Helen Cooper (politician)

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Helen Cooper (born November 13, 1946) is an Australian-born Canadian politician and administrator. She served as mayor of Kingston, Ontario, from 1988 to 1993 and was the chair of the Ontario Municipal Board from 1993 to 1996.

Early life and education
Cooper was born in Australia and moved to Kingston as a child. She attended Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University in 1968, and completed a Master of Science at the London School of Economics in 1973. She worked abroad in development programs and later taught part-time at Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College.

Local councillor
She was elected to Kingston City Council as an alderman for the Sydenham Ward in 1980 and was re-elected in 1982 and 1985. In 1985, she was the first councillor to vote in favor of a Gay Pride Day for Kingston, a decision met with strong backlash. When she ran for mayor in 1988, she initially pledged not to proclaim Gay Pride Day, but she later supported a proclamation during her 1991 re-election campaign.

Mayor
Cooper won the 1988 mayoral election, defeating Joe Hawkins, becoming Kingston’s first female mayor. She was re-elected in 1991 with a larger margin and served as president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in 1991–92. As mayor, she helped establish a Community Economic Advisory Committee that contributed to building a civic airport facility and a Technology Transfer Centre for Queen’s University. She was the only mayoral candidate to support a city takeover of the Kingston Public Utilities Commission in 1991, but voters rejected the measure in a referendum. A property tax re-assessment in 1992 caused higher bills for some residents. With one year left in her term, she resigned in 1993 to become the three-year chair of the Ontario Municipal Board.

Federal politics
In early 1997, Cooper sought the Progressive Conservative nomination for Kingston and the Islands, encouraged by party leader Jean Charest. She won the nomination but finished second in the federal election to Liberal Peter Milliken. Analysts noted that voters had difficulty associating her with a right-of-centre party. After the defeat, she remained active in the PC Party, supporting Hugh Segal’s leadership bid in 1998. In 2002, she was appointed to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s Advisory Council.

Later career
By 2005, Cooper was employed with Ontario’s Ministry of Community and Social Services. From 2006 to 2014, she worked as a manager delivering programs for adult development services. After retiring from the ministry, she became a distinguished fellow at Queen’s University’s School for Policy Studies.