Toronto municipal election, 1953

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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.

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.

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".

Old Toronto Dissolved municipality in Ontario, Canada

Old Toronto is the retronym of the area contained within the original boundaries of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 1834 to 1998. It was first incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and became part of York County. In 1954, it became the administrative headquarters for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The city expanded in size by annexation of surrounding municipalities, reaching its final boundaries in 1967. Finally, in 1998, it was amalgamated with the other cities of Metropolitan Toronto ; and the borough of East York, into the present-day city of Toronto. This was not a traditional annexation of the surrounding municipalities, but rather a new municipal entity that is the successor of the original city.

Contents

A Metropolitan Toronto Council came into being on January 1, 1954 made up of the Mayor of Toronto, Toronto's Controllers, 9 senior Toronto alderman (the top finisher in each ward), and the mayors and reeves of the other municipalities.

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.

Toronto mayor

Lamport had been elected mayor in 1951, and was expected to face no major opposition to his reelection after powerful Controller Leslie Saunders opted not to run. The final result ended up being closer than expected as Young, who had never run for or held citywide office, came within 10,000 votes. A central issue of the campaign was the introduction of rent control, which Lamport opposed and Young favoured. Part way through his term, Lamport resigned and was succeeded by Saunders.

Results
Allan Lamport (incumbent) - 55,064
Arthur Young - 46,080

Board of Control

All four Board of Control members were reelected. Labour representative Ford Brand also campaigned on rent control, and increased his vote to almost win second place. Missing a seat was former Alderman Joseph Cornish on his second attempt for a Board seat. As a result of Saunders appointment as mayor alderman Ross Lipsett was appointed to the Board of Control. The unexpected death of Louis Shannon led to a second board appointment, this time of Alderman Roy Belyea.

F. Joseph Cornish Q.C. was a lawyer, judge and Toronto politician who served as alderman for Ward 2 and as a member of the Toronto Board of Control as well as a Metro Toronto Councillor.

J. Louis Shannon was a municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada who served for many years on Toronto City Council and the Toronto Board of Control.

Results
Leslie Saunders (incumbent) - 62,397
Louis Shannon (incumbent) - 57,635
Ford Brand (incumbent) - 54,635
David Balfour (incumbent) - 51,393
Joseph Cornish - 46,701
Harry Bradley - 18,686
Harry Hunter - 14,194

City council

Ward boundaries used in the 1953 election Toronto ward map 1964.PNG
Ward boundaries used in the 1953 election

Due to the acclamation in Ward 1 City Council chose William Allen to represent the ward on Metro Council

William "Bill" Randall Allen, was a Toronto politician who served as the Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto from 1962 to 1969 and is the namesake of the W.R. Allen Road highway. Metropolitan Toronto was created by the Province of Ontario in 1952 and comprised Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, York, and East York. While these municipalities continued to manage some local matters, Metropolitan Toronto assumed the responsibilities of more expensive programs, such as the TTC, police, and welfare. The municipality was presided over by a "super mayor", or Metro Chairman, for its 46-year duration until amalgamation in 1998.

In each ward, the alderman with the most number of votes was declared the senior alderman and sat on both Metro Council and Toronto City Council

Ward 1 (Riverdale)
William Allen (incumbent) - acclaimed
Ken Waters (incumbent) - acclaimed
Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale)
William Dennison (incumbent) - 4,821
Edgar Roxborough (incumbent) - 4,254
C.M. Edwards - 2,547
George Taylor - 1,761
Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill)
Howard Phillips (incumbent) - 4,016
John McVicar (incumbent) - 3,919
Richard Newson - 1,062
Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District)
Allan Grossman (incumbent) - 5,380
Herbert Orliffe - 4,600
Robert Laxer - 1,507
Bernard Levitt - 1,224
Walton Rose - 956
John Anture - 585
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)
Joseph Gould (incumbent) - 7,809
Philip Givens (incumbent) - 7,393
Stewart Smith - 3,305
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)
May Robinson (incumbent) - 9,810
Frank Clifton (incumbent) - 8,382
Lester Nelson - 4,889
Hector MacArthur - 2,437
Patrick McKeown - 1,238
Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction)
William Davidson (incumbent) - 5,837
John Kucherepa (incumbent) - 4,472
John Duncan - 3,670
John Weir - 968
Ward 8 (The Beaches)
Ross Lipsett (incumbent) - 10,470
Alex Hodgins (incumbent) - 9,632
William Probert - 3,149
James Davis - 2,143
William Square - 893
Ward 9 (North Toronto)
Roy Belyea (incumbent) - 12,485
Leonard Reilly (incumbent) - 11,261
David Burt - 5,444
Frederick Vacher - 1,314
George Rolland - 802

Results are taken from the December 8, 1953 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Changes

Controller Louis Shannon died on February 16, 1954. On February 23 Controller Ford Brand was appointed Metro Councillor; Ward 9 Alderman Roy Belyea was appointed Controller; Ward 9's remaining Alderman Leonard Reilly was appointed Metro Councillor and David Burt was appointed Alderman.

Mayor Allan Lamport resigned on June 28, 1954 to become Vice-Chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission. Council accepted his resignation by a vote of 19-2 and then unanimously elected Controller Leslie Howard Saunders as Mayor. On July 7 Controller David Balfour was appointed Metro Councillor; Ward 8 Alderman Ross Lipsett was appointed Controller; Ward 8's remaining Alderman Alex Hodgins was appointed Metro Councillor and William Probert was appointed Alderman.

Suburbs

East York

Reeve

Source: "Suburbs Vote Light, Few Changes Result", The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]07 Dec 1953: 1

Etobicoke

Reeve
Deputy Reeve
Councillors

Ward 1 (2 elected)

Ward 2 (2 elected)

Irene Beatie is the first woman ever elected to Etobicoke Town Council.

Ward 3 (2 elected)

Ward 4 (1 elected)

(source: The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]08 Dec 1953, pg 9)

Forest Hill

Reeve

Leaside

Mayor
Council (4 elected at large)

Long Branch

Reeve

Mimico

Mayor

New Toronto

Mayor

New Toronto's election occurred on December 12th.

Source: "Strath Wins Mayoralty In New Toronto Vote", The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]14 Dec 1953: 5.

North York

Reeve

Fred J. McMahon - acclaimed

Scarborough

Reeve

Swansea

Reeve

Weston

Mayor

Source: "Suburbs Vote Light, Few Changes Result", The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]07 Dec 1953: 1

York

Reeve

Source: "Suburbs Vote Light, Few Changes Result", The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]07 Dec 1953: 1

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