by 11,668 votes to 11,653. He did not stand for re-election in 2010 municipal elections and was replaced by the returning Friel. Born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and educated at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, Hancock worked for

Dun & Bradstreet The Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (D&B) is an American company that provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company offers a wide range of products and services for risk a ...

of Canada as an analyst and then manager from 1961 to 1971. From 1971 until his retirement in 1998, he took a series of senior positions in the federal government's employment department. He moved to

in 1981.

Brantford leadership

Hancock was first elected as Ward Three city councillor in 1988, and re-elected continuously until his mayoral run. Hancock took a

fiscally conservative In American political theory, fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, an ...

position on municipal tax levels and advocated for the reduction of the city's

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...

, which was eliminated. He chaired the council's finance committee from its formation in 1990 until a new structure for committees in 1998; from 1999 to 2003 he chaired the Corporate Services Sector Committee; in 2002, the city became debt-free. From 1998 to 2003, he was executive director of the Brant Skills Development Group, supporting skills training for youth in

Brant County The County of Brant (2021 population 39,474) is a single-tier municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains the word "county" in its name, the municipality is a single-tier municipal government and has no upper tier. The C ...

. In his 2003 Inaugural Address, he identified council's top challenges as developing new industrial lands, and revitalizing Brantford's

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

, especially by growing to accommodate Brantford's rapidly growing population of post-secondary students and by reconditioning

brownfield land Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, Mike Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Mayors of Brantford Politicians from Toronto 21st-century mayors of places in Ontario