1953 Toronto municipal election

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.

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.

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.

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

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

In each ward, the alderman with the most 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
  • (x)Harry G. Simpson 5,564
  • Marie Taylor 3,556

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
  • Edward A. Horton - acclaimed
Councillors

Ward 1 (2 elected)

  • William H.M. Laughlin - acclaimed
  • Murray Johnson - acclaimed

Ward 2 (2 elected)

  • Irene Beatie - 1,566
  • William R. Hodgson - 1,367
  • Andrew MacDonald - 1,135

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

Ward 3 (2 elected)

  • Charles Devlin - acclaimed
  • Gerald Daub - acclaimed

Ward 4 (1 elected)

  • John M. Allen - 554
  • James P. Holmes - 353

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

Forest Hill
Reeve

Leaside
Mayor
  • Howard T. Burrell - 1,694
  • D.E. Brown - 1,033
  • Arthur Donahue - 642
Council (4 elected at large)
  • Joseph Banigan - 2,176
  • Howard Dickinson - 2,112
  • Richard Clarke - 1,982
  • Charles H. Hiscott - 1,956
  • E. Shipley Birrell - 1,449
  • Leonard Hart - 1,335

Long Branch
Reeve

Mimico
Mayor
  • Archibald D. Norris

New Toronto
Mayor
  • John L. (Jack) Strath 1,279
  • Harold Trickett 574

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
  • Oliver E. Crockford (incumbent) - 8,605
  • George Mason - 4,071
  • George Barker - 1,673

Swansea
Reeve
  • (x)Dorothy Hague (acclaimed)

Weston
Mayor
  • (x)Richard C. Seagrave 1,404
  • John P. Allan 723

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

York
Reeve
  • (x)Fred W. Hall 9,604
  • Charles McMaster 3,921

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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References
  • Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 8, 1953
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