Toronto municipal election, 1954

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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.

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.

Nathan Phillips (politician) Canadian politician

Nathan Phillips, was a Canadian politician and popular Mayor of Toronto, Ontario, from 1955 to 1962. A lawyer by training, Phillips was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1926.

Contents

Toronto mayor

Controller Leslie Saunders had been appointed mayor after the resignation of Allan Lamport, who left to work with the Toronto Transit Commission. He was challenged by Nathan Phillips, a longtime city councilor who had made a previous attempt to win the mayoralty. Phillips was Jewish, a sharp departure from the standard for Toronto mayors, who for decades had been Protestant Orange Order members.

Toronto Transit Commission public transport agency

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is a public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers in the Greater Toronto Area, with numerous connections to systems serving its surrounding municipalities.

Orange Order Protestant fraternal organisation

The Loyal Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order, is a Protestant fraternal order based primarily in Northern Ireland. It also has lodges in the Republic of Ireland, a Grand Orange Lodge in the Scottish Lowlands and other lodges throughout the Commonwealth, as well as in the United States and Togo. The Orange Order was founded in County Armagh in 1795, during a period of Protestant–Catholic sectarian conflict, as a Masonic-style fraternity sworn to maintain the Protestant Ascendancy. It is headed by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, which was established in 1798. Its name is a tribute to the Dutch-born Protestant king William of Orange, who defeated the army of Catholic king James II in the Williamite–Jacobite War (1688–1691). Its members wear orange sashes and are referred to as Orangemen. The order is best known for its yearly marches, the biggest of which are held on or around 12 July.

Phillips' religion was an important issue in the election. Saunders publicly proclaimed he was running as "Leslie Saunders, Protestant". Saunders was a leader of the Orange Order and the publisher of the radical monthly newspaper Protestant Action. His anti-Catholicism and proclamations that Toronto was a "Protestant city" had caused controversy in the past. one of his first acts after ascending to the mayoralty was to issue an official proclamation commemorating The Twelfth, the anniversary of the victory of William of Orange over the Irish.

The Twelfth Ulster Protestant celebration

The Twelfth is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It began during the late 18th century in Ulster. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Protestant king William of Orange over Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne (1690), which began the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. On and around the Twelfth, large parades are held by the Orange Order and Ulster loyalist marching bands, streets are bedecked with British flags and bunting, and large towering bonfires are lit. Today the Twelfth is mainly celebrated in Northern Ireland, but smaller celebrations are held in other parts of the world where Orange lodges have been set up. The Twelfth involves thousands of participants and spectators.

A second controversy arose during the election when Brown released accusation about room 1735 in the Royal York hotel. He argued that the room was a secret entertainment suite paid for by the city for the use of the mayor. Saunders claims that it was rented by Mayor Lamport and that he was totally unaware of the suite. Nonetheless the scandal hurt his reelection bid.

Fairmont Royal York skyscraper

The Fairmont Royal York, formerly and commonly known as the Royal York, is a large historic luxury hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located along Front Street West, the hotel is situated at the southern end of the Financial District, in Downtown Toronto. The Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald, in association with Sproatt and Rolph, and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway company. The hotel is presently managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.

Also running was former school board head Arthur Brown, who had previously come close to defeating Lamport for the job, and who had the support of the Globe and Mail newspaper. The Toronto Star and the Telegram both supported Phillips. Saunders in his memoirs accuses Brown of splitting the "Christian and Gentile vote" and getting Phillips elected. [1]

The fourth candidate was Communist A. A. MacLeod, former Labor-Progressive Party M.P.P in the Ontario legislature for Bellwoods. [2]

Alexander Albert "A. A." MacLeod was a political organizer and a prominent member of the Communist Party of Canada and, later, of its legal group, the Labor-Progressive Party. He was an elected Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario (1943–51).

The Labor-Progressive Party was a legal political organization in Canada between 1943 and 1959.

A Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) is an elected member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

Results
Nathan Phillips - 40,683
Leslie Saunders - 36,756
Arthur Brown - 36,613
A. A. MacLeod - 4,932

Board of Control

Saunders' appointment to the mayoralty led to the appointment of Alderman Ross Lipsett to the Board of Control. This controversially passed over former Alderman Joseph Cornish, who had finished fifth in the 1953 election. In the election, Cornish won more votes than Lipsett and got a seat on the board.

Results
Ford Brand (incumbent) - 69,540
Roy Belyea (incumbent) - 66,223
David Balfour (incumbent) - 62,871
Joseph Cornish - 55,277
Ross Lipsett (incumbent) - 45,385
Harry Bradley - 20,488
Harry Hunter - 14,114
Ben Nobleman - 9,413
George Rolland - 5,280

City council

Ward boundaries used in the 1954 election Toronto ward map 1964.PNG
Ward boundaries used in the 1954 election
Ward 1 (Riverdale)
William Allen (incumbent) - 8,855
Ken Waters (incumbent) - 8,042
George Phillips - 2,282
Stanley Hare - 1,381
Thornley - 932
Ward 2 (Regent Park and Rosedale)
William Dennison (incumbent) - 4,831
Edgar Roxborough (incumbent) - 4,479
Douglas Shaw - 2,268
C.M. Edwards - 1,551
Morrison - 669
Philip Rowley - 647
Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill)
Howard Phillips (incumbent) - acclaimed
John MacVicar (incumbent) - acclaimed

Phillips was chosen to become Metro Councillor.

Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District)
Allan Grossman (incumbent) - 6,455
Herbert Orliffe (incumbent) - 5,345
Robert Laxer - 1,368
Bernard Levitt - 1,307
Blainey - 756
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)
Philip Givens (incumbent) - 7,470
Joseph Gould (incumbent) - 6,770
Stewart Smith - 2,678
Teslia - 2,105
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)
May Robinson (incumbent) - 11,349
Frank Clifton (incumbent) - 10,470
Grittani - 2,763
Hector MacArthur - 2,067
Tennant - 1,684
Muir - 1,561
Patrick McKeown - 1,039
Ward 7 (Bloor West Village)
William Davidson (incumbent) - 6,228
John Kucherepa (incumbent) - 4,989
John Duncan - 3,951
John Weir - 1,915
Ward 8 (The Beaches)
Donald Summerville - 10,002
Alex Hodgins (incumbent) - 8,327
Albert G. Cranham - 6,485
William Probert (incumbent) - 3,169
McNulty - 2,553
James Davis - 1,210
John Square - 384
Ward 9 (North Toronto)
Jean Newman - 14,873
Leonard Reilly (incumbent) - 11,261
David Burt (incumbent) - 9,819
Frederick Vacher - 1,394

Results are taken from the December 7, 1954 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Suburbs

East York

Reeve

Etobicoke

Reeve

Forest Hill

Reeve

Leaside

Mayor

Long Branch

Reeve

Election occurred on December 11th.

Source: "Mrs. Marie Curtis Reeve Again By An Overwhelming Majority", Toronto Daily Star, December 13, 1954, pg 10

Mimico

Mayor

Election occurred on December 11th.

Source: "Reeve W. Edwards Defeats Mayor Norris At Mimico", Toronto Daily Star, December 13, 1954, pg 10

New Toronto

Mayor
Donald Russell 1,811
(x)John L. (Jack) Strath 841

Election occurred on December 11th.

Source: "Mayor Strath Defeated. D. Russell Easy Winner", Toronto Daily Star, December 13, 1954, pg 10

North York

Reeve

(x) Fred J. McMahon

Scarborough

Reeve

Swansea

Reeve

Weston

Mayor

York

Reeve

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References

  1. ↑ Leslie Howard Saunders. An Orangeman in public life: the memoirs of Leslie Howard Saunders. Britannia Printers, 1980 pg. 128
  2. ↑ "A. A. MacLeod: Dominated Legislature as left-wing member" The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Mar 14, 1970; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 12
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