William Dennison (Canadian politician)
Encyclopedia
William Donald Dennison (January 20, 1905 – May 2, 1981) was the last member of the Orange Order
to serve as Mayor of Toronto, Canada
. He held the office from 1966 to 1972, and was a long time member of Toronto City Council
. Prior to entering politics, he was a school principal and teacher. He was also a beekeeper
who at one point had 900,000 bees in the backyard of his Jarvis Street home.
in the summers to earn money helping with the harvest and pitching grain. By night, he would educate himself by reading Little Blue Books
.
As a child and a young man he stammered so badly that he could not pronounce his own name, but after several failed attempts to correct his stammering, first at a school in Kitchener and later at a school in New York city he eventually learned how to control and correct the habit himself, opening his own School of Speech Correction.
in the 1920s, and became a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
and its successor, the New Democratic Party
. He was a CCF candidate in the riding of Rosedale
in the 1935 federal election
, placing third.
In 1938, he was elected a school trustee and served three successive one-year terms. In 1941 and 1943 he won election to serve as an alderman
on Toronto City Council
He won a seat in the 1943 provincial election
as the Ontario CCF
Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) representing the downtown Toronto riding of St. David
by defeating Progressive Conservative
candidate Roland Michener
. In the legislature, Dennison was an early environmentalist. An early conservationist, in the 1940s, he tried to stop the de Havilland
aircraft factory's pollution of Black Creek. He also tried to force the government to stop a pulp and paper mill from polluting the Spanish River
. In 1946 he personally planted 40,000 trees.
Michener defeated Dennison in the next provincial election
, two years later, but Dennison regained the seat in the 1948 election
.
After being defeated again in the 1951 provincial election
, Dennison returned to Toronto City Council in 1953 serving again as an alderman until 1958 when he was elected to the Board of Control. On council he interrogated other politicians and officials on conflict of interest, expense accounts, and their relationships with companies doing business with the city. He eventually rose to the position of mayor in 1966 campaigning on providing "a strong voice for labour in city affairs" and opposing the pro-development policies of incumbent Phil Givens. He was elected despite being opposed by all three daily newspapers. He was the first member of the CCF or NDP to serve as mayor of Toronto since James Simpson
in 1935, and the last until Barbara Hall
.
He opposed the early Eaton Centre
development plan that would have seen the demolition of Toronto's Old City Hall
, Dennison was a pro-labour mayor but later became more conservative in response to early criticism. Serving as mayor during the Canadian Centennial
, he urged the organizers of Caribana to make it a recurring event. He generally favoured development and complained about hippies and deserters from the US military flocking to the city saying that "a few hippies and deserters are Toronto's only problem." He retired from politics in 1972 and died of Parkinson's Disease in 1981.
Dennison not only saved the Old City Hall from demolition but also was responsible for preserving Toronto's original City Hall (St. Lawrence Hall
) and for preventing the demolition of Old Fort York when the original plans for the Gardiner Expressway took that road directly over the old fort. He was the lead negotiator for the City when the waterfront railway lands and warehouses were turned over for redevelopment and so was ultimately responsible for the erection of the CN Tower.
William Dennison's daughter, Lorna Dennison Milne
was a Liberal
member of the Canadian Senate
from 1995 to 2009.
Orange Institution
The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...
to serve as Mayor of Toronto, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He held the office from 1966 to 1972, and was a long time member of Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council
The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....
. Prior to entering politics, he was a school principal and teacher. He was also a beekeeper
Beekeeper
A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees for the purposes of securing commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly; pollinating fruits and vegetables; raising queens and bees for sale to other farmers; and/or for purposes satisfying natural scientific curiosity...
who at one point had 900,000 bees in the backyard of his Jarvis Street home.
Background
Dennison grew up on a farm in Renfrew County. He first left home at age 15 to work in the lumber camps of Northern Ontario. As a young man he would trek west to SaskatchewanSaskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
in the summers to earn money helping with the harvest and pitching grain. By night, he would educate himself by reading Little Blue Books
Little Blue Books
Little Blue Books are a series of small staple-bound books published by the Haldeman-Julius Publishing Company of Girard, Kansas . They were extremely popular, and achieved a total of more than 300 million booklets sold over the series' lifetime...
.
As a child and a young man he stammered so badly that he could not pronounce his own name, but after several failed attempts to correct his stammering, first at a school in Kitchener and later at a school in New York city he eventually learned how to control and correct the habit himself, opening his own School of Speech Correction.
Politics
Dennison was a member of the United Farmers of OntarioUnited Farmers of Ontario
The United Farmers of Ontario was a political party in Ontario, Canada. It was the Ontario provincial branch of the United Farmers movement of the early part of the 20th century.- Foundation and rise :...
in the 1920s, and became a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
and its successor, the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
. He was a CCF candidate in the riding of Rosedale
Rosedale
- Australia :* Rosedale, New South Wales* Rosedale, Queensland* Rosedale, Victoria* Rosedale, South Australia. The former Rosenthal.- Canada :* Rosedale, British Columbia* Rosedale, Calgary* Rosedale, Manitoba, rural municipality in the province of Manitoba....
in the 1935 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1935
The Canadian federal election of 1935 was held on October 14, 1935 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 18th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government, defeating Prime Minister R.B. Bennett's Conservative Party.The central...
, placing third.
In 1938, he was elected a school trustee and served three successive one-year terms. In 1941 and 1943 he won election to serve as an alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
on Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council
The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....
He won a seat in the 1943 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1943
The Ontario general election of 1943 was held on August 4, 1943, to elect the 90 Members of the 21st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
as the Ontario CCF
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section)
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation – The Farmer-Labor Party of Ontario, or more informally and commonly known as The Ontario CCF, was a democratic socialist political party that existed from 1932 to 1961. It was the provincial wing of the National CCF. The party officially had no leader in...
Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) representing the downtown Toronto riding of St. David
St. David (electoral district)
St. David was a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that returned Members of Provincial Parliament to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario at Queen's Park. It was created in downtown Toronto in 1926 and was merged into the riding of St. George—St. David in 1987.-MPPs for St...
by defeating Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
candidate Roland Michener
Roland Michener
Daniel Roland Michener , commonly known as Roland Michener, was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 20th since Canadian Confederation....
. In the legislature, Dennison was an early environmentalist. An early conservationist, in the 1940s, he tried to stop the de Havilland
De Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
aircraft factory's pollution of Black Creek. He also tried to force the government to stop a pulp and paper mill from polluting the Spanish River
Spanish River (Ontario)
The Spanish River is a river in Algoma District, Sudbury District and Greater Sudbury in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. It flows in a southerly direction from its headwaters at Spanish Lake and Duke Lake to its mouth at the North Channel on Georgian Bay, Lake Huron just outside of the community...
. In 1946 he personally planted 40,000 trees.
Michener defeated Dennison in the next provincial election
Ontario general election, 1945
The Ontario general election of 1945 was held on June 4, 1945, to elect the 90 members of the 22nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, two years later, but Dennison regained the seat in the 1948 election
Ontario general election, 1948
The Ontario general election of 1948 was held on June 7, 1948, to elect the 90 members of the 23rd Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
.
After being defeated again in the 1951 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1951
The Ontario general election of 1951 was held on November 22, 1951, to elect the 90 members of the 24th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, Dennison returned to Toronto City Council in 1953 serving again as an alderman until 1958 when he was elected to the Board of Control. On council he interrogated other politicians and officials on conflict of interest, expense accounts, and their relationships with companies doing business with the city. He eventually rose to the position of mayor in 1966 campaigning on providing "a strong voice for labour in city affairs" and opposing the pro-development policies of incumbent Phil Givens. He was elected despite being opposed by all three daily newspapers. He was the first member of the CCF or NDP to serve as mayor of Toronto since James Simpson
James Simpson (politician)
James "Jimmy" Simpson was a Canadian trade unionist, printer, journalist and left wing politician in Toronto, Ontario...
in 1935, and the last until Barbara Hall
Barbara Hall
Barbara Hall is a Canadian lawyer, public servant and former politician. She was the 61st mayor of Toronto, the last to run before amalgamation. She was elected mayor of the pre-amalgamation City of Toronto in 1994, and held office until December 31, 1997...
.
He opposed the early Eaton Centre
Eaton Centre
Eaton Centre is a name associated with shopping malls in Canada, originating with Eaton's, one of Canada's largest department store chains at the time that these malls were developed. Eaton's partnered with development companies throughout the 1970s and 1980s to develop downtown shopping malls in...
development plan that would have seen the demolition of Toronto's Old City Hall
Old City Hall (Toronto)
Toronto's Old City Hall was home to its city council from 1899 to 1966 and remains one of the city's most prominent structures. The building is located at the corner of Queen and Bay Streets, across Bay Street from Nathan Phillips Square and the new City Hall in the centre of downtown Toronto...
, Dennison was a pro-labour mayor but later became more conservative in response to early criticism. Serving as mayor during the Canadian Centennial
Canadian Centennial
The Canadian Centennial was a year long celebration held in 1967 when Canada celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. Celebrations occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1. 1967 coins were different from previous years' issues, with animals on each...
, he urged the organizers of Caribana to make it a recurring event. He generally favoured development and complained about hippies and deserters from the US military flocking to the city saying that "a few hippies and deserters are Toronto's only problem." He retired from politics in 1972 and died of Parkinson's Disease in 1981.
Dennison not only saved the Old City Hall from demolition but also was responsible for preserving Toronto's original City Hall (St. Lawrence Hall
St. Lawrence Hall
St. Lawrence Hall is a meeting hall in Toronto, Canada next to the St. Lawrence Market. It was built, alongside the new city hall, in 1850 after an 1849 fire destroyed much of the market. The Renaissance Revival style building was designed by William Thomas. It was created to be Toronto's public...
) and for preventing the demolition of Old Fort York when the original plans for the Gardiner Expressway took that road directly over the old fort. He was the lead negotiator for the City when the waterfront railway lands and warehouses were turned over for redevelopment and so was ultimately responsible for the erection of the CN Tower.
William Dennison's daughter, Lorna Dennison Milne
Lorna Milne
Lorna Ann Milne was a Canadian Senator from 1995 to 2009.Milne is the daughter of former Mayor of Toronto and Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member of Provincial Parliament William Dennison and grand-daughter of Isaac Bainbridge, early labour organizer and pacifist...
was a Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
member of the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
from 1995 to 2009.