Terence James Cavanagh ( ; July 19, 1926 – December 17, 2017) was a Canadian politician, municipal councillor in Edmonton, Alberta, who served as mayor. He was Edmonton's first native-born mayor.

Early life

Cavanagh was born in Edmonton on July 19, 1926, to recent Scottish immigrants. He attended high school in Edmonton before moving to Galt, Ontario to play hockey for the Galt Red Wings of the Ontario Hockey Association, where he was a teammate of Gordie Howe.

After stints with the Dallas Texans of the United States Hockey League, the Valleyfield Braves of the Quebec Senior Hockey League, and the Los Angeles Ramblers and the Trail Smoke Eaters of the Western International Hockey League, he retired from hockey and found employment in the purchasing department of Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. in Trail, British Columbia.

In 1957, Cavanagh returned to Edmonton to work as the purchasing manager for Premier Steel Mills Ltd. He stayed on when the company was taken over by Stelco Steel in 1962, and remained in the position until 1977. but when ran to retain the position in the 1977 election, he finished third, nearly ten thousand votes behind victor Cec Purves and under a thousand behind Decore (he did finish well ahead of former mayor Ivor Dent, however). He stayed out of politics for six years following this defeat, serving as chair of the Government of Alberta's Alberta Rent Decontrol Appeal Board (tasked with the elimination of provincial rent controls) from 1977–80 and as a communications advisor for the Alberta Energy Company Ltd. from 1980–84.

Political views, initiatives, and reputation

Cavanagh had excellent ties with Edmonton's immigrant and especially Chinese communities. Members of the Chinese community threw him a dinner for his eightieth birthday, and he claims that he can say "vote for me" in "15 or 17 languages".

He was an advocate for the development of Edmonton's North Saskatchewan River valley as a park area, despite the fact that he is not generally known as an environmentalist. Cavanagh also played a significant role in having the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald designated a Municipal Heritage Resource in 1985, saving it from destruction.

References

Bibliography

  • Terry Cavanagh profile Edmonton City Council (retrieved August 14, 2007)
  • Edmonton Public Library biography of Terry Cavanagh
  • "Budgeting Time", Real Estate Weekly, November 23, 2006
  • "Keep rent-control plan alive, say councillors", Edmonton Journal, May 6, 2007
  • "Edmonton then, Edmonton now", Edmonton Journal, June 23, 2007 (reproduced on connect2edmonton.ca)