December 1950 Toronto municipal election

Last updated

December 1950 Toronto mayoral election
Flag of Toronto, Canada.svg
  1950 December 4, 1950 1951  
  Hiram E. McCallum.jpg Allan Austin Lamport.jpg
Candidate Hiram E. McCallum Allan Lamport
Popular vote86,49184,987
Percentage50.4%49.5%

Mayor of Toronto before election

Hiram E. McCallum

Elected Mayor of Toronto

Hiram E. McCallum

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 4, 1950. It was the second time the elections were held in December (the first was in 1936); traditionally elections occurred on New Year's Day. Incumbent mayor Hiram E. McCallum narrowly defeated Allan Lamport. The defeat of Norman Freed and the failure of Charles Sims to regain his seat would bring to a close the communist Labor-Progressive Party's presence on Toronto's City Council though the party, and its successor, the Communist Party of Canada would continue to elect members as school trustees for several decades.

Contents

Toronto mayor

McCallum, running for his fourth one-year term, was challenged by Controller Lamport. McCallum had faced only token opposition in his previous elections, but Lamport came surprisingly close to defeating him. For much of election night it looked as though Lamport would win, but it was swung by McCallum's ten thousand vote margin in the North Toronto Ward 9.

Results
Hiram E. McCallum - 86,491
Allan Lamport - 84,987

Board of Control

Lamport's decision to run for mayor left one vacancy on the Board of Control. This opening was won by Alderman Louis Shannon, with Ford Brand, secretary of the Toronto and District Labour Council finishing fifth and Alderman W.H. Collings in sixth. Former Controller and communist Stewart Smith made another attempt to return to the board, but finished seventh.

Results
John Innes (incumbent) - 93,656
David Balfour (incumbent) - 81,577
Leslie Saunders (incumbent) - 80,703
Louis Shannon - 74,859
Ford Brand - 66,235
W.H. Collings - 59,380
Stewart Smith - 28,309
Charles Henry Mahoney - 8,210
Frederick Vacher - 7,653

City council

Ward boundaries used in the 1950 election Toronto ward map 1964.PNG
Ward boundaries used in the 1950 election
Ward 1 (Riverdale)
John McMechan (incumbent) - 12,381
William Allen (incumbent) - 12,294
Titchener-Smith - 4,794
Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale)
Joseph Cornish (incumbent) - 8,310
Beverley Sparling (incumbent) - 8,061
Sylvester Perry - 3,710
Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill)
Harold Fishleigh (incumbent) - 6,294
Howard Phillips (incumbent) - 8,767
Massey Edwards - 1,938
Probert - 1,440
Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District)
Nathan Phillips (incumbent) - 8,767
Francis Chambers - 7,403
Norman Freed (incumbent) - 4,611
Friedman - 2,088
McConnell - 788
Francis Love - 437
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods)
Arthur Frost (incumbent) - 12,479
Joseph Gould (incumbent) - 12,362
Charles Sims - 5,646
Midanik - 1,585
Haddrall - 784
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)
Robert Colucci - 15,282
George Granell (incumbent) - 14,609
Lester Nelson (incumbent) - 14,129
Dewar Ferguson - 4,801
Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction)
Alfred Cowling (incumbent) - 8,971
William Davidson (incumbent) - 8,878
David Sanderson - 5,189
Ward 8 (The Beaches)
Ross Lipsett (incumbent) - 17,323
Alex Hodgins - 15,310
William Probert - 4,601
Maurice Punshon - 4,205
John Square - 1,443
Ward 9 (North Toronto)
Frank Nash (incumbent) - 19,493
Roy E. Belyea (incumbent) - 19,488
Lewis - 4,328

Results taken from the December 5, 1950 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Changes

Controller John Innes died July 16, 1951; Ward 7 Alderman Alfred Cowling was appointed Controller September 5 and David Sanderson was appointed Alderman September 17.

Related Research Articles

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 5, 1966. The elections were the first in Toronto after its merger with several smaller suburban communities on January 1, 1967. Forest Hill and Swansea were annexed by the City of Toronto, Leaside was merged with the Township of East York to become the Borough of East York. Weston was combined with the Township of York to form the Borough of York. The Village of Long Branch and the towns of Mimico and New Toronto were merged with the Township of Etobicoke to form the Borough of Etobicoke.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 3, 1962. Incumbent mayor Nathan Phillips, then the longest-serving mayor in Toronto history, lost to Controller Donald Summerville by a significant margin.

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 5, 1960. Six-year incumbent mayor Nathan Phillips was challenged by former mayor Allan Lamport and Controller Jean Newman. Phillips was returned to office.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 6, 1954. Incumbent mayor Leslie Saunders was defeated by Nathan Phillips in a close contest.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 7, 1953. Incumbent mayor Allan Lamport won an unexpectedly close race against school board chairman Arthur J. Brown. This election was the first for councils in the municipality of Metropolitan Toronto which would be created on January 1, 1954 and was composed of 14 municipalities: the City of Toronto, the towns of New Toronto, Mimico, Weston and Leaside; the villages of Long Branch, Swansea and Forest Hill, and the townships of Etobicoke, York, North York, East York, and Scarborough.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 1, 1952. Incumbent mayor Allan Lamport easily won against former alderman Nathan Phillips.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 3, 1951. Allan Lamport defeated incumbent Hiram E. McCallum in the mayoral election.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 2, 1950. This was the last time election were held in January, as a ballot measure passed changing the election date to the first Monday in December. This attempt to increase turnout went into effect immediately and an election was held December 4, 1950. The central issue of the campaign was whether to legalize sport on Sundays, with Controller Allan Lamport the main proponent. A referendum was held on the subject, and it passed by a slim margin.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1949. Hiram E. McCallum was elected to his first full term as mayor.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1948. Robert Hood Saunders was re-elected as mayor in an election that also saw no changes on the Board of Control or City Council.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1947. With little serious opposition Robert Hood Saunders was re-elected as mayor.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1946. Incumbent Robert Hood Saunders ran unopposed and was acclaimed as mayor.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1945. Controller Robert Hood Saunders defeated incumbent Frederick J. Conboy to be elected mayor.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1944. Incumbent Frederick J. Conboy defeated Controller Lewis Duncan. The election was a notable defeat for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation as it lost all representation on city council.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1943. Incumbent Frederick J. Conboy was acclaimed as mayor. There was a very low voter turnout, but the election was a victory for the left as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and Communist Party each won two seats.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1941. Frederick J. Conboy was elected mayor.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1940. Incumbent Ralph Day was re-elected mayor. The election saw little change with all incumbent councillors and Board of Control members being reelected.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 6, 1937. Ralph Day was elected mayor defeating incumbent William D. Robbins.

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 7, 1936, after being moved up from the traditional New Year's Day vote. William D. Robbins was easily elected mayor to his first full term in office.

References