June Rowlands
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June Rowlands was the 67th mayor of Toronto, Ontario, and the first woman to hold that office (beginning in 1991). She had previously been a long time city councillor, a failed candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada and chair of the Toronto Police Commission. Rowlands is probably best remembered for banning the Toronto pop group Barenaked Ladies from performing at a City Hall function, claiming that the group's name objectified women. The band shrugged it off good-naturedly and went on to great national and international success, but the issue became a bit of a cause celebre among many Toronto voters, who felt it an example of political correctness run amok.
Later in her term, Rowlands gained further notoriety when she seemed to be staggeringly uninformed about -- and even completely unaware of -- a large-scale youth riot that had shut down parts of Yonge Street, Toronto's main drag located just a few blocks east of City Hall. This widely-reported incident did not help Rowlands shed her 'out-of-touch' image.
In the end, after one term in office, Rowlands was defeated in 1994 by Barbara Hall, and retired from politics.
| Preceded by: Art Eggleton 1980–1991 | Mayor of Toronto 1991–1993 | Succeeded by: Barbara Hall 1993–1997 |