1908 Toronto municipal election

Last updated

Municipal elections were held in Toronto , Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1908. Mayor Emerson Coatsworth did not run for a third term.

Contents

Joseph Oliver was elected to his first term as Mayor of Toronto. Oliver, who was considered a Liberal, defeated Alderman George Reginald Geary and Dr. Beattie Nesbitt who were both Conservative supporters as well as James Simpson, running as a socialist. [1] Geary would go on to serve as mayor from 1910 to 1912 as well as sit as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1925 to 1935. Simpson would later serve on the Toronto Board of Control in 1914 and again in the 1930s and would be elected mayor in 1935. A plebiscite was also held which approved the creation of the publicly owned Toronto Hydro-Electric System and public ownership of the Toronto Suburban Railway and Toronto Eastern Railway, which were both interurban electric streetcar systems.

Toronto mayor

Results
Joseph Oliver - 14,022
Alderman George Reginald Geary - 7,124
Dr Beattie Nesbitt - 6,504
James Simpson - 3,701
Miles Vokes - 964

Source: "OLIVER IS TORONTO'S MAYOR; NESBITT OVERWHELMED', The Globe, page 1, January 2, 1908 - accessed via ProQuest.

Plebiscite

A plebiscite was held on "the power by-law" in municipalities across the province to create publicly owned municipal hydro-electric utilities in order to access hydro-electric power from Niagara Falls. The Toronto Hydro-Electric System (now Toronto Hydro) was created as a result. The plebiscite also authorized the city to take into public ownership the Toronto Suburban Railway and Toronto Eastern Railway, to create a public interurban electrical transit system referred to as a "hydro-radial" system. [2] [3]

The by-law was approved in Toronto by a vote of 14,078 to 4,483. [1]

Board of Control

Three incumbent members of the Toronto Board of Control were re-elected, Controller William Peyton Hubbard was displaced by Frank Spence.

Horatio Clarence Hocken (incumbent) - 16,844
Frank S. Spence - 11,542
William Spence Harrison (incumbent) - 10,310
J.J. Ward (incumbent) - 10,075
William Peyton Hubbard (incumbent) - 9,203
John Shaw - 6,385
Robert Fleming - 5,648
Oliver B. Sheppard - 5,099
John Dunn - 4,435
John Enoch Thompson - 1,294
James Lindala - 1,220
Hugh MacMath - 1,013
Robert Buist Noble - 745
James O'Hara - 307
Joel Marvin Briggs - 232

Source: The Globe, page 3, January 2, 1908, and "MANY IN FIGHT FOR MAYORALTY: Seven Candidates Nominated at the City Hall WOULD-BE CONTROLLERS Large Crop of Nominees, Including Present Board Fifteen Men and One Woman in the List for Places on the Board of education-- The Socialists Have a Ticket-- Speeches of the Various Candidates FOR MAYOR", The Globe, 24 Dec 1907: 11.

City council

Map of Toronto's six wards (1892-1909), published in The Globe, 1 January 1892. 1892-toronto-ward-map.jpg
Map of Toronto's six wards (1892-1909), published in The Globe, 1 January 1892.

Three aldermen were elected to Toronto City Council per ward. There were only two changes from the previous council, Alderman Hales was defeated in Ward 1 by William Temple Stewart and in Ward 3, Mark Bredin filled the seat vacated by Alderman Geary, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor.

Ward 1 (Riverdale)
Daniel Chisholm (incumbent) - 2,079
William Temple Stewart - 1,439
William J. Saunderson (incumbent) - 1,356
Edward Hales (incumbent) - 1,292
Zephaniah Hilton - 995
William Worrell - 991
John Coatsworth Graham - 481
Charles Fletcher Leidy - 360
Elgin Schoff - 138
Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale)
Tommy Church (incumbent) - 2,656
James Hales (incumbent) - 2,238
Thomas Foster (incumbent)- 1,921
William Norton Eastwood - 1,291
Ewart Farquahar - 864
William Alexander Douglass - 721
John Clark - 445
Josiah Rogers - 199
Ward 3 (Central Business District and The Ward)
Sam McBride (incumbent)- 2,885
John Wilson Bengough (incumbent) - 2,382
Mark Bredin - 2,148
Wesley Sandfield Johnston - 998
Frank W. Johnston - 960
John Kirk - 771
William Earngey - 767
Julius H. Humphrey - 759
Frederick Hogg - 716
David Lorsch - 663
James Phinnemore - 239
Ward 4 (Area between Bathurst Street and University Avenue including Spadina)
R.C. Vaughan (incumbent) - 3,492
George McMurrich (incumbent) - 3,409
Thomas Alexander Lytle (incumbent) - 3,240
George Eakins Gibbard - 2,299
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods)
Robert Henry Graham (incumbent) - 2,338
Peter Whytock (incumbent) - 2,152
Albert James Keeler (incumbent) - 1,375
James Cooper Claxton - 1,216
Joseph May - 1,029
John Aldridge - 1,008
William Carlyle - 886
Alexander Stewart - 873
Thomas Gillies - 699
Frederick W. Jenkins - 552
William James King - 355
Ward 6 (Brockton and Parkdale)
James Henry McGhie - 2,498
John James Graham - 2,164
J.H. Adams - 1,347
James Arthur McCausland - 1,332
Fred McBrien - 1,017
Walter Mann - 824
Thomas Hurst - 774
John Edward Jarrott - 665
David Ruddick Bell - 594
Thomas Yates Egan - 546
George Fairles - 431
Walter Warrington - 276
Phillips Thompson - 265

Source: [4] and [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Peyton Hubbard</span> Canadian politician (1842–1935)

William Peyton Hubbard, a Toronto alderman from 1894 to 1914, was a popular and influential politician, nicknamed Cicero for his oratory; he was one of the first politicians of African descent elected to office in Canada.

The Board of Control of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was a part of its municipal government until it was abolished in 1969. It served as the executive committee of the Toronto City Council. When it was initially created in 1896 by mandate of the provincial government, it consisted of three Controllers appointed from and by the aldermen, and presided over by the Mayor of Toronto. Beginning in 1904, the Board of Control was directly elected by the city's electorate and consisted of four Controllers, presided over by the Mayor. Each voter could vote for up to four candidates, and the four with the most votes were elected. By tradition the controller who received the most votes would get the powerful budget chief position.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 1, 1958. Four year incumbent mayor Nathan Phillips won reelection against Controller Ford Brand, who was supported by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and Toronto Labour Council, and Controller Joseph Cornish.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1926. Thomas Foster was reelected mayor.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1913. H.C. Hocken was elected to his first full term as mayor.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1912. Mayor George Reginald Geary faced no opponents and was acclaimed for reelection.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 2, 1911. Mayor George Reginald Geary was easily reelected mayor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1910 Toronto municipal election</span>

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 1 January 1910. George Reginald Geary was elected to his first term as mayor. Two plebiscites were passed:

  1. To build a tube and surface subway transit system;
  2. Election of Board of Education by wards.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1909. Joseph Oliver was easily re-elected to his second term as Mayor of Toronto. One of the central issues of the campaign was whether the city should construct a bridge over the Don River connecting Bloor Street to Danforth Avenue. A referendum was held as part of the vote, and the bridge was approved. It would be built as the Prince Edward Viaduct.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Canada, on January 2, 1899. Mayor John Shaw was elected for his third consecutive term in office defeating opponent Ernest A. Macdonald and Third Ward Alderman George McMurrich. It was Macdonald's third unsuccessful attempt to be elected mayor, and McMurrich's second. Macdonald would succeed in his fourth attempt, at the 1900 Toronto municipal election.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Canada, on January 1, 1894. Warring Kennedy was elected, defeating Mayor Robert John Fleming, who was seeking a third term. Kennedy's upset was credited to the increased turnout by Methodists due to the plebiscite on Prohibition as well as the strong organized support for Kennedy by the Protestant Protective Association and the Orange Order.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Canada, on January 3, 1898. Mayor John Shaw was first elected mayor by Toronto City Council after his predecessor, Robert John Fleming, resigned on August 5, 1897, to accept an appointment as assessment commissioner. Shaw was returned to office in the 1898 election by defeating former alderman Ernest A. Macdonald, who was making his second attempt to be elected mayor. The main issues of both the mayoralty and aldermanic campaigns were a proposal to build the James Bay Railway from Toronto to James Bay and proposals to get cheap hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls so that the city could have access to cheap electricity, with Shaw favouring both proposals, along with almost all aldermen who were elected.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1900. Incumbent Mayor of Toronto John Shaw chose not to stand for a third term. Former Alderman Ernest A. Macdonald was elected mayor after having been unsuccessful on three previous attempts. He defeated Member of Parliament Edward Frederick Clarke, who was also a former mayor, and Second Ward Alderman John Hallam.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 7, 1901. In the mayoral election, Oliver Aiken Howland was elected, defeating Alderman Frank S. Spence as well as incumbent Mayor Ernest A. Macdonald, who came in third place, and former mayor John Shaw, who came in fourth place. In the council elections, seventeen incumbent alderman were returned and five were defeated.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 6, 1902. In the mayoral election, Mayor Oliver Aiken Howland won a second term in office defeating William Findlay Maclean, a sitting Member of Parliament and founder of The Toronto World newspaper, who campaigned on a platform of public ownership, regulation and control over utilities such as waterworks, gasworks, electricity, and telephone, and the privately owned Toronto Railway Company, as well as promising nighttime and Sunday streetcar service, and against temperance measures. Maclean's intention of simultaneously holding both the mayoralty and a seat in the Canadian House of Commons was a factor in his defeat. Another issue that hurt Maclean was his support for softening Toronto's blue law to allow for Sunday streetcar service. The third candidates was Charles Woodley who was the standard-bearer of the Socialist Labor Party.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 5, 1903. In the mayoral election, Alderman Thomas Urquhart defeated incumbent Mayor Oliver Aiken Howland, who was attempting to win a third term in office. Urquhart's platform included operating the telephone and gas systems under city management. Urquhart had the support of the Toronto Trades and Labour Council. Alderman Lamb came in third.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1904. Thomas Urquhart was acclaimed to a second term. 1904 was the first time the Toronto Board of Control, the executive committee of Toronto, was directly elected, after the Ontario legislature passed a law requiring municipal boards of control to be chosen through direct election by the municipality's voters. Previously, Toronto City Council chose four alderman to sit on the body, which would be chaired by the mayor.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 2, 1905. Thomas Urquhart was elected to his third term, defeating merchant George Gooderham and barrister William David McPherson.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1906. The position of Mayor of Toronto was open as the incumbent, Thomas Urquhart, did not stand for re-election. Alderman Emerson Coatsworth defeated Controller Frank S. Spence.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1907. Incumbent Mayor of Toronto Emerson Coatsworth was re-elected to a second one-year term, defeating Socialist Party of Canada candidate James Lindala and Robert Buist Noble, who was also a socialist. Lindala's strong showing and the mayor's reduced vote total was seen as a repudiation of Coatsworth with The Globe newspaper declaring on its front page "that an unknown Socialist tailor of foreign birth should poll over eight thousand votes for the Mayoralty of Toronto against a barrister of irreproachable personal character, who at one time represented his native city in Parliament... proves how utterly repugnant has been the jellyfish administration of the past year." Coatsworth did not run for a third term the following year.

References

Results taken from the January 2, 1908 Toronto Globe and might not exactly match final tallies.

  1. 1 2 3 "OLIVER IS TORONTO'S MAYOR; NESBITT OVERWHELMED', The Globe, pages 1 & 3, January 2, 1908
  2. "HYDRO-RADIAL PURCHASE SCHEME CARRIES AT POLLS: BOTH CITY AND COUNTRY FAVOR SUBURBAN AND EASTERN DEALS; NIAGARA WANTS N., S. & T. RADIAL Public Ownership Gains Another Great Triumph at the Municipal Elections--A Tribute to the Leadership of Sir Adam Beck DRURY STANDS PAT ON PRESENT POLICY Majority of . .. For Toronto Suburban Purchase and 1,792 for the Toronto Eastern--One Municipality Only Gives Adverse Vote in Niagara Peninsula, The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]03 Jan 1922: 1
  3. SUPPORT THE POWER BY-LAW The Globe (1844-1936); Dec 31, 1907; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 4
  4. "MANY IN FIELD FOR ALDERMEN: Seventeen Candidates Running in Sixth Ward OLD MEMBERS LINED UP Aldermanic Candidates Favor Power By-law A Number off Them Advocate Purchase of Toronto Electric Ught Company's Plant-- Filtration of Water Favored by Many of Those Seeking Office", The Globe, 4 Dec 1907: 9