Diane Therrien (born 1985 or 1986) is a Canadian politician who served as the 62nd mayor of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

from 2018 to 2022. She was elected in the

2018 Ontario municipal elections The 2018 municipal elections in Ontario were held on October 22, 2018. Voters in the province of Ontario elected mayors, councillors, school board trustees and all other elected officials in all of the province's municipalities. Electoral perio ...

. Prior to her mayoral election, she was a city councillor for Ward 3 (Town Ward) from 2014 to 2018. Prior to her political career, Therrien worked for Ontario's Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and for the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network.

Early life and education

Therrien was born in Mississauga and started studying History and Peace Studies at McMaster University when she was 17-years-old. After getting a bachelor's degree from McMaster University, she obtained her master's degree

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.

, where she studied canadian indigenous issues.

Career

After graduation, Therrien worked at the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in Toronto, and for three years as a facilitator of community education at the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network. Prior to her mayoral election, she was a city councillor for Ward 3 (Town Ward) from 2014 to 2018. Therrien was elected as mayor of

in the

. Therrien is the third woman to be mayor of the city. On August 13, 2019,

Peterborough City Council Peterborough City Council is the local authority for Peterborough in the East of England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The City was incorporated as a municipal borough ...

unanimously passed a by-law to eliminate camping in City Parks. Therrien announced that she would not allow the police to enforce the bylaws as written. 1,751 members of the local community signed a petition requesting the removal of Tent City, a homeless encampment. The total expense for police patrols of the area in 2019 was more than $86,000. On February 14, 2022, Therrien asked Deputy Mayor Andrew Beamer to serve as acting mayor while she took a leave of absence for health reasons. In 2021, Therrien announced she would not run for re-election. She had been rumoured to run for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the

2022 Ontario general election The 2022 Ontario general election will be held on or before June 2, 2022, to elect Members of Provincial Parliament to serve in the 43rd Parliament of Ontario. As of December 2016, Ontario elections are held on the first Thursday in June in th ...

, but decided to not run. In 2022, Therrien was involved in a minor controversy after using the phrase "fuck off, you fuckwads." in response to supporters of QAnon conspiracy theorist

Romana Didulo Romana Didulo ( , '; born 1974 or 1975) is a Canadian far-right conspiracy theorist. She is one of the most prominent figures of the QAnon movement in Canada and promotes other conspiracy theories such as the pseudolegal concepts derived from ...

attempting to detain members of the city's police force. Her mayoral term ended in 2022.

References

External links

City of Peterborough City Council and Mayor

Official site
copy archived August 11, 2020
Diane Therrien
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Therrien, Diane 1980s births Living people Mayors of Peterborough, Ontario McMaster University alumni Politicians from Mississauga Trent University alumni Women mayors of places in Ontario Year of birth missing (living people)