1954 Toronto municipal election

Canadian municipal election September 2023 1954 Toronto mayoral election Toronto Mayoral no no 1953 Toronto municipal election 1953 December 6, 1954 1955 Toronto municipal election 1955 Nathan Phillips 40,683 34.2% File:Mayor Nathan Phillips wearing chain of office (cropped).jpg ON PC nohash Leslie Saunders 36,756 30.9% Leslie Saunders 1956 (cropped).jpg 542A64 Arthur J. Brown 36,613 30.8% AB 90EE90 Mayor of Toronto Leslie Saunders Nathan Phillips Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 6, 1954. Incumbent mayor Leslie Saunders was defeated by Nathan Phillips in a close contest. Toronto mayor Controller Leslie Saunders had been appointed mayor after the resignation of Allan Lamport, who left to work with the Toronto Transit Commission. He was challenged by Nathan Phillips, a longtime city councilor who had made a previous attempt to win the mayoralty. Phillips was Jewish, a sharp departure from the standard for Toronto mayors, who for decades had been Protestant Orange Order members. Phillips' religion was an important issue in the election. Saunders publicly proclaimed he was running as "Leslie Saunders, Protestant". Saunders was a leader of the Orange Order and the publisher of the radical monthly newspaper Protestant Action. His anti-Catholicism and proclamations that Toronto was a "Protestant city" had caused controversy in the past. One of his first acts after ascending to the mayoralty was to issue an official proclamation commemorating The Twelfth, the anniversary of the victory of William of Orange over the Irish. A second controversy arose during the election when candidate Arthur J. Brown released accusations about room 1735 in the Royal York hotel. He argued that the room was a secret entertainment suite paid for by the city for the use of the mayor. Saunders claims that it was rented by Mayor Lamport and that he was totally unaware of the suite. Nonetheless the scandal hurt his reelection bid. Also running was former school board head Arthur Brown, who had previously come close to defeating Lamport for the job, and who had the support of the Globe and Mail newspaper. The Toronto Star and the Telegram both supported Phillips. Saunders in his memoirs accuses Brown of splitting the "Christian and Gentile vote" and getting Phillips elected.Leslie Howard Saunders. An Orangeman in public life: the memoirs of Leslie Howard Saunders. Britannia Printers, 1980 pg. 128 The fourth candidate was Communist A. A. MacLeod, former Labor-Progressive Party M.P.P in the Ontario legislature for Bellwoods."A. A. MacLeod: Dominated Legislature as left-wing member" The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Mar 14, 1970; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 12 Results Nathan Phillips - 40,683 Leslie Saunders - 36,756 Arthur J. Brown - 36,613 A. A. MacLeod - 4,932 Board of Control Saunders' appointment to the mayoralty led to the appointment of Alderman Ross Lipsett to the Board of Control. This controversially passed over former Alderman Joseph Cornish, who had finished fifth in the 1953 election. In the 1954 election, Cornish displaced Lipsett to win the fourth and final seat on the Board. The most senior two Controllers in terms of votes also sat on Metro Toronto Council. Results Ford Brand (incumbent) - 69,540 Roy E. Belyea (incumbent) - 66,223 David Balfour (incumbent) - 62,871 Joseph Cornish - 55,277 Ross Lipsett (incumbent) - 45,385 Harry Bradley - 20,488 Harry Hunter - 14,114 Ben Nobleman - 9,413 George Rolland - 5,280 City council right|thumb|300px|Ward boundaries used in the 1954 election Two aldermen were elected per Ward. The alderman with the most votes was declared Senior Alderman and sat on both Toronto City Council and Metro Council. Ward 1 (Riverdale) William Allen (incumbent) - 8,855 Ken Waters (incumbent) - 8,042 George Phillips - 2,282 Stanley Hare - 1,381 Thornley - 932 Ward 2 (Regent Park and Rosedale) William Dennison (incumbent) - 4,831 Edgar Roxborough (incumbent) - 4,479 Douglas Shaw - 2,268 C.M. Edwards - 1,551 Morrison - 669 Philip Rowley - 647 Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill) Howard Phillips (incumbent) - acclaimed John MacVicar (incumbent) - acclaimed Phillips was chosen to become Metro Councillor. Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District) Allan Grossman (incumbent) - 6,455 Herbert Orliffe (incumbent) - 5,345 Robert Laxer - 1,368 Bernard Levitt - 1,307 Blainey - 756 Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy) Philip Givens (incumbent) - 7,470 Joseph Gould (incumbent) - 6,770 Stewart Smith - 2,678 Teslia - 2,105 Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale) May Robinson (incumbent) - 11,349 Frank Clifton (incumbent) - 10,470 Grittani - 2,763 Hector MacArthur - 2,067 Tennant - 1,684 Muir - 1,561 Patrick McKeown - 1,039 Ward 7 (Bloor West Village) William Davidson (incumbent) - 6,228 John Kucherepa (incumbent) - 4,989 John Duncan - 3,951 John Weir - 1,915 Ward 8 (The Beaches) Donald Summerville - 10,002 Alex Hodgins (incumbent) - 8,327 Albert G. Cranham - 6,485 William Probert (incumbent) - 3,169 McNulty - 2,553 James Davis - 1,210 John Square - 384 Ward 9 (North Toronto) Jean Newman - 14,873 Leonard Reilly (incumbent) - 11,261 David Burt (incumbent) - 9,819 Frederick Vacher - 1,394 Results are taken from the December 7, 1954 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies. Suburbs East York Reeve Harry G. Simpson - 3,723 Jack Allen - 2,613 John Warren - 2,211 Source: "East York Returns Reeve for 8th Term", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1954: 1. Etobicoke Reeve Beverley Lewis (acclaimed) Deputy Reeve Henry O. Waffle - 7,513 William R. Hodgson - 4,608 Source: Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]07 Dec 1954: 7. Forest Hill Reeve Charles O. Bick (acclaimed) Source: Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]07 Dec 1954: 7. Leaside Mayor (incumbent)Howard T. Burrell (acclaimed) Source: "Weston, Leaside Voters To Elect 10 Councillors", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Dec 3, 1954; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: pg. 8 Long Branch Reeve (incumbent)Marie Curtis 2,020 Sherman Anderson 248 Election occurred on December 11. Source: "Mrs. Marie Curtis Reeve Again By An Overwhelming Majority", Toronto Daily Star, December 13, 1954, pg 10 Mimico Mayor William Arthur (Gus) Edwards 1,669 (incumbent)Archibald Douglas Norris 1,256 Election occurred on December 11. Source: "Reeve W. Edwards Defeats Mayor Norris At Mimico", Toronto Daily Star, December 13, 1954, pg 10 New Toronto Mayor Donald Russell 1,811 (incumbent)John L. (Jack) Strath 841 Election occurred on December 11. Source: "Mayor Strath Defeated. D. Russell Easy Winner", Toronto Daily Star, December 13, 1954, pg 10 North York Reeve (incumbent)Fred J. McMahon - 18,224 Samuel Wagman - 3,837 Source: Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]07 Dec 1954: 7. Scarborough Reeve Oliver E. Crockford - 9,064 Richard Sutton - 8,036 Hilda Murray - 1,052 Deputy Reeve Augustus Harris - 10,010 Fred Sloky - 7,889 Source: Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]07 Dec 1954: 7. Swansea Reeve (incumbent)Dorothy Hague (acclaimed) Weston Mayor Harry Clark (acclaimed) Source: "Election Returns", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1954: 32 York Reeve (incumbent)Frederick W. Hall - 10,724 Charles McMaster - 3,178 Norman Penner - 1,723 Source: "Election Results", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1954: 32. References Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 7, 1955 Nathan Phillips. Mayor of All the People McClelland and Stewart, 1967 Leslie Howard Saunders. An Orangeman in public life: the memoirs of Leslie Howard Saunders. Britannia Printers, 1980 Toronto 1954 Municipal election, 1951 Toronto municipal election Toronto municipal election