Alene Holt

Alene E. Holt (sometimes spelled Aileen Holt; 1908–1987) was a Canadian politician. She was the first female alderman for Peterborough, Ontario, elected in 1959 and the first female mayor, appointed in 1962.

Holt was involved in many community causes in the city of Peterborough including efforts to support the Second World War through victory bonds and volunteer service groups like the Kinettes. The Peterborough City Council chose Holt to succeed him for the rest of the term. At the end of this term, she chose to run to for mayor but lost the election to Clarence Boorman.

In 1968, Holt was awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal for Valuable Service to the Nation.

Holt retired from municipal politics, six years after her last term as alderman, in 1976. She was paralyzed with a spinal tumor and stated that she could no longer attend meetings at City Hall. The building was not wheelchair accessible and up until that point she had relied on assistance from firefighters to get in and out. She went on to sit on the provincial Social Assistance Review Board in 1978.

At various points during her political career Holt served as chair of all standing committees of council and chair of special committees such as Public Relations and Development Week Programmes. She also served as city council's representative at the Chamber of Commerce, Arts & Water Festival Board, and at the 1975 Trent University Homecoming committee.

For a profile in the book Portraits: Peterborough area women past and present Holt remarks on the challenges for women in politics, saying, "Politics is exhausting. When a woman is at home raising a family, she probably doesn't have time to become involved in politics." The writer of this article goes on to say, "This is a problem, points out Mrs. Holt, because by the time the children have reached an independent stage, it is probably too late for that woman to seek political office."