Nationality Canadian Citizenship Canadian Home town Hampstead, Quebec Name William Steinberg Education Northwestern University | Other names Bill Alma mater McGill University Title Mayor Role Politician Residence Hampstead, Canada | |
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Full Name William Steinberg | ||
William Steinberg (Bill) was born in Montreal in 1948 and grew up in the Town of Hampstead of which he has been the Mayor since 2006. Steinberg graduated McGill University, obtained a Ph.D. in Psychology from Northwestern University and was a professor at Concordia University. He is the founder of William Steinberg Consultants Inc., a survey and human resource software company. He is the President of CIRA (Cochlear Implant Recipient Association) and is Vice-Chair of the Agglomeration Permanent Commission on Public Security. Steinberg was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities on June 10, 2013.
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Steinberg states that when the Town of Hampstead was merged to the city of Montreal, he formed and led the team that succeeded in getting a demerger. This victory spurred Steinberg to start a career in politics, as the Mayor of Hampstead.
Personal life
The son of Morris and Clara Steinberg, he was born with a severe hearing loss. He grew up in Hampstead. He has a brother, Jonathan and a sister, Ivy. After graduating McGill University, he married Doris Staniszewski. They were doctoral candidates at Northwestern University where they both received their Ph.D. in Psychology. They returned to Hampstead and built a home on Albion St. to start a family. Their children Tara and Craig are both graduates of McGill. In 2004, Bill Steinberg received a cochlear implant to improve his hearing.
Mayor of the Town of Hampstead, 2005-present
Steinberg was elected Mayor of Hampstead in 2005, in a race against 27 year incumbent, Irving L. Adessky, and former Town Councillor, Gerald Kessner. After having boycotted the Montreal Agglomeration Council in 2006, Steinberg questioned the democratic nature of the Agglom during the 2007 election cycle. In 2008, Hampstead with the support of Steinberg banned the installation of wood-burning appliances as a primary source of heating. Mayor Steinberg ran for re-election in 2009 against then Town Councillor David Sternthal. In debates, Sternthal considered learning French to be essential in Quebec, but Steinberg stated that his lifelong hearing condition prevents him from learning a new language. The next year, Sternthal editorialized in The Suburban against what he considered Steinberg's attempts to use town money to "strong-arm" that publication. Steinberg continued to question the Agglomeration Council in 2010 with regard to budget increases. Later that year, an election-year conflict with Councillor Abe Gonshor grew more public as Gonshor was excluded from caucus deliberations as the result of changes to the township's Code of Ethics which prevented councillors from discussing city business with a doctor, a lawyer, or anyone but their spouse. This resulted in Gonshor filing suit against the town. In 2011, the town cancelled their advertising with the Montreal weekly newspaper, The Suburban, when they ceased publication of town notices and switched to the Free Press newspaper. In 2013, Steinberg spoke in opposition to the Parti Quebecois' amended definition of English-speakers in the Charter of the French Language as applies to proposed Bill 14 for the purpose of qualifying a municipality as bi-lingual as being narrow and restrictive. He wants Hampstead to retain its bi-lingual status.
On November 3, 2013 Steinberg was reelected for a third term as Mayor of Hampstead. He defeated former councillor Bonnie Feigenbaum with 61.21% of the vote.