Pamela Taylor

Pamela-Jane Taylor is a Canadian intellectual property and broadcast lawyer, business woman, and community activist. She is former General Counsel to TVOntario, co-manager of a small business in the food industry, consultant to small business and lecturer in business law at both the University of Toronto and Ryerson University.
Taylor was chosen as the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party’s candidate for the October 10, 2007 provincial election for the riding of Toronto Centre. She has just recently also been chosen to represent Toronto Centre in the by-election expected to be called in early 2010 .
Biography
Taylor was born in Welland, Ontario and raised in Ontario (Toronto, Ottawa and Belleville), Quebec (Montreal) and Illinois, USA (Naperville). Taylor earned a BA (Honours) in French and German at Trinity College, University of Toronto including studies at the Université d’Aix-Marseille, France and Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany. She was then recruited into the Canadian Federal Government, working first for Environment Canada and subsequently for Revenue Canada-Taxation as a Human Resources specialist in recruitment and staffing. Fluently bilingual, she left Human Resources to complete the first year of the Common Law in French program (LLB) at the University of Ottawa, following which she obtained her law degree from Queen’s University Faculty of Law, Kingston Ontario in 1980. At the University of Ottawa, Taylor served on the Common Law student council and was subsequently elected permanent Class President for Queen’s Law 1980.
She was called to the Ontario Bar while concurrently completing the MBA program at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto in 1982. She is licensed to practice in Ontario, Canada. She later obtained her certificate in Advanced Mediation from the University of Windsor.
A contributor to Carswell’s and Canada Law Book, Taylor worked in private practice in corporate and commercial law in Toronto and lectured in business law at the University of Toronto Scarborough and Ryerson University before joining TVOntario and becoming General Counsel and Assistant Secretary to that organization. While at TVOntario, she was a member of the Pension Management Committee and also sat on the Executive and Investment Committees for the TVOntario Foundation.
Taylor has been an Advisory Board member with the Rotman School of Management in delivery of its Integrative Thinking Practicum (formerly Integrative Management Challenge) from inception to its hiatus in 2008. She has also been a Coach in Mediation training for Stitt Feld Handy-ADR Chambers since 1999.
She is a former Director of the Canadian Retransmission Collective, former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Civil Service Credit Union Ltd. and former General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of the TVOntario Foundation.
Community Activism
During her tenure as Credit Union Board Chair, Taylor was responsible for the development and construction of Peregrine Cooperative, an early coop housing project in Toronto with rent geared to income. In her law practice, she lobbied successfully to the lawyers’ insurer, Law Pro, for changes to allow in-house legal counsel to perform ‘pro bono’ work for those unable to afford it. Her law practice has subsequently included many ‘pro bono’ clients.
Taylor currently serves on Committees or Advisory Boards for the Fred Victor Centre, St. James Town Safety Committee, Moore Park Residents Association, Christ Church Deer Park, Toronto Centre Ontario Progressive Conservative Riding Association and Nightwood Theatre. Her community involvement includes work with Mooredale House, Toronto East General Hospital Foundation, Cabbagetown Community Arts Centre, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, Vertical Watch (St. James Town), St. James Town Winter Festival, Volunteer Lawyer Services, Trans Health Lobby Group, 519 Church Street Community Centre, Egale Canada and Federation of Metro Tenants Association.
Taylor lives in the Toronto neighbourhood of Moore Park, is married and has two sons.
Ontario politics
In April 2007, Taylor won the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party nomination to represent Toronto Centre in the October 10, 2007 general election. As a first time candidate, she was nonetheless successful in placing second out of nine candidates with a total of 20% of the popular vote. Recently, Taylor again won the party nomination to represent Toronto Centre in the by-election expected to take place in early 2010.
Taylor is a frequent contributor to the TFO current affairs political panel “Panorama” and is a commentator on political events in news media. She is a proud supporter of Equal Voice, an organization whose mandate is to ensure a greater representation of women in politics. In June 2008, Taylor recruited a strong slate of executive directors to the Toronto Centre Provincial Progressive Conservative Association, an organization for which she is also a director, in order to position it for the 2011 Ontario provincial election.

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