Linda Jackson (politician)

Linda D. Jackson
Mayor of Vaughan, Ontario
In office 2006–2010
Preceded by	Michael Di Biase
Succeeded by	Maurizio Bevilacqua

Linda D. Jackson is a Canadian politician and former mayor of Vaughan, Ontario. Jackson was elected mayor on November 14, 2006. Jackson’s election displaced well known incumbent Michael Di Biase, which she won by only 90 votes. She was later defeated by Maurizio Bevilacqua in the 2010 Vaughan municipal election.

Jackson grew up in the Woodbridge neighbourhood of Pine Grove, and attended Woodbridge High School and Thornhill Secondary School. Her father and brothers were active in local hockey, and Jackson was a founding member of the Pine Wood Angels in the early 1970s, the first girls’ hockey team in Vaughan, and later coached boys’ hockey.

Jackson is the daughter of the late Lorna Jackson, also a former mayor of the city. Lorna Jackson was first elected to Vaughan Council in 1974. Lorna Jackson later became Vaughan’s longest-serving mayor, holding the office from 1982 until her death in office in April 2002. According to Jackson’s official bio, she often discussed municipal politics with her family. Jackson “credits her mother with teaching her the importance of public service and how to effect change in the community”.

Before running for public office, Jackson worked in human resources and security management for corporations in the city of Vaughan.

Jackson has served on the Vaughan Health Care Foundation, volunteered with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of York Region, and is the past chair of the York Region Abuse Program. Jackson is an avid gardener.

Jackson was first elected to the position of ward councillor in 2002 in a by-election. Jackson was then elected as regional councillor in the 2003 municipal election, serving as York Region councillor from Vaughan from 2003 to 2006.

In 2006, Jackson was elected the mayor of Vaughan by only 90 votes. Jackson was elected on a platform to clean up City Hall after reports of irregularities under the former Mayor Di Biase. The subsequent controversy over her election campaign led to years of fighting with city council, lasting throughout the entirety of her term in office.

On December 15, 2008 all eight city councilors held a press conference to demand Jackson's resignation. Their request came after a lengthy public debate over Jackson's expenses. An audit by Ernst and Young released December 3 found she had not violated any rules. The report also found “there were no personal expenditures of the mayor that were claimed as business expenses.”

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