Toronto municipal election, 1953
Encyclopedia
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Canada, on December 7, 1953. Incumbent mayor Allan Lamport won an unexpectedly close race against school board trustee Arthur Young.
, which Lamport opposed and Young favoured. Part way through his term, Lamport resigned and was succeeded by Saunders.
Results:
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.
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 and Little Italy
)
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale
)
Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction)
Ward 8 (The Beaches
)
Ward 9 (North Toronto
)
Results taken form the December 8, 1953 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.
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 city-wide office, came within 10,000 votes. A central issue of the campaign was the introduction of rent controlRent control
Rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the renting of residential housing. It functions as a price ceiling.Rent control exists in approximately 40 countries around the world...
, which Lamport opposed and Young favoured. Part way through his term, Lamport resigned and was succeeded by Saunders.
Results:
- Allan Lamport - 55,064
- Arthur Young - 46,080
Board of Control
All four 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...
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
Joseph Cornish
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....
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
Louis Shannon
J. Louis Shannon was a municipal politician in Toronto, Canada who served for many years on Toronto City Council and the Toronto Board of Control....
led to a second board appointment, this time of Alderman Roy Belyea.
Results
- Leslie Saunders (incumbent) - 62,397
- 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) - 57,635 - Ford Brand (incumbent) - 54,635
- David Balfour (incumbent) - 51,393
- Joseph CornishJoseph CornishF. 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....
- 46,701 - Harry Bradley - 18,686
- Harry Hunter - 14,194
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....
)
- William AllenWilliam Allen (Canadian politician)William Randall Allen, QC 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 Expressway . Metropolitan Toronto was created by the Province of Ontario in 1952 and comprised Toronto, North York,...
(incumbent) - acclaimed - Ken Waters (incumbent) - acclaimed
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....
)
- William Dennison (incumbent) - 4,821
- Edgar Roxborough (incumbent) - 4,254
- C.M. Edwards - 2,547
- George Taylor - 1,761
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....
)
- Howard Phillips (incumbent) - 4,016
- John McVicar (incumbent) - 3,919
- Richard Newson - 1,062
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)
- Allan GrossmanAllan GrossmanAllan Grossman was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, for 20 years, a provincial cabinet minister and the father of the late former leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, Larry Grossman. Together, the father and son represented the downtown Toronto, Ontario,...
(incumbent) - 5,380 - Herbert OrliffeHerbert OrliffeHerbert Orliffe was a municipal politician in Toronto, Canada. He immigrated with his family form Newcastle, England at age 8 and settled in Toronto. His father operated a grocery store on Harbord Street...
- 4,600 - Robert LaxerRobert LaxerRobert M. Laxer was a Canadian psychologist, professor, author, and political activist.Laxer was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1915 and graduated from McGill University with a B.A. in 1936 and an M.A. in 1939. Laxer joined the Communist Party of Canada during the Great Depression...
- 1,507 - Bernard Levitt - 1,224
- Walton Rose - 956
- John Anture - 585
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy
Little Italy, Toronto
Little Italy, sometimes referred to as College Street West, is a district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is well known for its numerous Italian Canadian restaurants and businesses. There is also a significant Latin American and Portuguese community in the area...
)
- Joseph GouldJoseph Gould (Ontario politician)Joseph M. Gould was an Ontario municipal and provincial politician. He was a trail lawyer in private life. Gould was first the alderman for the City of Toronto's Ward 5 in the 1950s and was the Ontario Liberal Party's Member of Provincial Parliament for the Bracondale electoral district in...
(incumbent) - 7,809 - Philip GivensPhilip GivensPhilip Gerald Givens, QC was a Mayor of Toronto, Canada, Member of Parliament and judge.Raised in Toronto, Givens attended Harbord Collegiate Institute....
(incumbent) - 7,393 - 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....
- 3,305
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...
)
- 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 KucherepaJohn KucherepaJohn William Kucherepa was a Progressive Conservative party member of the Canadian House of Commons.Kucherepa was born in Toronto, Ontario where he attended the Humberside Collegiate Institute and Western High School of Commerce in his youth...
(incumbent) - 4,472 - John Duncan - 3,670
- John Weir - 968
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...
)
- 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
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...
)
- Roy Belyea (incumbent) - 12,485
- Leonard Reilly (incumbent) - 11,261
- David Burt - 5,444
- Frederick Vacher - 1,314
- George Rolland - 802
Results taken form the December 8, 1953 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.