Toronto municipal election, 1985

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The 1985 Toronto municipal election was held to elect members of municipal councils, school boards, and hydro commissions in the six municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The election was held on November 12, 1985.

Metropolitan Toronto Dissolved Region in Ontario, Canada

The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada from 1954 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, which were starting to urbanise rapidly after World War II. It was commonly referred to as "Metro Toronto" or "Metro".

Ontario Province of Canada

Ontario is one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada and is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province accounting for 38.3 percent of the country's population, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto, which is also Ontario's provincial capital.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Contents

Toronto

Mayor

The mayoral election saw progressive North Toronto councillor Anne Johnston challenge incumbent Art Eggleton. Eggleton won reelection by a significant margin, with Johnston not even winning her former ward.

Anne Johnston is a Canadian politician and executive. She was a longtime city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1972, and served until 1985 when she ran against incumbent Mayor Art Eggleton, but was defeated. In 1988 she was elected to Metro Toronto Council. She served until Toronto was amalgamated into the megacity in 1997. That year, she was elected to the new Toronto City Council and served until 2003, when she was defeated by Karen Stintz. At the time of her defeat, she was the longest-serving and the oldest member of Toronto council.

Art Eggleton Canadian politician

Arthur C. "Art" Eggleton, is a retired Canadian Senator representing Ontario. He was the longest serving Mayor of Toronto, leading the city from 1980 to 1991. Eggleton has held several federal government posts, including President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Infrastructure from 1993–1996, Minister for International Trade from 1996–1997, and Minister of National Defense from 1997 until 2002.

Results
Art Eggleton - 92,994
Anne Johnston - 59,817
Ann Ladas - 1,473
Gaston Schwab - 1,228
Aaron Abraham - 1,077
John J. Benz - 583
Skip Evans - 557
Fred Dunn - 513
Gary Watson - 433
Ben Kerr - 422
Ronald Rodgers - 341
Andrejs Murnieks - 266
Warren J. Van Evera - 223
Gary Weagle - 202

City and Metro council

Ward boundaries used in the 1985 election Toronto Ward Map 1969.png
Ward boundaries used in the 1985 election

The election system was changed in Toronto for the 1985 election. Previously two councillors had been elected from each ward, with the one who received the most votes also getting a spot on Metro Toronto council in addition to their city council seat. [1] Under the new system, one person would be directly elected as a Metro councillor while the other would be elected as a city alderman. [1] Although the Metro councillor would still sit on the city council, the change was accompanied with other structural changes to boost the power of the city aldermen, who had often seen their power and authority diminished by the perception that they were "junior" to the Metro councillors. [1]

Most pairs of incumbent councillors reached tacit agreements with one running for city council and the other for Metro. The one battle between two incumbents was in Ward 5 where in a surprise upset junior councillor Ron Kanter defeated the long serving Ying Hope. Two other long serving councillors were defeated. Joe Piccininni who had represent the Corso d'Italia for 25 years lost to 28-year-old Betty Disero. In the east end NDPers Dorothy Thomas lost in a surprise upset to conservative Paul Christie.

Ronald M. Kanter is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1987 to 1990.

Ying L.K. Hope P. Eng. was a Chinese Canadian politician, Toronto Public School Board trustee and Metro Toronto Councillor and Toronto Alderman.

Joseph Joe Piccininni was a long-serving city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He represented the Corso Italia area on city council for 25 years.

Ward 1 (Swansea and Bloor West Village)
Metro
Derwyn Shea (incumbent) - 10,429
Diana Fancher - 2,675
Robert Szajkowski - 1,270
City
William Boytchuk (incumbent) - 8,491
David White - 6,049
Len Bugeja - 1,030
Ward 2 (Parkdale and Brockton)
Metro
Ben Grys (incumbent) - 7,189
Susan Shaw - 4,223
City
Chris Korwin-Kuczynski (incumbent) - 8,617
Owen Leach - 1,638
Hubert P. Antoic - 777
Jimmy Talpa - 353
Ward 3 (Davenport and Corso Italia)
Metro
Richard Gilbert (incumbent) - 6,745
John Martin - 2,722
City
Betty Disero - 5,096
Joseph Piccininni (incumbent) - 3,835
Judy De Sousa - 1,871
Nick Attarano - 282
Ward 4 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)
Metro
Joe Pantalone (incumbent) - 6,519
Joe Pimentel - 2,429
Antonio Nunziata - 666
Hiwon Pak - 336
City
Tony O'Donohue (incumbent) - 5,617
David English - 2,755
Vince Nigro - 2,637
Ward 5 (The Annex and Yorkville)
Metro
Ron Kanter (incumbent) - 9,788
Ying Hope (incumbent) - 5,849
City
Nadine Nowlan - 7,018
David Scott - 4,387
Lawson Oates - 2,509
Ward 6 (Financial District, Toronto - University of Toronto)
Metro
Jack Layton (incumbent) - 9,037
Pearl Loo - 1,972
Edward Jackson - 1,824
Lex Dunkelman - 1,183
Citizen Amber - 414
City
Dale Martin (incumbent) - 6,791
Peter Maloney - 4,923
Jerry Borins - 1,902
Steve BFG Johnson - 1,059
Ward 7 (Regent Park and Riverdale)
Metro
Joanne Campbell (incumbent) - 9,293
James P. Atkins - 1,490
Jack McLeavey - 775
City
Barbara Hall - 6,379
Bill Mole - 2,807
Mike Armstrong - 2,232
Christopher Goulios - 613
Ward 8 (Riverdale)
Metro
Fred Beavis (incumbent) - 7,637
Richard Tyssen - 3,604
Sam Baichoo - 494
City
Thomas Clifford (incumbent) - 7,068
Sheila Cram - 4,035
Michael Tegtmeyer - 339
Ward 9 (The Beaches)
Metro
Tom Jakobek (incumbent) - 12,827
Patterson Higgins - 2,775
Jeremy Agar - 747
City
Paul Christie - 8,985
Dorothy Thomas (incumbent) - 7,042
Ward 10 (Rosedale and North Toronto)
Metro
June Rowlands (incumbent) - acclaimed
City
Michael Walker (incumbent) - acclaimed
Ward 11 (Forest Hill and North Toronto)
Metro
Kay Gardner - 8,369
Belinda Morin - 7,905
March Tigh - 2,614
City
Michael Gee (incumbent) - 15,345
Christopher Nelson - 2,810

Results are taken from the November 13, 1985 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Changes

Ward 7 Metro Councillor Joanne Campbell resigned on September 8, 1987 to accept an appointment to chair the provincial Social Assistance Review Board. Ward 5 Metro Councillor Ron Kanter also resigned when he won a seat in the 1987 Provincial Election. By-elections were held in both wards on October 29, 1987.

Joanne Campbell is a former Canadian politician, who served on Toronto City Council from 1982 to 1985 and on Metro Toronto Council from 1982 to 1988.

Ward 5 Metro
Ying Hope - 3,506
Meg Griffiths - 2,948
Ila Bossons - 1,390
Ben Kerr - 91
Ward 7 Metro
Roger Hollander - 3,701
Jeff Evenson - 3,479
Bill Mole - 392
Christina Fenluk - 256
Ian McIntyre - 220
Geoff Pimbett - 189
Don Andrews - 104
Martin Amber - 46
Trudy Remmes - 21

Ward 10 Metro Councillor June Rowlands resigned April 6, 1988 upon appointment as Chairman of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission [2] ; on April 18 Alexandra McCallum was appointed as replacement. [3]

June Rowlands Canadian mayor

June Rowlands was a Canadian politician who was the 60th mayor of Toronto, Ontario, and the first woman to hold that office. She had previously been a longtime city councillor, an unsuccessful federal candidate, and a chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission.

Toronto Police Services Board

The Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) is the civilian oversight agency that oversees the Toronto Police Service. It was called the Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board from 1990 until 1998. Previously, it was called the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission from 1955 until 1990, when the name of the board was changed as a result of amendments to the Police Services Act. The board meets at least four times per year, as required by the Police Services Act.

East York

Mayor Johnson commented that the election campaign was the quietest, least active he had ever run. He won handily, even though he spent several days in hospital with back pains. On Council, the incumbents in wards one and four were re-elected. Ward two elected newcomers Bill Buckingham and George Vasilopolous while ward three elected Bob Dale and Steve Mastoras. [4] [5]

† - denotes incumbent status from previous council

Mayor

Councillor

Two councillors were elected to each ward.

Ward 1
Ward 2
Ward 3
Ward 4

Trustee

Ward 1 (2 to be elected)
Ward 2 (2 to be elected)
Ward 3 (2 to be elected)
Ward 4 (3 to be elected)

Hydro Commission

(2 to be elected)

Etobicoke

Mayor

Sinclair was appointed mayor in August 1984 to replace Dennis Flynn when he was elected Metro Chairman. [6]


Board of Control

CandidateVotes
Dick O'Brien (incumbent)34,248
Lois Griffin 33,175
Leonard Braithwaite (incumbent)33,085
Morley Kells 29,817
Chris Stockwell (incumbent)29,629
Doug Holyday 28,982
James Shawera5,473
Total6,982

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. [6]

North York

Mel Lastman was re-elected mayor of the City and served until 1997. Maria Augimeri was elected to Ward 5, Peter Li Preti was elected to Ward 3 and Mario Gentile was re-elected as Ward 2 councillor. Esther Shiner was re-elected to Board of Control, but died in office in 1987. Norm Gardner lost his seat on the Board of Control. [5]

Mayor

Board of Control

1985 Toronto municipal election, North York Board of Control (four members elected) edit
CandidateTotal votes% of total votesNotes
(x)Esther Shiner 67,34519.47
(x)Robert Yuill 53,70915.53
Norman Gardner 51,13714.78
Howard Moscoe 42,30312.23
Mike Foster 35,83810.36
Frank Esposito21,3656.18
Bruce Davidson 18,9265.47
Sonnee Cohen 12,8223.71
Bernadette Michael12,7643.69
Angelo Natale 12,4163.59
Cora Urbel7,7912.25
Arthur Zins4,9611.43
Ayube Ally4,5711.32
Total valid votes345,948100.00
  • Cora Urbel (born Cora Kevany) was a well-known community activist in North York, serving as leader of the North York Concerned Citizens Committee in 1984. She called for an investigation into the approval of the city's Rampart Development Project, and criticized road reforms that she believed would cause increased traffic in residential areas. [7] She was endorsed by John Sewell in 1985 as one of North York's most prominent reformers, and was expected to be a strong candidate. [8] Her poor showing was a surprise to most observers. Urbel served as president of the Don Mills Residents' Association after the election, and promoted "open space" community development. [9] She campaigned for North York City Council's tenth ward in 1988, and lost to Don Yuill in a fairly close contest. She was fifty-nine years old during this campaign, and strongly opposed the extension of Leslie St. past Eglinton Avenue and the decision to widen Don Mills Rd. and Victoria Park Ave. [10] Urbel supported a series of austerity measures in the early 1990s. She called for education spending cuts in 1991, and spoke against a proposed 1% Metro Toronto tax hike in 1994. [11] She died on March 28, 1999. A road in Toronto was named after her the following year. [12]
  • Arthur Zins was a self-employed businessman and former public utility administrator, who argued that North York needed his public administration skills. [13] He campaigned for a position on the North York Hydro Board in 1980, and finished last in a field of nineteen candidates.
  • Ayube Ally owned a manufacturing plant, and recommended improved facilities for senior citizens. [14]

City Council

Council

Ward 1

Ward 2

Ward 3

Ward 4

Ward 5

Ward 6

Ward 7

Ward 8

Ward 9

Ward 10

Ward 11

Ward 12

Ward 13

Ward 14

Hydro Commission

(2 elected)

School Board Trustees

Scarborough

Mayor

Board of Control (4 elected)

Public Utilities

City Councillors

Ward 1 -

Ward 2 -

Ward 3 -

Ward 4 -

Ward 5

Ward 6

Ward 7

Ward 8

Ward 9

Ward 10

Ward 11

Ward 12 ;

Ward 13

Ward 14

York

In York, Alan Tonks was easily re-elected. Michael Colle who was alderman for ward 2 in the previous term tried unsuccessfully to obtain a seat on the Board of Control. New councillors Tony Mandarano in Ward 2 and Bob McLean in Ward 6 won their races. Bill Saundercook was the only winner to unseat a running incumbent in Ward 8. [15]

Mayor

(x) Alan Tonks
Guy D'Onofrio

Board of Control (2 elected)

(x) Fergy Brown
(x) Philip White
Michael Colle

Council

Ward 1
Bill Nobleman (Acclaimed)
Ward 2
Tony Mandarano
Maria de Pasquale
Ward 3
Tony Rizzo (incumbent) won by 570 votes
Ron Bradd
Ward 4
Nicolo Fortunato (incumbent) won by 220 votes
Patrick Canavan
Ward 5
Chris Tonks (incumbent)
Jim Fera
Ward 6
Bob McLean won by 712 votes
Lindsay Cott
Ward 7
Gary Bloor (incumbent) won by 287 votes
Richard Taverner
Ward 8
Bill Saundercook 2,317
Michael Waclawski (incumbent) 2,082

School Board Trustees

School Board Ward 1

School Board Ward 2

School Board Ward 3

School Board Ward 4

School Board Ward 5

School Board Ward 6

School Board Ward 7

School Board Ward 8

Metro Toronto Separate School Trustees

1985 Toronto municipal election, Metro Toronto Separate School Board, Ward Fifteen edit
CandidateTotal votes% of total votesNotes
Anthony Perruzza 1,99933.80
(x)Tony Nigro 1,94032.80
Ralph Paonessa1,13019.10
A. Renato Lavalle84614.30
Total valid votes5,915100.00

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 "Toronto Aldermen gearing up for first direct Metro election". Toronto Star , July 16, 1985.
  2. "Criticism hurting morale of policemen, new chairman says", Globe and Mail April 7, 1988: A17.
  3. "Ward 10 alderman's aide picked to fill Rowlands' seat on council ", Globe and Mail April 19, 1988: A22.
  4. Turner, Janice (November 13, 1985). "Johnson romps to East York victory in "quietest' campaign of his career". Toronto Star. p. B5.
  5. 1 2 "Decision '85: The results". Toronto Star. November 13, 1985. pp. B6, B7.
  6. 1 2 "Sinclair named Etobicoke mayor",Toronto Star (1971-2015); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]05 Sep 1984: A7.
  7. Ross Howard, "Probe North York plans, links, group urges Davis", Globe and Mail, 7 November 1984, M1; "Price tag: $70-million plus", Globe and Mail, 27 February 1985, M4.
  8. John Sewell, "A promise of sparks in North York race", Globe and Mail, 2 October 1985, A15; John Sewell, "Spirit of compromise for Board of Control", Globe and Mail, 8 November 1985, A13.
  9. Lynne Ainsworth, "30-year-old Don Mills to be studied", Toronto Star, 7 October 1986, N11; Janice Turner, "Winds of change in Don Mills", Toronto Star, 11 November 1986, A6; Michael Best, "Angry residents lose bid to block home for seniors", Toronto Star, 13 October 1987, N1; Michael Best, "North York residents turn out to express desire for parkland", Toronto Star, 10 May 1988, N2; Royson James, "Traffic is choking Don Mills roadways, report concludes", Toronto Star, 5 July 1988, A7.
  10. Lynne Ainsworth, "Building urban pressures put ward on the defensive", Toronto Star, 27 October 1988, A7.
  11. "$72 million hacked off board budget", Toronto Star, 28 March 1991, A6; Royson James, "Labor backs, business boos tax hike", Toronto Star, 10 February 1994, A6.
  12. "Cora Urbel: Obituary", Globe and Mail, 31 March 2006; Naming of Private Lane at 111 Barber Greene Road, Toronto City Council, accessed 19 October 2006.
  13. Dyanne Rivers, "Traffic an issue in controllers' race", Globe and Mail, 9 November 1985, A16.
  14. Dyanne Rivers, "Traffic an issue in controllers' race", Globe and Mail, 6 November 1985, A16.
  15. MacLeod, Robert (November 13, 1985). "Tonks wins York in one-man show". The Globe and Mail. p. A21.
  16. Julia Turner, "Get rid of portables, separate school hopefuls say", Globe and Mail, 6 November 1980, P5.
  17. "The candidates", Toronto Star, 11 November 1988, A14.
  18. Province of the Immaculate Concept: Order of Friars Minor Archived 2007-05-17 at Archive.is , accessed 18 October 2006; National Association of Italian Canadians Archived 2006-05-26 at the Wayback Machine ., contact information, accessed 18 October 2006.
  19. Sterling Taylor, "18 in North York seek separate school boards", 29 October 1985, ES10.

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