Toronto municipal election, 1919

Last updated March 15, 2019

Municipal elections were held in Toronto , Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1919. Mayor Tommy Church was elected to his fifth consecutive term in office. This election marked the creation of Ward 8, covering the recently annexed areas of East Toronto. The representation of Ward 7 was also increased to have three alderman like every other ward.

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.

East Toronto was an incorporated community, later annexed into Old Toronto, in Ontario, Canada. It covered much of the present day neighbourhood, the Upper Beaches, stretching up to Danforth Avenue in the north. The central street in the community was Main Street, running between Danforth Avenue to Kingston Road. The commercial center of the town was located at the intersection of Main Street and Lake View, which is present-day Main Street and Gerrard Street. Following the annexation of East Toronto, Main Street retained its name despite Toronto's "Main Street" being historically considered as Yonge Street.

Toronto mayor

Church had first been elected mayor in 1915 and had been reelected every year since. He was opposed by several credible opponents, most notably by Controller John O'Neill who was trying to become the first Roman Catholic to be elected mayor of Toronto. Two other prominent candidates also ran, but failed to win much support. MP and future mayor Thomas Foster and former controller William Henry Shaw.

Thomas Foster was the Mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1925 to 1927.

Results: Tommy Church (incumbent) - 26,020; John O'Neill - 16,230; William Henry Shaw - 3,772; Thomas Foster - 2,180

Board of Control

O'Neill's decision to run for mayor opened one vacancy on the Board of Control. It was filled by former Controller R.H. Cameron who had run unsuccessfully for mayor the year previous.

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.

Robert Henderson Cameron was a Toronto manufacturer and politician. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1867 and came to Canada as a child with his family in the early 1870s.

Results: Charles A. Maguire (incumbent) - 19,963; R.H. Cameron - 19,094; Sam McBride (incumbent) - 18,476; William D. Robbins (incumbent) - 19,270; Joseph Gibbons - 16,397; Garnet Archibald - 15,603; Fred McBrien - 13,570

City council

Ward 1 (Riverdale): Frank Marsden Johnson (incumbent) - 3,559; Richard Honeyford (incumbent) - 3,555; W. W. Hiltz (incumbent) - 3,533; William Feawick - 2,478; Arthur J. Stubbings - 1,623

Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale): J.R. Beamish (incumbent) - 2,997; John Winnett - 2,582; Herbert Henry Ball (incumbent) - 2,401; Charles A. Risk (incumbent) - 2,060; Joseph Kent - 866

Ward 3 (Central Business District and The Ward): J. George Ramsden (incumbent) - 3,113; F.W. Johnston (incumbent) - 1,886; Charles W. Mugridge - 1,687; William Harper - 1,463

Ward 4 (Kensington Market and Garment District): Arthur Russell Nesbitt (incumbent) - 3,644; John Cowan (incumbent) - 2,448; John C. McMulkin (incumbent) - 3,349; Harry Winberg - 1,862; William Brant - 614

Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods): R.H. Graham (incumbent) - 3,908; W.R. Plewman (incumbent) - 3,185; Clifford Blackburn (incumbent) - 2,853; Angus Beaton - 2,371; James Phinnemore - 1,249; James Coughlin - 1,159; Thomas Ballentyne - 919

Ward 6 (Brockton and Parkdale): D.C. MacGregor - 5,113; George Birdsall (incumbent) - 4,225; Brook Sykes (incumbent) - 4,098; James M.H. Ballantyne - 2,710; Michael Manley - 1,624; Alex Williamson - 1,360; Alvin L. Gadsby - 869; Richard Holmes - 916

Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction): Samuel Ryding (incumbent) - 1,435; William Maher - 1,359; Frank Whetter - 1,352; Alexander Chisholm - 1,146; Robert Agnew - 1,095

Ward 8 (East Toronto): William Williamson - 1,747; William M. Miskelly - 1,548; Frederick Baker - 1,483; Walter Brown - 1,202; John Lennox - 766; Alfred Dunnett - 567; William Ford - 558

Results taken from the January 1, 1920 Toronto Daily Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

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References

Election Coverage. Toronto Star. January 1, 1919

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