Toronto municipal election, 1947
Encyclopedia
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Canada, on January 1, 1947. With little serious opposition Robert Hood Saunders
was re-elected as mayor.
The election was a major defeat for the communist Labour-Progressive Party
faction on city council, with Controller Stewart Smith
and Alderman Dewar Ferguson being defeated. This left the party with only two seats on city council, Norman Freed and Charles Seems. This was somewhat mitigated by two communists winning seats on the Toronto Board of Education.
The vote also featured three referendums. Two were approved that would have a lasting effect on the city of Toronto. One called for the creation of the Regent Park
housing project in the east end of the city. The second approved the city buying up the land northwest of the intersection of Bay and Queen streets for a city square and municipal buildings. This would later be the site of Nathan Phillips Square
and Toronto City Hall
. Rejected for a third time was a proposal to move to three year municipal terms.
faced only fringe candidates: Frank O'Hearn, who would go on to found the New Capitalist Party
, and Trotskyist Murray Dowson
.
Results
was the defeat of Stewart Smith
, the leader of the communist faction at city hall. He was ousted by North Toronto
alderman John Innes
.
Results
)
Ward 2 (Cabbagetown
and Rosedale
)
Ward 3 (West Downtown
and Summerhill
)
Ward 4 (The Annex
, Kensington Market
and Garment District)
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale
)
Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction)
Ward 8 (The Beaches
)
Ward 9 (North Toronto
)
Results taken from the January 2, 1947 Globe and Mail and might not exactly match final tallies.
Robert Hood Saunders
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 ....
was re-elected as mayor.
The election was a major defeat for the communist Labour-Progressive Party
Labour-Progressive Party
For the Labour-Progressive Coalition Government in New Zealand see the Fifth Labour Government of New ZealandThe Labor-Progressive Party was the legal political organization of the Communist Party of Canada between 1943 and 1959....
faction on city council, with Controller Stewart Smith
Stewart Smith (politician)
Stewart Smith was a long-time leading member of the Communist Party of Canada. He also served on Toronto City Council for a period in the 1930s and 1940s....
and Alderman Dewar Ferguson being defeated. This left the party with only two seats on city council, Norman Freed and Charles Seems. This was somewhat mitigated by two communists winning seats on the Toronto Board of Education.
The vote also featured three referendums. Two were approved that would have a lasting effect on the city of Toronto. One called for the creation of the Regent Park
Regent Park
Regent Park is a neighbourhood located in Old Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Regent Park is Canada's oldest and largest social housing project; built in the late 1940s. Formerly the centre of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood, it is bounded by Gerrard Street East to the north, River Street to the east,...
housing project in the east end of the city. The second approved the city buying up the land northwest of the intersection of Bay and Queen streets for a city square and municipal buildings. This would later be the site of Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza that forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and named for Nathan Phillips, mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962. The square opened in 1965, and, as with the City Hall, the square was...
and Toronto City Hall
Toronto City Hall
The City Hall of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is the home of the city's municipal government and one of its most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell and landscape architect Richard Strong, and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in 1965...
. Rejected for a third time was a proposal to move to three year municipal terms.
Toronto mayor
Mayor Robert Hood SaundersRobert Hood Saunders
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 ....
faced only fringe candidates: Frank O'Hearn, who would go on to found the New Capitalist Party
New Capitalist Party
The New Capitalist Party was a short-lived political party in Canada that nominated three candidates in Toronto-area ridings in the 1965 election....
, and Trotskyist Murray Dowson
Murray Dowson
Murray Dowson was a Canadian Trotskyist politician.In the mid-1930s, Murray joined the Workers' Party of Canada while a student at York Memorial Collegiate. He later joined B. J. Field's League for a Revolutionary Workers Party before rejoining the Trotskyists...
.
Results
- Robert Hood SaundersRobert Hood SaundersRobert Hood Saunders, Q.C., CBE was mayor of Toronto from 1945 to 1948, President of the Canadian National Exhibition, chairman of the Ontario Hydro ....
- 92,762 - Frank O'Hearn - 9,477
- Murray DowsonMurray DowsonMurray Dowson was a Canadian Trotskyist politician.In the mid-1930s, Murray joined the Workers' Party of Canada while a student at York Memorial Collegiate. He later joined B. J. Field's League for a Revolutionary Workers Party before rejoining the Trotskyists...
- 3,180
Board of Control
The only major change on the Board of ControlToronto Board of Control
Toronto Board of Control was a part of the municipal government of Toronto, Canada from 1904 until its abolition in 1969 and served as the executive committee of Toronto City Council. It consisted of four councillors elected city wide and was presided over by the mayor. Each voter could vote for up...
was the defeat of Stewart Smith
Stewart Smith (politician)
Stewart Smith was a long-time leading member of the Communist Party of Canada. He also served on Toronto City Council for a period in the 1930s and 1940s....
, the leader of the communist faction at city hall. He was ousted by North Toronto
North Toronto
North Toronto was a town located in the northern part of the Old Toronto district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It occupies a geographically central location within the current boundaries of the city of Toronto. It is a relatively narrow strip, centred around Yonge Street; it extends from the CP...
alderman John Innes
John Innes (politician)
John Innes was a municipal politician in Toronto, Canada. He was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada in around 1900 when he was in his twenties. A carpenter by trade he built a home in on Merton Street in North Toronto. He then became a developer, building several other homes around the area...
.
Results
- Hiram E. McCallumHiram E. McCallumHiram Emerson McCallum was a mayor of Toronto, Ontario from 1948-1951.Born in East Caledon, Ontario, his first job was at The Mail and Empire newspaper as a clerk in the advertising department. From there, he started his own printing plant in 1931...
(incumbent) - 58,524 - John InnesJohn Innes (politician)John Innes was a municipal politician in Toronto, Canada. He was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada in around 1900 when he was in his twenties. A carpenter by trade he built a home in on Merton Street in North Toronto. He then became a developer, building several other homes around the area...
- 53,137 - David Balfour (incumbent) - 51,578
- Bert McKellar (incumbent) - 49,680
- Stewart SmithStewart Smith (politician)Stewart Smith was a long-time leading member of the Communist Party of Canada. He also served on Toronto City Council for a period in the 1930s and 1940s....
(incumbent)- 42,106 - M.A. Sanderson - 26,136
- Harry Bradley - 10,749
- Harry Clairmont - 4,858
City council
Ward 1 (RiverdaleRiverdale, Toronto
Riverdale is a large neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded by the Don River Valley to the west, Danforth Avenue and Greektown to the north, Jones Avenue, the CN/GO tracks, and Leslieville to the east, and Lake Shore Boulevard to the south....
)
- Charles Walton (incumbent) - 4,788
- Leslie Saunders - 4,596
- William Murdoch (incumbent) - 3,969
- W. Simpson - 2,067
- Harry Marley - 1,606
Ward 2 (Cabbagetown
Cabbagetown, Toronto
Cabbagetown is a neighbourhood located on the east side of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It comprises "the largest continuous area of preserved Victorian housing in all of North America", according to the Cabbagetown Preservation Association....
and Rosedale
Rosedale, Toronto
Rosedale is an affluent neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which was formerly the estate of William Botsford Jarvis, and so named by his wife, granddaughter of William Dummer Powell, for the wild roses that grew there in abundance....
)
- Louis ShannonLouis ShannonJ. Louis Shannon was a municipal politician in Toronto, Canada who served for many years on Toronto City Council and the Toronto Board of Control....
(incumbent) - 4,102 - Everett Weaver - 3,215
- May BirchardMay BirchardMay Birchard was a municipal politician and poverty activist in Toronto, Canada. Born in Toronto she married F.J. Birchard, an agricultural scientist who was an expert on grain. During the First World War the family moved to Winnipeg...
(incumbent) - 3,079 - George A. Wilson - 3,015
- William Dennison - 2,248
Ward 3 (West Downtown
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately bounded by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don River to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west...
and Summerhill
Summerhill, Toronto
The Summerhill neighbourhood in central Toronto was named after 'Summer Hill' house, built in 1842 by Canadian transportation baron Charles Thompson.Much of the area was once part of the Thompson estate but was subdivided by his heirs in the 1880s....
)
- Harold Fishleigh (incumbent) - 3,397
- Allan Lamport (incumbent) - 2,884
- John McVicar - 1,245
- Harry Gilbert - 682
- Karl Prager - 271
Ward 4 (The Annex
The Annex
The Annex is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road...
, Kensington Market
Kensington Market
Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's most well-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Robert Fulford wrote in 1999 that "Kensington...
and Garment District)
- Norman Freed (incumbent) - 4,910
- Nathan PhillipsNathan Phillips (politician)Nathan Phillips, KC was a Canadian politician and popular Mayor of Toronto, Ontario.-Early life:Born in Brockville, Ontario, the son of Jacob Phillips and Mary Rosenbloom, he was educated in public and high schools in Cornwall. In 1908, he articled with the Cornwall lawyer, Robert Smith, who later...
(incumbent) - 4,690 - Francis Chambers - 3,703
- C.G. Hamilton - 1,121
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods
- Charles Sims (incumbent) - 7,283
- Arthur Frost (incumbent) - 6,848
- Margaret Luckock - 4,936
- Patrick McKeown - 1,335
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale
Parkdale, Toronto
Parkdale is a neighbourhood and former village in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, west of downtown. The neighbourhood is bounded on the west by Roncesvalles Avenue, on the north by Queen Street. It is bounded on the east by Dufferin Street from Queen Street south, and on the south by Lake Ontario...
)
- George Granell - 8,526
- William Clifton - 6,803
- Dewar Ferguson (incumbent) - 5,775
- D.J. Bennett - 5,091
- Eamon Park - 1,825
Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction)
- William Butt (incumbent) - 5,773
- E.C. Roelofson (incumbent) - 3,557
- J.A. Service - 2,240
Ward 8 (The Beaches
The Beaches
The Beaches is a neighbourhood and popular tourist destination located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the east side of the "Old" City of Toronto. The original boundaries of the neighbourhood are from Fallingbrook Avenue on the east to Kingston Road on the north, to Woodbine Avenue...
)
- W.H. Collings (incumbent) - 8,120
- Roy Mealing - 5,678
- William Howell (incumbent) - 5,319
- Murray CotterillMurray CotterillMurray Cotterill was a Canadian trade union activist and organizer for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation ....
- 4,756 - James Davis - 1,522
Ward 9 (North Toronto
North Toronto
North Toronto was a town located in the northern part of the Old Toronto district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It occupies a geographically central location within the current boundaries of the city of Toronto. It is a relatively narrow strip, centred around Yonge Street; it extends from the CP...
)
- Melville Wilson (incumbent) - 8,307
- Leonard Reilly - 6,173
- W.H. Harris - 5,999
- Alex Thompson - 4,109
- H.V. Locke - 3,542
- R.M. McLean - 1,480
Results taken from the January 2, 1947 Globe and Mail and might not exactly match final tallies.