Mr. Speaker, today I would like to pay tribute to London's first woman mayor, Jane Bigelow, who passed away on June 1. Jane served from 1972 to 1978, and placed a great deal of importance on making London a better place to live, grow and flourish.
Jane was an advocate of libraries, museums, art galleries and festivals. She often travelled by bike throughout the city, and worked to establish our parks and walking and cycling trails. After her political career, Jane volunteered to help women in local shelters and centres.
Jane was described as a trailblazer. My favourite story of Jane was based on an editorial cartoon in our local paper. It showed “Jane of Arc” riding up to the London Club, a men-only club at the time, which had always invited the mayor to meet with its members. There was a quite stir within the club. The club simply did not know which tradition to follow: no women or no mayor.
It is this leadership that I want to specifically thank Jane for. She is one of the giants upon whose shoulders other women have been able to stand to allow us to fight for people and make London a better place for absolutely everyone.