Elizabeth Amer

{{Short description|Canadian politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Elizabeth Amer | image = | image_size = | caption = | office1 = Toronto City Councillor for Ward 5 | term_start1 = 1988 | term_end1 = 1994 | predecessor1 = Dale Martin | successor1 = Dan Leckie | birth_date = 1938 | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| spouse = | occupation = }} '''Elizabeth Amer''' (born 1938) is a Canadian politician who served on Toronto City Council as councillor for Ward 5 from 1988 to 1994.<ref name=miller>David Miller, ''Witness to a City: David Miller's Toronto''. Cormorant Books, 2010. {{ISBN|9781897151808}}. pp. 27-33.</ref>

==Background==

Born in Toronto, Ontario, she is the daughter of Margaret Coleman, a "den mother" to the city's arts scene who had played a key role in the establishment of Coach House Books, and the sister of poet Victor Coleman.<ref>{{cite news |author=John Bentley Mays |title=Sculpture dedicated to artists' 'den mother' |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=October 30, 1985 |id={{ProQuest|386242020}} }}</ref> She had originally been drawn to life on the Toronto Islands through visiting her grandparents, who lived on Ward's Island; Amer moved in with her grandmother after completing high school, and later inherited the house after her mother's death.<ref>Katherine Laidlaw, [https://torontolife.com/city/the-year-of-the-flood/ "The Year of the Flood"]. ''Toronto Life'', July 17, 2017.</ref>

She was an editor of a local Toronto Island community newspaper, ''The Goose and Duck'', in the early 1970s. She attained citywide prominence in 1980 as an advocate for residents of the Toronto Islands when the Metropolitan Toronto Council of that era attempted to evict them on the grounds that the islands were zoned as parkland.<ref name=miller/> Her activism successfully staved off the eviction,<ref name=miller/> and eventually led to the passage of new provincial legislation in 1993 to protect the homes on the islands by granting the residents 99-year leases on their properties.<ref>{{cite news |author=Derek Ferguson |title=Island homes get official protection for 99 years |publisher=Toronto Star |date=July 22, 1993 |id={{ProQuest|436870048}} }}</ref>

She remained an outspoken activist for the rights of island residents through the 1980s, including as spokesperson for the island's residents association.<ref>{{cite news |title=Island dwellers face prosecution |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=September 11, 1981 |id={{ProQuest|386805908}} }}</ref>

==Political career== She ran in the 1988 Toronto municipal election, winning a seat as the councillor for Ward 5 over challenger Peter Maloney,<ref>{{cite news |title=Civic Election '88: Toronto Islands activist wins in Ward 5 |author=Robert MacLeod |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=November 15, 1988 |id={{ProQuest|387306239}} }}</ref> although Maloney claimed during the campaign that Amer's endorsement by the Metro New Democratic Party meant that he felt like he was really running against Jack Layton.<ref>Robert MacLeod, "Development is key issue in heated contest". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 8, 1988.</ref> During the election campaign, she spoke out against a common practice whereby wealthy lawyers and developers, whose offices were largely located in Ward 5, were effectively able to gain a double vote in both Ward 5 and their home wards by listing their office as a secondary residence.<ref>{{cite news |author=Sean Fine |title=NDP municipal candidate challenges voting rights |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=October 13, 1988 |id={{ProQuest|385817922}} }}</ref>

She was one of six councillors, alongside Layton, Barbara Hall, Kay Gardner, Nadine Nowlan and Tom Jakobek, appointed to the new executive committee after the election.<ref>{{cite news |author=Tom Kerr |title=Reformers take charge at city hall |publisher=Toronto Star |date=November 29, 1988 |id={{ProQuest|435804987}} }}</ref>

In one of her first significant acts on council, she opposed a waterfront condominium project whose developer had appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board for a bypass of the city's approval process.<ref>Paul Taylor, "Developer goes to OMB for nod on controversial waterfront project". ''The Globe and Mail'', December 8, 1988.</ref> In 1989, she brokered a compromise that approved an expansion proposal at the Art Gallery of Ontario, by allowing the renovation to proceed in exchange for the gallery dropping its controversial request to have much of Grange Park converted into a parking lot.<ref>{{cite news |author=Laurie Monsebraaten |title=$34 million art gallery expansion approved |publisher=Toronto Star |date=February 11, 1989 |id={{ProQuest|435882855}} }}</ref>

In 1990, Amer was one of five councillors, alongside Layton, Nowlan, Howard Levine and Marilyn Churley, who opposed a Toronto city council resolution supporting a bid by the City of Toronto for the 1996 Olympic Games.<ref>{{cite news |author=Margaret Polanyi |title=Toronto councillors vote 12-5 to make bid for 1996 Olympics |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=January 30, 1990 |id={{ProQuest|385721697}} }}</ref> Also in 1990, she served on the Festival of Festivals jury for the Best Canadian Film, alongside Robert Daudelin, Monika Treut, Patricia Gruben and Jay Switzer.<ref>Jay Scott, "Director 'shocked' to win $25,000 prize H was 'totally unanimous' choice as best Canadian feature". ''The Globe and Mail'', September 17, 1990.</ref>

She was reelected to a second term on council in the 1991 Toronto municipal election.<ref>Timothy Appleby, "Provincial fallout slight: NDP incumbents hang on but margins slimmer". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 13, 1991.</ref> In early 1992, mayor June Rowlands appointed Amer, alongside Hall, Jakobek and Betty Disero, to a committee tasked to negotiate over the redevelopment of the railway lands near the SkyDome.<ref>"Railway lands negotiations to resume". ''The Globe and Mail'', January 28, 1992.</ref>

Amer was on the Toronto Mayor's Committee on Aging in 1993.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/committees/social-development/parliament-35/transcript/committee-transcript-1993-mar-09 | title=Committee Transcript 1993-Mar-09 | Legislative Assembly of Ontario }}</ref> In the same year she advocated for improvements to the Martin Goodman Trail after people reported problems with an apartment building whose front door opened directly onto the trail,<ref>Tony Wong, "Hazard on Goodman trail questioned". ''Toronto Star'', June 10, 1993.</ref> and was one of seven councillors who voted against renaming a portion of Peter Street to Blue Jays Way.<ref>Robert MacLeod, "Gretzky puts two in net with street, number change; Council votes 9-7 in favour of Blue Jays Way and No. 99". ''The Globe and Mail'', December 14, 1993.</ref>

In 1993 Amer co-authored the book ''Taking Action: Working Together for Positive Change in Your Community'', a grassroots organizing guide.<ref>Mia Stainsby, "In troubled times don't get mad, get active". ''Vancouver Sun'', February 19, 1993.</ref>

She did not run for re-election in the 1994 Toronto municipal election; she alleged that she was pushed out by the NDP establishment, although according to Olivia Chow the NDP merely declined to block Lee Zaslofsky from challenging Amer for the nomination.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jane Armstrong |title=Councillor reluctant about her retirement Bitter Liz Amer says her NDP friends gave her a push |publisher=Toronto Star |date=June 9, 1994 |id={{ProQuest|437046947}} }}</ref> She was succeeded by Dan Leckie,<ref>Robert Everett-Green, "Arts group takes credit for victories; Coalition-approved candidates win in three close Toronto races". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 16, 1994.</ref> while Zaslofsky ran to succeed Dale Martin in Ward 6 instead of challenging Leckie, and himself lost to Chow.

==Post-political life== She was appointed to the board of the Ontario College of Pharmacists by the government of Bob Rae in 1995.<ref>Greg Crone, "NDP government accused of indulging in orgy of patronage". ''Hamilton Spectator'', April 25, 1995.</ref>

She was subsequently founding president of Friends of the Toronto Public Library.<ref>"The List: A Critical Guide to What's Happening". ''The Globe and Mail'', March 29, 1997.</ref> In his book ''Witness to a City'', later Toronto mayor David Miller also credited Amer as one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Toronto Public Library's Lillian H. Smith branch in 1995.<ref name=miller/>

Her prominence as an activist was renewed in the early 2000s when provincial environment minister Chris Stockwell compared island residents to squatters, and argued that the prior legislation protecting their rights should be overturned so that the residents could be evicted to turn the island into parkland.<ref>Dale Anne Freed, "Islanders fume at squatter label ; Residents rallying to ward off Tory lease threat". ''Toronto Star'', October 2, 2002.</ref> The provincial government again backed off of the threat.<ref>Caroline Mallan and Richard Brennan, "MPP buoys island residents". ''Toronto Star'', October 3, 2002.</ref>

As of 2023, Amer still lived on the Toronto Islands.<ref>May Warren and Victoria Gibson, [https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/the-greying-of-toronto-islands-the-curious-case-of-one-of-the-city-s-most/article_4cc9980c-4d0d-51c8-87ba-5e7533957e2f.html "The greying of Toronto Islands: The curious case of one of the city's most coveted communities"]. ''Toronto Star'', April 16, 2023.</ref>

== References ==  {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amer, Elizabeth}} Category:Living people Category:Toronto city councillors Category:Women municipal councillors in Ontario Category:1938 births Category:20th-century Canadian municipal councillors Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians