Claudette Millar, the first mayor of Cambridge, has passed away

Claudette Millar has died at the age of 80.

She was a main force behind the city of Cambridge.

Millar was elected Mayor of Preston in 1969, as the youngest mayor in our country at 35.

When amalgamation happened in 1973, she was elected as Cambridge’s first mayor.

“I think it was a challenge for Claudette, because of obviously amalgamations that were forced right across Ontario weren’t popular, and certainly wasn’t at that time in Cambridge,” says Regional Chair Ken Seiling. “She was faced with the task of, forging a new community, a new identity and bringing together three different communities. She worked hard at it, and was very, very loyal to Cambridge.”

Millar was inducted into the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame on April 26, 2015.

“Claudette and I have been friends and colleagues for almost 40 years, so we’ve had a long history together. She was a delightful lady, pretty feisty, very opinionated at times, but always one you could talk to, have a good discussion with, and always forward looking.”

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig says Claudette was his mentor for years.

“We were good friends, she spent a lot of time praising me, but also a lot of time criticizing me in terms of things I was doing to make me a better mayor and I’m always very appreciative of that.”

Miller was a Regional councillor for eleven years up until 2014. Craig says she was very passionate about her community.

“Never ran with the main stream and was her own person and was a true spirit that influenced the foundations of the new city of Cambridge.”

The following is from the Region of Waterloo Hall of Fame:

Claudette Marie Hall was born in Belleville, Ontario, moving with her family to Kitchener when she was 12 years of age. She grew up talking about political issues with her family around the dinner table. Upon completing university and working abroad for a few years, she returned to Kitchener in the mid 1960s, marrying Clare Millar.

In 1970, Millar attended a Preston Council meeting where a contentious development project was going to be approved without much public consultation. Motivated by this meeting, Millar ran for office and was elected as the last mayor of the former town of Preston.

In 1973, the amalgamation of Hespeler, Preston and Galt into the City of Cambridge took place as well as the formation of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Millar became the first mayor of the new City, overseeing its creation and dealing with the devastating flooding of the Grand River in 1974. In 1978 Millar was re-elected Mayor of Cambridge, a position she held for the next ten years.

As mayor, Millar served on numerous city and regional committees, commissions and boards. She was particularly involved in urban core revitalization, riverbank development and environmental issues.

In the late 1980s, Millar became a member of the Ontario Municipal Board and travelled across the province for the next ten years hearing appeals on planning issues and assessments.

In 2003 Millar was elected as a Regional Councillor representing Cambridge; she continued in that role until late 2014.

Photograph courtesy of the University of Waterloo Library, Kitchener Waterloo Record Photographic Negative Collection.