Jacquelin Holzman:
Jacquelin Holzman served as mayor of Ottawa from 1991 to 1997. Never attending university, she married at age nineteen and started a family. She became a prominent volunteer, especially on causes relating to the disabled.
She was elected to Ottawa city council in 1982 representing the Richmond area and became one of the more right-leaning city councillors. Acclaimed in the 1985 elections, she soon ran into controversy in her second term over an expansion to the Carlingwood shopping centre. Holzman supported the expansion but many of her constituents were opposed. She later was criticized for supporting cuts to AIDS benefits because of her statement "people who have AIDS are going to die anyway." In the 1988 Ottawa election, she faced a strong challenge from Alex Cullen but won reelection with a solid majority.
She was a close ally of mayor Jim Durrell and was described as his heir apparent. When he chose not to run election Holzman ran against left leaning councillor Nancy Smith. Holzman ran with a pro-development and tax cut platform and defeated Smith and interim mayor Marc Laviolette.
Her first term as mayor was relatively uneventful. A controversy developed when she reversed her earlier position and backed the official recognition of Gay Pride Day. She also worked hard for the 'Yes' side in the Charlottetown Accord referendum. In the 1994 mayoral election she faced off a number of challengers with relative ease. She was accused of arrogance for planning an expedition to China under the assumption she would win reelection. Her second term was also mostly uneventful. One major debate was over the mayor's desire to add an expensive unity tower to the new city hall. The tower was eventually left unfinished, as it remains today.
In November 1996 she announced that she would not run for reelection, citing the desire to spend more time with her family. One of her children, son Bill, is a champion golfer who has represented Canada at the Maccabi games (Jewish Olympics). She was expected to face a difficult election against city councillor Jim Watson. After leaving the mayor's office, she became head of the Ottawa Congress Centre. The next year she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but was treated successfully, and became an advocate for breast cancer related causes. In 2002 she became chair of the Ottawa Health Research Institute. She remained head of the Congress Centre before retiring in 2004. In 2007 she was appointed to the board of the National Capital Commission.
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