Barbara Greene (born 1 September 1945) is a former Canadian politician. She served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. She was previously a municipal politician in North York, and campaigned for mayor of the city in 1985. She is a Red Tory, and holds progressive views on most social issues.
Early life and career
Greene was born in Pembroke in eastern Ontario, where her father was stationed during World War II. Her parents were Alfred Greene and Mary Margaret Greene (née Hutchinson) of Toronto. Both were graduates of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. Her parents returned to Toronto following the war, and she attended St. Monica's Separate School in North Toronto. She graduated from St Michael's College, University of Toronto in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from the College of Education in 1967 with qualifications in English and Theatre Arts. She taught English at Victoria Park Secondary School for the North York Board of Education from September 1967 until she was elected to office in 1972.
Municipal politician
North York City Controller, 1972-1980
Greene was first elected to the North York Council in December 1972, winning a position on the city's Board of Control, the first woman elected to the body.
Her position on the Board of Control gave her an automatic seat on the Metropolitan Toronto Council. Greene's first campaign was centred primarily around a zoning issue: she opposed a municipal bylaw restricting cohabitation by people unless they were related or one person was an owner (she and her female housemates had been threatened with eviction under the terms of this bylaw). Greene also argued that she would speak for the rights of women, single persons, tenants and salaried workers. One of the first issues she was involved in was the Ambulance service. She fought a "one woman war" which resulted in the amalgamation of ambulances services in Metropolitan Toronto and the establishment of the Toronto Ambulance Service.
She was re-elected to the Board of Control in 1974, 1976 and 1978 before standing down in 1980. As a result of topping the poll for the Board of Control (on which sat the Mayor and four Controllers elected at-large), Greene became the Deputy Mayor of North York in 1974. In this capacity she sat on the Executive Committee and Budget sub committee of Metropolitan Toronto and reviewed the budgets of numerous departments at various times including those of the Community Services and Housing departments, the Police and the Ambulance Departments. She also ran for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1975 provincial election, losing to New Democrat Odoardo Di Santo in Downsview.
Greene's support for cohabitation law reform placed her in opposition to North York Mayor Mel Lastman, who initially supported her but then attempted to exclude boarding houses from the city. Following an eight-year legal battle conducted by lawyer Barry Swadron QC, on behalf of Doug Bell, a resident of North York who had been charged with living with other people to whom he was not related, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Greene's position and struck down the municipal bylaw in April 1979.
Greene favoured market-value assessment reforms for Metro Toronto properties, and criticized provincial Treasurer Darcy McKeough for backing away from this proposal in 1978. In 1979, she spoke out against tobacco advertising on the Toronto Transit Commission. She also supported electoral reforms, including the abolition of regional Boards of Control and the direct election of the Metro Chair.
She considered running against Lastman for Mayor of North York in 1980, but declined on the grounds that she did not have the financial resources to conduct a successful campaign. She did not seek re-election to the Board of Control, and instead announced that she would enrol in a Master of Public Administration (postgraduate) program at Harvard Kennedy School. Greene sought a prominent civil service position after returning to Toronto, but was unsuccessful and returned to teaching high-school English.
North York City Controller, 1982-1985
Greene returned to municipal politics in 1982, winning election to the second position on North York's Board of Control and receiving an automatic position on Metro's executive committee. She argued for cutbacks to the Toronto Transit Commission's budget, arguing that it had become "out of control" by 1984. Greene supported the direct election of Metro Councillors, on the grounds that indirectly elected council members were not sufficiently accountable.