Dianne Louise Haskett was born on March 4,1955 and is a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the mayor of London, Ontario, Canada, serving from 1994 to 2000, and later ran unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the 2006 federal by-election in the riding of London North Centre, placing third.
18 Facts About Dianne Haskett
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Dianne Haskett has studied law at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies at Cambridge University, England.
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From 1991 to 1994, Dianne Haskett was a member of London's elected board of control on city council.
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Once Dianne Haskett was elected mayor in November 1994, defeating Deputy Mayor Jack Burghardt by slightly more than 1,000 votes, she stepped aside from her duties as a lawyer and as a partner in her law firm.
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Dianne Haskett was re-elected in 1997 with a landslide victory.
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In 1995, Dianne Haskett refused to issue a Gay Pride Proclamation on the basis that she'd previously formulated a policy of declining controversial proclamations.
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Richard Hudler, president of the Homophile Association of London, Ontario, filed an official complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission in 1995, a tribunal of which ultimately determined in 1997 after a three-day public hearing that the City of London and Mayor Dianne Haskett had discriminated against HALO in the provision of a municipal service.
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Dianne Haskett placed a paid advertisement in The London Free Press on October 22,1997, in which she stated that she believed the human rights case was unfairly decided and wrong in fact and law, and that the Tribunal's decision undermined the freedoms guaranteed in the Canadian Constitution, notably freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
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Dianne Haskett used no campaign signs during the 1997 civic election, instead using green-and-gold ribbons.
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In 1996, Dianne Haskett was invited to bring greetings at an evangelical Christian rally in London called the "March of Jesus".
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Dianne Haskett bowed her head during the prayer, and later said, "From what I know of him, I believed Rev Sanchez and all other participants have a great love for all people".
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Dianne Haskett thanked the Muslim community for the many positive contributions they made to the city and urged people of all faiths to show love and respect for one another.
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Dianne Haskett completed her second Master's Law Degree in the Spring of 2005 from The George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC She passed the Washington DC Bar exam and was sworn in as an attorney and member of the DC Bar in December, 2005.
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Dianne Haskett has been involved in a number of other projects in the Washington, DC area, including speechwriting, research and marketing and acting in an advisory capacity in Senate and Congressional campaigns.
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Dianne Haskett volunteered as a communications adviser and researcher for Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole.
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On October 17,2006,1290 CJBK-AM, a London, Ontario radio station, and the A-Channel reported that Dianne Haskett had returned to London to seek the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in the London North Centre federal riding recently vacated by former Liberal MP Joe Fontana, who was a candidate for mayor of London in civic election 2006.
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Dianne Haskett was widely considered to be the choice of the party hierarchy.
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The local riding association was ordered to hold the nomination meeting on October 24,2006, a decision Dianne Haskett was informed of before the riding association was.