Joan King

Joan King
Toronto City Councillor for Ward 12 (Seneca Heights)
In office
1997–2000
Metropolitan Toronto Councillor
In office
1988–1997
North York Councillor
In office
1985–1988

Joan King (1941-2022) was a Canadian school trustee and city councillor. After holding a five-year position on the North York Board of Education from 1980 to 1985, King was a city councillor for North York from 1985 to 1997. Following the amalgamation of Toronto in 1998, she was a Toronto City Councillor from 1997 to 2000. King was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.

Early life

King was born in 1941 in Shawinigan, Quebec. She moved to Toronto in 1958 to attend teacher's college. King was an elementary school teacher in North York and Toronto for several years and started on the North York Board of Education in 1980.

Political career

She left her education career in 1985 and was elected as the North York city councillor for Ward 13 in the 1985 Toronto municipal election. In 1988, she moved to the Metropolitan Toronto Council. As city councillor, King was a major contributor to the planned landfill at Adams Mine in 1991, which was later abandoned. King kept her position on the Metropolitan Toronto council until 1997 when she was elected to the Toronto City Council. Before the 2000 Toronto municipal election, King announced that she would not be running for city council again.

Outside of her role as city councillor, King was elected as vice-president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) in 1996 and as a member of the AMO's board of directors from 1997 until 2001. King was also a member of the Waste Diversion Organization and the Greater Toronto Services Board.

Honours

In 2001, King was named onto an honour roll by the AMO. In 2002, she received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal.

Later life

After leaving politics in 2000, King created her own consulting company and worked with an environmental engineering firm.

In 2010, King was named a member of a proposed municipal reform panel for Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman.

King died on January 27, 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Nickle, David Nickle (2022-01-28). "Joan King, former councillor and school trustee, was a champion for the environment". Toronto.com. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
  2. ↑ "Election '85". The Toronto Star. 29 October 1985. p. 6E.
  3. ↑ Josey, Stan (31 October 1991). "Lowry vowing to keep King from easy win in North York". Toronto Star. p. NY2.
  4. ↑ Angus, Charlie (2013). Unlikely Radicals: The Story of the Adams Mine Dump War. Between the Lines. p. 28. ISBN 9781771130417. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Lamble, Brian (22 August 2001). "Joan King Honoured by AMO". Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  6. ↑ Rusk, James (31 May 2000). "Downtown councillor Adams quitting politics". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "Mrs. Joan King". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
  8. ↑ Moloney, Paul; Rider, David (7 October 2010). "Sewell to head reform panel if Smitherman is elected". Toronto Star. Retrieved 17 December 2017.