Ann Mulvale Appointed Halton Region Chair, a Job That Used to Be Elected

Halton Region has a new chair, and for the first time in more than 20 years, nobody voted for the person holding the job. Ann Mulvale, who was mayor of Oakville for six terms, was named regional chair on November 10 by the province's minister of municipal affairs and housing.

Mulvale ran Oakville from 1988 until she lost to Rob Burton in 2006, the same year Gary Carr was first elected Halton's regional chair. Carr held that seat until this year's municipal election, when he ran for the Ward 2 council seat in Burlington and lost.

The change comes out of the Better Regional Governance Act, which Queen's Park passed earlier this year. It reworked how eight of Ontario's upper-tier municipalities are run, Halton among them, by giving regional chairs strong-chair powers and turning the position into a provincial appointment instead of an elected office.

Mulvale is one of eight regional, district and county chairs the minister appointed across Ontario at the same time. Municipal affairs minister Rob Flack said the appointments reflect confidence in local leaders with a record of public service, and that the chairs are expected to support growth and keep services running efficiently across their municipalities.