Gayle Christie (née Ingle; born ) is a former politician in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. She was mayor of the borough of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

from 1978 to 1982.

Background

Christie was born in

Garson, Ontario Nickel Centre (1996 census population 13,017) was a town in Ontario, Canada, which existed from 1973 to 2000. It was created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury. On January 1, 2001, the town and the Regional Municipality were dissolve ...

just outside of Sudbury. Her parents were John and Muriel Ingle. Her father owned a Toronto insurance company. She attended

Runnymede Collegiate Institute Runnymede Collegiate Institute (colloquially known as Runnymede CI, RCI, or Runnymede) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school first opened in 1927 and is operated by the Toronto District School Board. Runnymede has a pop ...

. She married John Christie with whom she had four children.

Politics

Christie was elected as a school trustee in 1972. She served until 1976 when she was elected alderman in ward 7 in the borough of

. In the 1978 municipal election she ran for the position of mayor and defeated incumbent Philip White by 1,682 votes. Defeated mayor White commented on her victory. He said, "Christie had a well-oiled election machine. They had the troops. That's what you need and I didn't have them." She was re-elected in 1980. In 1982, she was narrowly defeated by

Alan Tonks Alan Tonks (born April 2, 1943) is a former Canadian politician. He was the Liberal MP for the federal riding of York South—Weston in Toronto from 2000 to 2011, and was the final Metro Toronto Chairman before the amalgamation of Metro Toront ...

by a margin of 105 votes. Christie had been criticized during the campaign for her handling of labour negotiations which led to a garbage strike and a work slowdown by civic employees. While recounts were only done for margins under 100 votes, Christie pressed for a recount nonetheless. In a negotiation between Tonks and Christie, they were both allowed to open the ballot boxes to scrutinize the contents. While Christie hinted at forcing a new election, she eventually relinquished the mayor's chair to Tonks. In 1984, she attempted to become nominated as the federal Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence. She was defeated by Dan La Caprara after three ballots by a vote of 410 to 317. De Caprara lost to incumbent

Roland de Corneille Roland de Corneille (May 19, 1927 – December 30, 2014) was a Canadian Anglican priest, human rights activist and politician. He represented the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Liberal Party ...

in the June election. In 1985, she tried for another nomination, this time as the provincial PC candidate in the riding of Eglinton. She lost to David McFadden who went on to win the riding in the May election.

After politics

In 1985, she was appointed as a director to the board of

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

. Christie was a long-time friend of Mulroney's and worked as co-chair of his leadership campaign in 1984. The appointment was widely seen as a patronage appointment. After the appointment, Christie jokingly referred to her driver's licence as a qualification for her appointment. The humour did not go over well with Mulroney's aides. In the 1990s, she started working as a government relations consultant and lobbyist. In 2004, she became president of the Yorktown Child and Family Centre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Gayle 1940s births Mayors of York, Ontario Women mayors of places in Ontario Living people