served as a member of Toronto City Council for Ward 28 from its creation in 2000, and was re-elected every term until her death. In November 2013, she briefly became a subject of national and international news coverage when mayor Rob Ford, during council debate on November 18 around him of discretionary powers following his drug use scandal, got up out of his chair and began to run in the council chamber, bumping into McConnell and knocking her to the ground. Following the 2014 Toronto municipal election, new mayor John Tory appointed McConnell as one of four deputy mayors representing the city, and in 2015 he selected her as the champion of the city's poverty reduction strategy. McConnell is credited for her role in advocating poverty reduction and the revitalization of the Regent Park neighbourhood. Awards and honors McConnell received an award from the Duke of Edinburgh in 1997 for her work with inner city youth. In 2013, she received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of her decades of public service. In January 2018, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced the creation of the Pam McConnell Young Women in Leadership Award for women between the ages of 19 and 26. In June 2018, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities posthumously awarded McConnell a place in its Roll of Honour, as well as created the Pam McConnell International Award for Gender Equity, to recognize "the contributions of a Canadian municipal expert to the advancement and promotion of gender equality in FCM's programs." In July 2018, Toronto City Council voted to name the city's aquatic centre in Regent Park after McConnell, the Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre was a key development that McConnell advocated for while serving on Council. Personal life McConnell had two daughters, Heather Ann and Madelyn, with her husband Jim. On July 6, 2017, McConnell was reportedly in hospital and was referred to as "gravely ill" by Mayor John Tory. She died on July 7, 2017, from a lung condition. Election results References External links Personal website (Archived from July 7, 2015) 1946 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Canadian politicians 20th-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Canadian schoolteachers Chairs of the Toronto Police Services Board Deaths from lung disease English emigrants to Canada Metropolitan Toronto councillors People from Carlisle, Cumbria Toronto city councillors Toronto District School Board trustees Women in Ontario politics Women municipal councillors in