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. [1] 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.
Under the Municipal Act, the Board of Control had the following duties and powers: [2]
With respect to the first three items, the board's actions could only be overturned by a two-thirds vote of the council.
From 1896 until 1904, the Toronto Board of Control was an executive branch of Council, chaired by the Mayor. It handled all daily business of Council and reported to Council. [3]
In the early 20th century, elected Boards of Control were introduced as a reform measure for all cities in Ontario. The board was designed to be the equivalent of a cabinet for municipal governments. It had certain specific duties such as issuing tenders and appointing department heads. In Toronto it often did not function as such. Since the controllers were elected separately from the mayor, there was no guarantee they would be allied. Moreover, since controllers contested citywide elections they were often seen as the natural contenders for the mayoralty and as challengers to the incumbent mayor. Many controllers thus had a self-interest in blocking the mayor from succeeding. Relations between the Board of Control and council were also sometimes difficult, with the Board often acting as an independent council at odds with the larger body.
In 1961 the provincial government allowed cities with more than 100,000 people to abolish the Board of Control. Toronto City Council voted to do so in December 1968 after a long debate. The move was opposed by Mayor William Dennison along with three of the sitting controllers, but it was passed by a significant majority of council. The Board of Control was replaced with a new executive committee that would be composed of and elected by city council members. The size of city council was expanded by four to retain the same overall number of councillors.
William Peyton Hubbard, the son of American slaves who had escaped to Canada through the Underground Railroad, was elected to the first Board of Control in 1904 and served for four terms - he would be the only Black person or person of colour to sit on the body; [4] Joseph Singer became the first Jewish candidate to win citywide office in 1923; [5] Jean Newman was the first woman elected to the Board and served from 1957 to 1960. [6] [7]
Names in boldface indicate Controllers that became Mayor of Toronto in other years. Names in italics are individuals who only sat on the Board of Control as mayor.
Municipal Boards of Control were created by the provincial government as a reform measure. From 1896 to 1903 the Toronto Board of Control was appointed by vote of Toronto City Council from among its own members and acted as an executive committee or municipal cabinet. Controllers were chosen at the first council meeting in January after the annual municipal election. Three Controllers sat on the Board, in addition to the Mayor, until 1901 when the number of Controllers was increased to four.
| Controller | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Burns [8] [9] | A | A | A | |||||
| James Crane [10] | A | |||||||
| Robert Fleming * [11] | M | M | ||||||
| James Frame [12] [13] | A | A | ||||||
| John James Graham [11] [10] | A | A | A | |||||
| Oliver Aiken Howland [13] [10] | M | M | ||||||
| William Peyton Hubbard [8] | A | A | ||||||
| Daniel Lamb [11] | A | A | A | |||||
| John Leslie [11] [8] | A | A | ||||||
| John Francis Loudon [10] [14] | A | A | ||||||
| Adam Lynd [9] | A | |||||||
| Ernest A. Macdonald [12] | M | |||||||
| George McMurrich [11] [10] | A | A | ||||||
| Joseph Oliver [14] | A | |||||||
| Fred H. Richardson [14] | A | |||||||
| John Shaw * [8] [9] | M | M | M | |||||
| Oliver Barton Sheppard [12] | A | A | ||||||
| Francis Stephens Spence [12] | A | |||||||
| Thomas Urquhart [14] | M | |||||||
| Francis H. Woods [9] | A |
*Fleming resigned as mayor on August 6, 1897. Council elected Shaw to complete his term.
Originally, the Board of Control was appointed by the city council. In 1903, the Ontario legislature passed a law requiring municipal boards of control to be chosen through direct election by the municipality's voters. [15] This requirement became effective in Toronto with the 1904 municipal election.
| Controller | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R.H. Cameron | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Emerson Coatsworth | M | M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tommy Church | X | X | X | X | X | M | M | M | M | M | M | M | ||||||||||||||
| Thomas Foster | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | M | M | M | ||||||||||||||
| George Reginald Geary | X | M | M | M | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph Gibbons | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||
| Albert Hacker | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||
| William Spence Harrison | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wesley Hiltz | X | X | X | M | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Horatio Clarence Hocken | X | X | X | X | X | M | M | |||||||||||||||||||
| William Peyton Hubbard | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| S. Alfred Jones | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| John F. Loudon | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charles A. Maguire | X | X | X | X | M | M | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sam McBride | X | X | X | M | M | |||||||||||||||||||||
| J.O. McCarthy | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.C. MacGregor | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| John O'Neill | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||
| A.R. Nesbitt | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph Oliver | M | M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| J. George Ramsden | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fred H. Richardson* | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William D. Robbins | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| John Shaw * | B | X | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| William Henry Shaw | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| James Simpson | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph Singer | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Francis Stephens Spence | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W.A. Summerville | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph Elijah Thompson | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thomas Urquhart | M | M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| John J. Ward | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||||
| Bert Wemp | X | X | X |
* Richardson resigned after his election agent was charged with bribery. Shaw was elected to replace him in a by-election.
| Controller | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | Jan 1936 | Dec 1936 | 1937 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Balfour | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||
| Frederick J. Conboy | X | X | X | X | M | M | M | M | ||||||||||||
| Ralph Day | X | X | X | M | M | M | ||||||||||||||
| Lewis Duncan | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||
| Albert Hacker | X | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fred Hamilton | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||
| John Innes | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||
| Allan Lamport | X | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sam McBride | X | X | X | X | M | |||||||||||||||
| Hiram E. McCallum | X | X | X | X | M | |||||||||||||||
| Kenneth Bert McKellar | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||
| Douglas McNish | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||
| Claude Pearce | X | |||||||||||||||||||
| J. George Ramsden | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||
| William D. Robbins | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | M | ||||||||||||
| Leslie Saunders | X | |||||||||||||||||||
| Robert Hood Saunders | X | X | X | X | M | M | M | M | ||||||||||||
| James Simpson | X | X | X | X | X | M | ||||||||||||||
| Stewart Smith | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||
| William James Stewart | M | M | M | M | ||||||||||||||||
| W.A. Summerville | X | |||||||||||||||||||
| William J. Wadsworth | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Bert Wemp | M |
With the formation of Metropolitan Toronto in April 1953, the two most senior controllers, in terms of votes at the municipal election, also sat on Metropolitan Toronto Council along with the Mayor of Toronto, the senior alderman from each of Toronto's nine wards, and mayors and reeves elected from the suburbs. [16] [17] [18]
| Controller | Jan 1950 | Dec 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1958 | 1960 | 1962 | 1964 | 1966 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Allen | X | X | X | X | |||||||||
| William Archer* | A | X | |||||||||||
| David Balfour | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||
| Roy E. Belyea** | A | X | |||||||||||
| Ford Brand | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||
| Margaret Campbell | X | X | |||||||||||
| Joseph Cornish | X | X | X | ||||||||||
| William Dennison | X | X | X | X | M | ||||||||
| Philip Givens * | X | X/M | M | ||||||||||
| John Innes | X | X | |||||||||||
| Allan Lamport *** | X | M | M | M | X | X | |||||||
| Ross Lipsett *** | A | ||||||||||||
| June Marks | X | ||||||||||||
| Hiram E. McCallum | M | M | |||||||||||
| Jean Newman | X | X | |||||||||||
| Herbert Orliffe | X | X | X | ||||||||||
| Nathan Phillips | M | M | M | M | M | ||||||||
| Leslie Saunders *** | X | X | X | X | X/M | X | |||||||
| Louis Shannon** | X | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Donald Summerville * | X | X | M |
* Mayor Summerville died in office, Givens was appointed mayor in his place. Archer was appointed to the Board of Control to fill the vacancy. [19]
** In 1954, Controller Shannon died and Ward 9 Alderman Roy E. Belyea was appointed in his place. [19]
*** Mayor Lamport resigned as mayor to become vice-chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission, Saunders was appointed mayor in his place and Ward 8 Alderman Ross Lipsett was appointed to the Board of Control to fill the vacancy. [19]
Several other municipalities in Metropolitan Toronto also created Boards of Control. Etobicoke created its Board of Control in the 1962 municipal election and North York first elected its Board of Control in the 1964 municipal election. Scarborough and York launched their boards at the 1966 election. North York, and Scarborough had 5 person boards consisting of their respective mayors and four controllers elected at large while York's board consisted of a mayor and two Controllers. East York never created a Board of Control. Etobicoke's board consisted of the reeve and two Controllers until the 1966 election when it expanded to four Controllers and the mayor.
The top two candidates from the Toronto Board of Control also sat on, Metro Toronto Council. Beginning with the 1966 municipal election, several members of suburban Boards of Control sat on Metro Council as well as their borough's council - the number depended on the number of seats on Metro Council that borough was allocated.
With the 1988 municipal election, the suburban Boards of Control were abolished and Metro Councillors were instead directly elected from special Metro Wards (consisting of two local wards).
Beginning in 1966, the top three candidates for Etobicoke's Board of Control also sat on Metro Council.
Names in boldface indicate Controllers that were or became Reeve or Mayor of Etobicoke in other years. Italics indicate those who only sat on the Board of Control as mayor.
X = elected as Controller
A = appointed Controller to fill a vacancy
M = sitting as Reeve or Mayor
| Controller | 1962 | 1964 | 1966 | 1969 | 1972 | 1974 | 1976 | 1978 | 1980 | 1982 | 1985 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Palmer MacBeth | M | M | |||||||||
| Murray Johnson | X | X | |||||||||
| John Carroll | X | X | X | X | |||||||
| Edward Austin Horton | M | M | |||||||||
| Donald Russell | X | X | |||||||||
| David Lacey | X | X | X | ||||||||
| W. Kenneth Robinson | X | ||||||||||
| John Allen | X | X | X | ||||||||
| Dennis Flynn * | M | M | M | M | M | M | |||||
| Bruce Sinclair * | X | X | X | X | X | X/M | M | ||||
| Winfield (Bill) Stockwell | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||
| E. H. (Pete) Farrow | X | X | X | ||||||||
| Nora Pownall | X | X | X | ||||||||
| Morley Kells | X | X | |||||||||
| Dick O'Brien | X | X | X | ||||||||
| Leonard Braithwaite | X | X | |||||||||
| Christopher Stockwell | X | ||||||||||
| Lois Griffin* | A | X |
*Dennis Flynn resigned as mayor as a result of his appointment as Metro Chairman in August 1984. On September 4, 1984, Etobicoke City Council appointed Controller Bruce Sinclair to replace Flynn as mayor and appointed Lois Griffin to fill the Controller position vacated by Sinclair. [20]
Names in boldface indicate Controllers that were or became Mayor of North York in other years. Italics indicate those who only sat on the Board of Control as mayor. Beginning in 1966, all of North York's Controllers also sat on Metro Council.
X = elected as Controller
A = appointed Controller to fill a vacancy
M = sitting as Reeve or Mayor
| Controller | 1964 | 1966 | 1969 | 1972 | 1974 | 1976 | 1978 | 1980 | 1982 | 1985 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Ditson Service | M | M | ||||||||
| G. Gordon Hurlburt | X | X | ||||||||
| Irving Paisley | X | X | X | |||||||
| Frank Watson | X | X | ||||||||
| Basil H. Hall | X | X | M | |||||||
| Paul Hunt | X | X | ||||||||
| Mel Lastman | X | M | M | M | M | M | M | M | ||
| John Booth* | X | |||||||||
| Paul Godfrey* | A | X | ||||||||
| John Williams | X | |||||||||
| Alex McGivern | X | X | ||||||||
| Barbara Greene | X | X | X | X | X | |||||
| William Sutherland* | A | X | X | X | ||||||
| Joseph Markin | X | |||||||||
| Esther Shiner** | X | X | X | X | X | |||||
| Ron Summers | X | |||||||||
| Robert Yuill | X | X | X | X | X | |||||
| Norm Gardner | X | X | ||||||||
| Howard Moscoe | X | |||||||||
| Mario Gentile** | A |
* Booth died in 1970 and was replaced by Paul Godfrey who served out the balance of his term. [21] Godfrey was reelected in 1972, but resigned when he was elected Metro Chairman in 1973 following the death of Metro Chairman Albert Campbell. North York Council elected Alderman William Sutherland to replace Godfrey on the Board of Control on July 23, 1973. [22]
**Shiner died on December 19, 1987. Councillor Mario Gentile was appointed to the Board of Control in February 1988 to fill Shiner's seat. [23]
All of Scarborough's Controllers also sat on Metro Council.
X = elected as Controller
A = appointed Controller to fill a vacancy
M = sitting as Mayor
| Controller | 1966 | 1969 | 1972 | 1974 | 1976 | 1978 | 1980 | 1982 | 1985 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Campbell * | M | ||||||||
| Robert W. White * | X/M | M | |||||||
| Gus Harris | X | X | X | X | X | M | M | M | M |
| Brian Harrison | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Karl Mallette | X | X | X | ||||||
| Ken Morrish * ** | A | X | X | X | X/M | X | X | ||
| Paul Cosgrove ** | M | M | M | ||||||
| Joyce Trimmer *** | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||
| Frank Faubert ** *** | A | X | X | X | |||||
| Carol Ruddell | X | X | X | ||||||
| Bill Belfontaine | X |
*Albert Campbell resigned as mayor after being elected Metro Chairman on October 1, 1969. Scarborough Council appointed Robert W. White to fill the vacancy as mayor and, on October 6, 1969, appointed Alderman Ken Morrish to the Board of Control to fill White's vacant position as Controller. [24]
**Paul Cosgrove resigned as mayor after being elected to the House of Commons of Canada in an October 16, 1978 by-election. Ken Morrish was appointed acting mayor in Cosgrove's place and Frank Faubert was appointed to the Board of Control to fill Morrish's vacated Controller position. Morrish was defeated by Gus Harris in the mayoral election a month later.
***Trimmer served as mayor from 1988 to 1993; Faubert was mayor from 1994 to 1997
York's two Controllers also sat on Metro Council.
Names in boldface indicate Controllers that were or became Mayor of York in other years. Italics indicate those who only sat on the Board of Control as mayor.
X = elected as Controller
A = appointed Controller to fill a vacancy
M = sitting as Reeve or Mayor
| Controller | 1966 | 1969 | 1972 | 1974 | 1976 | 1978 | 1980 | 1982 | 1985 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. Wesley Boddington | X | ||||||||
| Fergy Brown* | X | X | X | X | |||||
| Gayle Christie | M | M | |||||||
| Jack Mould | M | ||||||||
| Doug Saunders | X | X | X | X | |||||
| Alan Tonks | X | X | M | M | |||||
| James Trimbee | X | X | X | ||||||
| Philip White | X | M | M | M | M | X | X | X |
*Brown served as mayor from 1988 to 1994
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 7, 1964. Incumbent mayor Philip Givens defeated former mayor Allan Lamport.
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.
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 December 5, 1955. Incumbent mayor Nathan Phillips, elected a year earlier, was easily reelected, defeating Controller Roy E. Belyea and Trotskyist Ross Dowson.
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 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, 1945. Controller Robert Hood Saunders defeated incumbent Frederick J. Conboy to be elected mayor.
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.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1936. Sam McBride was elected mayor in a three-way race in which incumbent James Simpson finished third.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1935. James Simpson won a surprise victory in the mayoral campaign to become the first socialist candidate elected to the office.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1932.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1930. In a close mayoral election Bert Wemp ousted two term incumbent Sam McBride. The main issue of the election was a proposed downtown beautification scheme that would have rebuilt roads in the core. The proposal was rejected in a referendum after voters in the suburbs voted against it. McBride was the plan's leading proponent, and its rejection hurt his reelection bid.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1929. Sam McBride, who had been elected the year previous, was reelected mayor defeating former Alderman Brook Sykes by a large margin.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1927. Thomas Foster was running for his third consecutive term as mayor and won a narrow victory over Sam McBride. There were two referendums as part of the vote. Toronto voters voted in favour of adopting daylight saving time for the city. They also voted in favour of spending money to create an ornate gate at the entrance to the Exhibition Place, which became the Princes' Gates.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1920. Mayor Tommy Church was elected to his sixth consecutive term in office. The most notable feature of the election was Constance Hamilton winning a seat in Ward 3. She became the first woman elected to as high a post in any government in Ontario.
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 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.
Bibliography:
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