This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them. For Women's History Month, we look back at Barrie's female mayors.
Marjorie Hamilton (1951-52)
Marjorie May MacDonald was born in Teeswater, Ont., in 1898. Following school in Teeswater and Toronto, she met and married John Mercer Hamilton, of Tottenham, in 1922. The family lived in Tottenham for a period of time, before moving to Timmins, then to Barrie in 1936.
The Hamiltons and their three children lived at 62 High St., the impressive mansion, Glenholme, built in 1872 for George Lount.
Marjorie and her husband were politically active in the Centre Simcoe Progressive Conservative Association and both had held the position of secretary-treasurer. Early in the Second World War, as a member of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Barrie Lions Club, Marjorie opened her home for fundraisers in support of British children. Also during the war, Marjorie represented the Navy League of Canada, which led to the formation of the Barrie branch of the Navy League and Barrie Sea Cadets Corps.
In 1947, Marjorie’s husband, Mercer, passed away.
Alderman Hamilton was part of a delegation sent to Ottawa in support of a radio station for Barrie, and she served on several city committees, including property and welfare, as well. On announcing her run for mayor, she stated: “My platform is courtesy, co-operation and progress … By progress I mean doing those things which are necessary to facilitate our growth and expansion, keeping a watchful eye on the dollars and cents.”
In the largest turnout of voters in the town’s history, Marjorie Hamilton, the 51-year-old widow, grandmother and alderman, was elected two-to-one as Barrie’s first woman mayor, and one of the earliest female mayors in Ontario.
The legend goes that as the results of the election signalled a victory for Hamilton, she was taken by cutter from her High Street home to town hall, followed by a band and a parade of cars and supporters. “The attractive grandmother, Mrs. Mercer Hamilton” received an ovation when she arrived at the municipal chambers.
During her tenure as mayor, Marjorie Hamilton had the pleasure of presiding over a community celebration and parade when the Barrie Flyers won the 1951 Memorial Cup.
Hamilton served on the board of the Association of Ontario Mayors and Reeves, the Ontario Hydro Advisory Council, and, in 1955, was appointed judge of the Juvenile and Family Court for the County of Simcoe.
Marjorie May Hamilton died in 1990 and is buried in Barrie Union Cemetery.
Dorian Parker (1973-76)
Barrie would not have another female mayor for 20 years until alderman Dorian Parker was elected in 1972.
Dorian Willoughby, born in 1923, was living in Pickering and working for Defence Industries Limited (DIL), a government-owned munitions plant, which operated from 1941 to 1945, when she married Frederick Parker, a member of the CAC stationed at Camp Borden, in 1944. A dainty lunch for 70 followed the pretty evening wedding at the groom’s home on Oshawa.
The Parkers lived their whole Barrie lives in Allandale. In her late 30s, Parker was playing centre field and was named MVP in the 1958 Ontario Intermediate A Women’s Championship softball tournament. Parker was a familiar voice at Queen’s Park, announcing the evening fastball games to the spectators.
Parker, an alderman since 1966, was fearless and determined when it came to representing her ward and the interests of her constituents.
The outspoken and opinionated alderman was always in the news, tackling municipal issues and problems. It was Parker who, in 1972, urged council to have the public works committee investigate establishing a permanent city bus terminal building in the downtown, so passengers would have a place to wait for buses in inclement weather.
Parker’s most well-known crusade, was the “Save the Park” campaign. When the Barrie Country Club relocated to St. Vincent Street, the City of Barrie purchased the 80-acre golf course on Sunnidale Road in 1968, with plans for a subdivision and a small park.
With astonishing foresight for that time, Parker recognized the importance of preserving the space as an area of parkland, and championed that cause all the way.
Dorian Parker deserves our gratitude for the magnificent Sunnidale Park that so many residents and visitors enjoy. The former golf course’s clubhouse was named the Dorian Parker Centre in her honour.
From 1966 until 1994, when she retired from public life, the industrious Parker served as alderman for 23 years and two terms as mayor.
Dorian Parker died at the IOOF retirement home in Allandale in 2007.
Janice Laking (1988-2000)
You could say politics is in Laking’s blood.
Her father, Judge Duncan Fletcher McCuaig, mayor of Barrie from 1928 to 1931, went on to represent Simcoe North in the House of Commons from 1935 to 1945 as a member of the Liberal Party.
Janice herself made an unofficial debut in municipal affairs early in life. When best wishes and gifts were bestowed on Mayor McCuaig in chambers, to celebrate the arrival of his daughter, the three aldermen, all bachelors, making the presentation, got Janice’s age and name wrong. The mayor set the record straight.
We're pretty sure her name hasn’t been forgotten since.
Janice continued to be in the spotlight. The sharpshooting "bucket mistress" of the basketball court was frequently mentioned in the sports pages. The "silent little hoopster," as she was often called, received the Dr. G.E. Tanner trophy for senior girls basketball for the Georgian Bay District Central Ontario Secondary Schools Association, which Barrie Collegiate Institute won in 1947-48.
After that, the head girl, honour student, violinist and basketball star was off to Western University in London. She married John Laking, another athlete from BCI, in December 1952. John would launch a longtime business in Barrie: Laking and Rhoades Travel.
After a 28-year career as a beloved faculty member at Barrie North Collegiate, Janice was elected to city council in 1972. In 1978, Laking was nominated as the Simcoe South Liberal candidate in the 1979 federal election, but later withdrew to run for mayor instead. She was not successful in her bid for mayor, but was returned to council in 1980, where she served another eight years.
It was 1988 when Laking was first elected mayor. She won her second term, by acclamation, in 1991.
Once again the Simcoe Centre Liberal candidate in the 1993 election, Laking lost by a narrow margin. Every riding in Ontario was won by a Liberal in that election, except Simcoe Centre … the consensus in the media was that Laking’s immense popularity as mayor worked against her. Barrie wanted to keep her in the mayor’s seat!
Janice Laking was re-elected mayor again in 1994 and in 1997. Only one other mayor, Jeff Lehman, has served as long as Laking.
Of the many accomplishments during her time as mayor, buying the rail lines from Barrie to Bradford and Barrie to Collingwood would prove visionary. At a time when CN was removing tracks, acquiring the Barrie-Bradford line would prove a strategic decision on the part of her council, enabling the future GO service without the cost of replacing or laying new track.
After serving as Barrie’s mayor, Laking was appointed a citizenship judge in the Citizenship Commission, an administrative tribunal within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). She is also an honorary colonel of CFB Borden's 16 Wing unit and was honorary chair of the Barrie Bell Restoration Committee.
And in case you think she hasn’t done anything lately, Janice Laking was part of the three-person Sir Robert Barrie Project committee. The initiative honours our city’s namesake and established June 7 as Sir Robert Barrie Day, the anniversary of Barrie’s death.
It is also the anniversary of the signing of the city’s agreement in 2021 to make his final resting place, Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England, Barrie’s twin city. Artifacts to commemorate Sir Robert Barrie are showcased at Barrie City Hall.
The Sir Robert Barrie Project received a Barrie Heritage Award in 2022.
The Waterford Retirement Living facilities on Edgehill Drive is where you’ll find Janice Laking these days … I like to think she’s probably the mayor of that place, too.
