Barbara Hall (politician)

Barbara Hall
Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission
In office November 28, 2005 – February 27, 2015
Preceded by	Keith Norton
Succeeded by	Ruth Goba (interim)
61st Mayor of Toronto
In office December 1, 1994 – December 31, 1997
Preceded by	June Rowlands
Succeeded by	Mel Lastman
City Councillor, Ward 7
In office December 1, 1985 – November 30, 1994
Preceded by	David Reville Joanne Campbell
Succeeded by	Pam McConnell
Personal details
Born	1946 (age 70–71)
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	New Democrat
Profession	Lawyer

Barbara Hall CM (born 1946) is a Canadian lawyer, public servant and former politician. She was the 61st mayor of Toronto, the last to run before amalgamation. She was elected mayor of the pre-amalgamation City of Toronto in 1994, and held office until December 31, 1997. On November 28, 2005, Hall was appointed chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. After having her term extended four times, she retired February 27, 2015, after almost a decade in the position.

On July 17, 2014, a city park in Toronto's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood was renamed in her honour. She was awarded as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2015.

Hall attended the University of Victoria in British Columbia but left two credits short of a bachelor's degree to pursue community activism. She then moved to Nova Scotia to work with black families in rural areas. Hall worked as one of the first members of the Company of Young Canadians in the small community of Three Mile Plains, Nova Scotia.

In 1967, at the age of 20, she worked for Toronto youth programs and co-founded an alternative school. She served for a time as a probation officer in Cleveland, Ohio. She returned to Canada and studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University and in 1980 was admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada.

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