{{Short description|South African politician (1938–2017)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Maureen Prinsloo | image = Maureen_Prinsloo.jpg | image_size = | office1 = Alderwoman, Ward 10, Scarborough | term_start1 = 1978 | term_end1 = 1988 | birth_name = Maureen Berg | birth_date = 1938 | birth_place = [[Union of South Africa]] | death_date = December 2, 2017 (aged 79) | death_place = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] | occupation = Civil servant }}
'''Maureen Prinsloo''' (1938 – December 2, 2017) was a municipal politician in [[Scarborough, Toronto|Scarborough]], [[Ontario]] who served as Chair of the [[Toronto Police Services Board]] from 1995 to 1998.
== Life ==
Prinsloo was born in South Africa and moved to Canada with her husband in 1965.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://viralhug.com/former-scarborough-councillor-maureen-prinsloo-was-a-champion-of-community-based-policing/ | title=Viral Hug is under construction }}</ref>
She was elected to Scarborough [[city council|municipal council]] in 1978 and served for 10 years as an [[alderman]]. In 1985, she was one of the alderman chosen by Scarborough Council to sit on Metro Council and in 1988, she won a seat in her own right on [[Metro Toronto Council]] from the ward of Scarborough Wexford. While on Metro Council she served as Deputy Chair under [[Alan Tonks]] and also served as chair of the Board of Governors of [[Exhibition Place]]. She ran for [[Mayor of Scarborough]] in 1994 coming in third place behind [[Frank Faubert]] and [[Marilyn Mushinski]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.toronto.ca/elections/results/results_1994.htm|title = Election Results|date = 22 August 2017}}</ref>
In 1995, she was chosen by the [[Ontario NDP]] government of [[Bob Rae]] as one of the province's appointees to the Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board with the intention of having her succeed [[Susan Eng]] as chair.<ref name=colin>"Toronto Who the heck is Maureen Prinsloo?" by Colin Vaughan, ''Globe and Mail'', May 15, 1995</ref> She was elected chair by a 5-2 margin.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}
Prinsloo's term as chair saw improved relations between the Board and the [[Metropolitan Toronto Police]] compared to the tempestuous relationship that existed under Prinsloo's predecessor, Susan Eng.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}
Following the [[1997 Toronto municipal election|1997 municipal election]] that saw [[Toronto City Council|City Council]] move to the right under new [[Mayor of Toronto]] [[Mel Lastman]] as well as the more conservative tenor of the province's appointees to the Board under Conservative Premier [[Mike Harris]], Prinsloo was challenged for the position of board chair by conservative Councillor [[Norman Gardner]], despite the long-standing convention that an incumbent chair is not challenged for the position and that the chair of the board not be a sitting city councillor. With Lastman's backing, Gardner, won the position by a 4-3 margin.<ref>John Duncanson, "Gardner wins top police board job Police scrutiny will suffer, says defeated Prinsloo"], ''Toronto Star'', January 30, 1998.</ref>
Prinsloo remained on the Board as an ordinary member until May when she resigned from the board before the end of her term.<ref>"An ousted overseer evaluates police force" by Royson James, ''Toronto Star'', May 3, 1998.</ref>
==Death==
Prinsloo died on December 2, 2017, aged 79, at a Toronto palliative care facility after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
==Electoral history==
'''Mayor of Scarborough (1994)''' *[[Frank Faubert]] 54,885 *[[Marilyn Mushinski]] 24,041 *'''Maureen Prinsloo 17,376 ''' *John O'Malley 5,088 *Max French 2,792 *Abel Van Wyk 2,758
'''Metro Council: Scarbourgh Wexford (1991)''' *'''Maureen Prinsloo 6,288''' *Hugh Canning - 4,820
'''Metro Council: Scarborough Wexford (1988)''' *'''Maureen Prinsloo 6,007''' *Bryan Prettie 4,922
'''Scarborough City Council: Ward 10 (1985)''' *'''Maureen Prinsloo 4,045''' *Richard Edmonds 1,997
'''Scarborough Council: Ward 10 (1982)''' *'''Maureen Prinsloo (acclaimed)'''
'''Scarborough Council: Ward 10 (1980)''' *'''Maureen Prinsloo''' *Patrick J. Doyle
'''Scarborough Council: Ward 10 (1978)''' ''(104 out of 105 polls counted)'' *'''Prinsloo 2,892''' *Murphy 1,835 *MacPherson 1,395 *Boye 748 *Calcutt 616 *Wayne 380
{{s-start}} {{succession box |before=[[Susan Eng]]<br />1991–1995 |title=[[Toronto Police Services Board|Chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board]] |years='''1995–1998''' |after=[[Norman Gardner]]<br />1998–2004 }} {{s-end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prinsloo, Maureen}} [[Category:1938 births]] [[Category:2017 deaths]] [[Category:South African emigrants to Canada]] [[Category:White South African people]] [[Category:Date of birth missing]] [[Category:Metropolitan Toronto councillors]] [[Category:People from Scarborough, Ontario]] [[Category:Chairs of the Toronto Police Services Board]] [[Category:Women municipal councillors in Ontario]] [[Category:Deaths from brain cancer in Ontario]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian municipal councillors]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians]]