Lorna Jackson

Political career

Jackson was first elected to Vaughan Council in 1974, serving six years as a local councillor and two years as regional councillor before being elected mayor in 1982. She was re-elected to a seventh term of office as Mayor in November 2000.

During her terms as Mayor, Jackson led Vaughan Council and staff through the years of rapid growth and development and the transition from a town into a city. In addition to her responsibilities as a member of various committees and boards at the City of Vaughan, Jackson served on York Regional Council and was a member of its finance and administration and economic development committees, as well as chair of the York Regional Police Services Board. She also served on the Greater Toronto Services Board, the board of directors of Hydro Vaughan Distribution Inc., was a member of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority for more than 14 years.

Her issues

Jackson was an advocate for the City of Vaughan and its business and residential communities. Amongst her long list of accomplishments, she successfully led the lobby to have the Ontario Minor Hockey Association make face protection for children mandatory in recreational hockey. She supported the construction of a pedestrian bridge over the Humber River. She also was instrumental in promoting the design of the Woodbridge Pool to make it easier for physically challenged residents to learn how to swim.

As recently as February, 2002, Jackson led the effort to obtain commitments from the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario to close the Keele Valley Landfill site by December 31, 2002.

Other activities

As well as her work in public service, Lorna had another great passion and talent, painting. She won her first art award at the age of 11 at the TTC Hobby Shows competition with drawings of popular cartoon characters. It was a start of a lifelong commitment to art. Her recent work in watercolours was sparked by a desire to preserve Vaughan's heritage by depicting local scenes from life in the 1800s. Several of these watercolours were reproduced in a special edition calendar published in 1999.

Family

Her career and volunteer work notwithstanding, Lorna's true devotion was to her family. She and her husband Al were married for 45 years. They had three children: Linda, Jim and Jeff, and five grandchildren: Carolyn, Lindsay, Lauren, John-Paul and Lucas. Her daughter Linda was formerly a regional councillor on Vaughan City Council and former mayor.

Legacy

Lorna Jackson Public School and Lorna Jackson Transformer Station are named for the late mayor.