Municipal elections were held in Toronto , Ontario, Canada, on January 2, 1939. Incumbent Ralph Day was re-elected mayor over former lawyer Lewis Duncan.
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.
Ralph Carrette Day was mayor of Toronto, Ontario from 1938 to 1940. He was also an accomplished funeral director, owning his own funeral home. He also served as chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada.
James Lewis Duncan was a Canadian politician and lawyer.
Day was expected to be acclaimed, but in December lawyer and Liberal Lewis Duncan entered the race. Day but won by a significant margin in a high turnout race.
All four Board of Control incumbents were reelected despite a group of high-profile challengers. Closest to winning a seat was Alderman William Croft in fifth place. In sixth place was communist Tim Buck and in seventh Alderman Robert Hood Saunders. Finishing surprisingly far back in seventh was former mayor William D. Robbins.
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.
Timothy "Tim" Buck was a long-time general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada from 1929 until 1962. Together with Ernst Thälmann of Germany, Maurice Thorez of France, Palmiro Togliatti of Italy, Earl Browder of the United States, and Harry Pollitt of Britain, Buck was one of the top leaders of the Joseph Stalin-era Communist International.
Robert Hood Saunders, Q.C., CBE was mayor of Toronto from 1945 to 1948, President of the Canadian National Exhibition, chairman of the Ontario Hydro. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada.
Neither were successful as all four incumbents were reelected.
Results taken from the January 3, 1939 Globe and Mail and might not exactly match final tallies.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 7, 1953. Incumbent mayor Allan Lamport won an unexpectedly close race against school board trustee Arthur Young. 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 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, 1946. Incumbent Robert Hood Saunders was acclaimed as mayor.
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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, 1942. Incumbent Frederick J. Conboy was acclaimed as mayor.
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.
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, 1934. William James Stewart easily won reelection to his fourth term as mayor. This election also marked a major reduction in the size of city council. Previously each ward had elected three members, starting this year each ward had only two representatives.
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 2, 1933. William James Stewart was elected to his third term by the largest margin in city history.
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.