Toronto municipal election, 1920

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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.

Toronto Provincial capital city in Ontario, Canada

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the most populous city in Canada, with a population of 2,731,571 in 2016. Current to 2016, the Toronto census metropolitan area (CMA), of which the majority is within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), held a population of 5,928,040, making it Canada's most populous CMA. Toronto is the anchor of an urban agglomeration, known as the Golden Horseshoe in Southern Ontario, located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Constance Eaton Hamilton (1862–1945) was a British-Canadian government official and activist. After activism supporting refugees and women in Winnipeg, she moved to Toronto and continued to support causes such as women's suffrage, becoming president of the Equal Franchise League of Toronto. She was elected for a one-year term on the Toronto City Council in the 1920 elections, becoming the first female member of Toronto City Council and the first woman in Ontario to hold elected office at either the federal, provincial, or municipal level. After two terms she resigned to continue her work campaigning for immigrant settlement and refugee issues, and for equal rights. In 1979, the Toronto city council established the Constance E. Hamilton Award on the Status of Women.

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Toronto mayor

Church had first been elected mayor in 1915 and had been reelected every year since. He was opposed by Controller Sam McBride and James M.H. Ballantyne who was Labour's candidate. Church was reelected, but not by an overwhelming margin.

Sam McBride Canadian politician

Sam (Samuel) McBride was a two-time Mayor of Toronto serving his first term from 1928 to 1929 and his second term in 1936 which ended prematurely due to his death. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada.

Results
Tommy Church (incumbent) - 25,689
Sam McBride - 20,775
James M.H. Ballantyne - 5,573

Board of Control

Two new members of the Board of Control were elected. J. George Ramsden and Joseph Gibbons. One of the vacancies was created by McBride's decision to run for mayor. Sitting Controller William D. Robbins was the only incumbent defeated.

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, consisting of four "controllers" elected citywide and presided over by the Mayor. Beginning in 1904, the Board of Control was directly elected by the city's electorate. 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.

J. George Ramsden Canadian politician

Joseph George Ramsden was a long active municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was born in Thornhill, Ontario and first became active in politics working for Alexander Mackenzie in a York East by-election. He served for fifteen years as Chief Inspector for the Department of Indian Affairs, which saw him travel extensively through the north of the country. He was also a businessman owning a bakery and other stores in the city.

William D. Robbins Canadian mayor

William Dullam Robbins was the 45th Mayor of Toronto from 1936 to 1937. He was appointed mayor after the death of incumbent Sam McBride and remained in office until defeated by Ralph Day in the 1937 elections. Robbins was considered a representative of labour in Toronto city politics, but was also a member of the Conservative Party. He served 18 years on city council and the Board of Control before becoming mayor. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada. He died after years of ill health at his Toronto home in 1952.

Results
Charles A. Maguire (incumbent) - 28,438
Joseph Gibbons - 23,269
R.H. Cameron (incumbent) - 21,055
J. George Ramsden - 18,473
William D. Robbins (incumbent) - 17,716
Herbert Henry Ball - 16,506
James Simpson - 10,832
Jesse Green Wright - 7,927

City council

Ward 1 (Riverdale)
Frank Marsden Johnson (incumbent) - 3,737
Richard Honeyford (incumbent) - 3,508
W. W. Hiltz (incumbent) - 3,507
A.H. Wagstaff - 2,329
Arthur J. Stubbings - 1,699
William J. Story - 1,340
Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale)
J.R. Beamish (incumbent) - 2,884
John Winnett (incumbent) - 2,675
Charles A. Risk - 2,661
Clara Brett Martin - 1,314
Frederick Hogg - 1,286
Joseph Kent - 988
John N. Day - 668
Harry Hine - 463
Ward 3 (Central Business District and The Ward)
F.W. Johnston (incumbent) - 1,835
Alfred Burgess - 1,825
Constance Hamilton - 1,626
Charles W. Mugridge (incumbent) - 1,388
George Rose - 1,369
John W. Beatty - 1,284
William Harper - 945
Harry Winberg - 943
William Stevenson - 383
Ward 4 (Kensington Market and Garment District)
Joseph Singer - 2,791
Arthur Russell Nesbitt (incumbent) - 2,609
John Cowan (incumbent) - 2,227
Adam G. McIntyre - 2,142
Lewis LeGrow - 1,165
George J. Castle - 486
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods)
Clifford Blackburn (incumbent) - 3,630
W.R. Plewman (incumbent) - 3,624
James Phinnemore - 2,510
George H. Gustar - 2,449
A.E. Hacker - 1,596
William B. Hunter - 1,253
J.J. Hubbard - 1,157
John W. Huggins - 1,010
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)
George Birdsall (incumbent) - 6,454
D.C. MacGregor (incumbent) - 6,217
Brook Sykes (incumbent) - 5,678
Alvin L. Gadsby - 2,214
O. Earl Hodgson - 1,131
William C. Dicks - 946
William Brant - 606
Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction)
Samuel Ryding (incumbent) - 1,697
Frank Whetter (incumbent) - 1,418
William Maher (incumbent) - 1,327
George T. Bond - 1,166
Ernest A. Dalton - 773
Ward 8 (East Toronto)
Frederick Baker (incumbent) - 2,285
Frances Maxwell - 2,147
William M. Miskelly (incumbent) - 2,118
Walter Brown - 1,884

Results taken from the January 2, 1920 edition of The Globe and might not exactly match final tallies.

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