Bracondale

Bracondale was a provincial electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1926 to 1967. The constituency got its name from an old Toronto suburb called Bracondale, that was annexed by Toronto in 1909. Its most notable event was electing one of the first two women Members of the Provincial Parliament (MPP) to share the title "first-woman MPP" in 1943 when Rae Luckock was elected. In 1965, Bracondale's MPP, Joseph Gould, died in office sparking the final election held in the constituency. George Ben won the by-election, and became the constituency's last MPP. It was abolished for the 1967 Ontario provincial election, and redistributed into the Dovercourt and Bellwoods constituencies. As of 2012, the current electoral districts of Davenport, St. Paul's and Trinity–Spadina encompass this historic riding.[1]

Bracondale

Ontario electoral district
Bracondale electoral district as it appeared from 1934 until its abolition in 1967
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Ontario
District created	1925
District abolished	1967
First contested	1926
Last contested	1965

History

Bracondale was the name of a former Toronto suburb that was annexed by the city in 1909;[2] and north of Davenport Road, constituted the northern part of what eventually became the provincial electoral district. It was part of the northwestern expansion of the city that included Wychwood Park, and the City of West Toronto (now known as The Junction).[2] The constituency was first contested during Ontario's 17th general election on 1 December 1926.[3] Arthur Russell Nesbitt, was elected its first Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).[4] He was a member of Ontario Conservative Party.[4] The constituency's first Ontario Liberal MLA was Lionel Conacher, a famous Canadian athlete that retired from the National Hockey League to start a career in politics.[5] He was elected on 6 October 1937 in a very close race with the constituency's incumbent MLA, Nesbitt.[6] Nesbitt claimed that two ballot boxes were missing and one was filled with fraudulent ballots.[7] The constituency's returning officer was arrested, and denied bail because he had a quantity of ballots stuffed in his pockets.[7] Soon after Conacher was elected as an MLA, the legislature changed the designation for its members to Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in 1938.

Bracondale's most notable event came in 1943. Its residents elected Rae Luckock, one of two Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) female MPPs to share the title "first-female MPP"; the other was Agnes Macphail in York East.[8] Luckock lost the 4 June 1945 provincial election to Conservative Harry Hyland Hyndman, which saw the Conservatives sweep into a majority government, by gaining most of the extra seats from the CCF.[9]

Boundaries

The original boundaries for Bracondale, used for the 1926 and 1929 elections

1926 to 1934 boundaries

Bracondale was a long and narrow constituency, ranging from the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds in the south to the city limits at St. Clair Avenue in the north, in Toronto's west-end. It included parts of the present-day neighbourhoods of Bracondale Hill, Davenport, Dovercourt Park, Dufferin Grove, Little Portugal, and Liberty Village. Its southern boundary was Lake Ontario. Its eastern boundary started on the west side of Strachan Avenue. It went north on Strachan to Queen Street West and jogged westward along Queen's south side to Crawford Avenue. It then went north on Crawford's west side until Dundas Street West, where it went eastward along the northern section of Dundas to Beatrice Street. It went north on Beatrice's west side straight through to Bloor Street West. It then jogged east on Bloor's north side to Christie Avenue. It then went along Christie to the northern boundary, the city limits just north of St. Clair Avenue West. It jogged westward along the city limits to Oakwood Avenue. It then went south along Oakwood's eastside to Davenport Road. It then jogged along Davenport's south-side to Dovercourt Road. It then went south on Dovercourt's east-side to Atlantic Avenue. On Atlantic's east-side to Lake Ontario.[10][11]

1934 to 1967 Boundaries

Bracondale in context with the other Toronto districts in 1926 and 1929

Bracondale was a long and narrow constituency, ranging from the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds in the south to the city limits immediately north of St. Clair Avenue, in Toronto's west-end. It included parts of the present-day neighbourhoods that belong to Bracondale Hill, Davenport, Dovercourt Park, Dufferin Grove, Little Portugal, and Liberty Village. Its southern boundary was Lake Ontario. Its eastern boundary started on the west-side of Strachan Avenue. It went north on Strachan to Queen Street West and jogged westward along Queen's south side to Crawford Avenue. It then went north on Crawford's westside until Bloor Street West. It then jogged east on Bloor's north side to Christie Avenue. It then went along Christie to the northern boundary, the city limits just north of St. Clair Avenue West. It jogged westward along the city limits to Oakwood Avenue. It then went south along Oakwood's eastside to Davenport Road. It then jogged along Davenport's south-side to Dovercourt Road. It then went south on Dovercourt's east-side to Atlantic Avenue. On Atlantic's east-side to Lake Ontario.[10][11]

In 2012, the historic boundaries are approximately part of the south-east portion of the present-day Davenport constituency,[12] a portion of the southern section of St. Paul's constituency,[13] and most of the western portion of the Trinity–Spadina constituency.[14]

Members of Provincial Parliament

Bracondale
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
Prior to 1926 part of Toronto Southwest and Toronto Northwest ridings
17th	1926–1929		Arthur Russell Nesbitt	Conservative
18th	1929–1934
19th	1934–1937
20th	1937–1943		Lionel Conacher	Liberal
21st	1943–1945		Rae Luckock	Co-operative Commonwealth
22nd	1945–1948		Harry Hyland Hyndman	Progressive Conservative
23rd	1948–1951		Harry Lindley Walters	Co-operative Commonwealth
24th	1951–1955		Arthur George Frost	Progressive Conservative
25th	1955–1959
26th	1959–1963		Joseph Gould	Liberal
27th	1963–1965
	1965–1967		George Ben	Liberal
Sourced from the Ontario Legislative Assembly[15]
Merged into Bellwoods and Dovercourt ridings after 1967

Election results

1920s

1926 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[16]	Vote %
	Conservative	A.R Nesbitt	10,483	69.4
	Prohibitionist	A.W. Pike	3,006	19.9
	Liberal	F.H Wager	1,610	10.7
		Total	15,099

1929 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[17]	Vote %
	Conservative	A.R. Nesbitt	7,110	70.8
	Liberal	J.J. Noad	2,727	27.2
	Communist	Thomas C. Sims	200	2.0
		Total

1930s

Toronto riding boundaries after 1934 redistribution

1934 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[18]	Vote %
	Conservative	A.R. Nesbitt	6,296	42.2
	Liberal	E.C. Bogart	5,803	38.9
	Cooperative-Commonwealth	Rose Henderson	2,412	16.2
	Communist	Thomas C. Sims	362	2.4
	Socialist-Labour	William White	32	0.2
		Total

1937 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[19]	Vote %
	Liberal	Lionel Conacher	7,575	45.6
	Conservative	A.R. Nesbitt	7,528	45.3
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Murray Cotterill	1,505	9.1
		Total

1940s

1943 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[20]	Vote %
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Rae Luckock	4,494	38.3
	Progressive Conservative	H. Hyndman	4,266	36.4
	Liberal	E.C. Bogart	2,685	22.9
	Independent-Soldier	John Dymond	283	2.4
		Total

1945 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[21]	Vote %
	Progressive Conservative	H. Hyndman	6,191	31.1
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Rae Luckock	4,863	24.4
	Liberal	Lionel Conacher	4,312	21.7
	Labor–Progressive	Leslie Morris	4,221	21.2
	Independent-Conservative	C.D. Graham	314	1.6
		Total	19,901

1948 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[22]	Vote %
	Co-operative Commonwealth	H. Walters	7,980	44.8
	Progressive Conservative	Fred Conboy	6,828	38.3
	Liberal	W. Alex Gunn	2,998	16.8
		Total

1950s

1951 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[23]	Vote %
	Progressive Conservative	Arthur Frost	6,014	42.0
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Harry Walters	4,398	30.7
	Liberal	Frank Mills	3,900	27.2
		Total	14,312

1955 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[24]	Vote %
	Progressive Conservative	Arthur Frost	4,718	37.7
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Tom Paton	3,392	30.3
	Liberal	George Ben	2,985	26.7
	Labor–Progressive	Harry Hunter	584	5.2
		Total	11,679

1959 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[25]	Vote %
	Liberal	Joseph M. Gould	4,059	36.5
	Progressive Conservative	Harold Menzies	3,675	33.1
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Jack Elchuk	2,924	26.3
	Independent-Conservative	Robert Martin	453	4.1
		Total	11,111

1960s

1963 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[26]	Vote %
	Liberal	Joseph M. Gould	4,245	38.2
	Progressive Conservative	Stanley Pronck	4,197	37.8
	New Democrat	Stan Matias	2,669	24.0
		Total	11,111

By-election, 15 September 1965

	Party	Candidate	Votes[27]	Vote %
	Liberal	George Ben	4,940	46.35
	New Democrat	John Farnia	3,486	32.71
	Progressive Conservative	Lawerance Odette	2,233	20.95
		Total	10,659

References

1. Federal and provincial electoral district boundaries are the same in Toronto.
2. "Bracondale and Wychwood given special terms by the City Council--West Toronto Annexation passed--Legislature asked to help re street railway lines". Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1908-12-15. p. 7.
3. "All Members serving in Parliament: 17 -- December 01, 1926 - September 17, 1929". Past and Present MPPs. Toronto: Ontario Legislative Assembly. 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
4. "Arthur Russell Nesbitt, MPP". Past and Present MPPs. Toronto: Ontario Legislative Assembly. 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
5. The Canadian Press (1937-09-02). "Lionel Conacher quits sports for a career in politics". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. p. 24. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
6. "'Big Train' elected: Lionel Conacher forsook puck for Ontario political career". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver. 1937-10-07. p. 7. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
7. The Canadian Press (1937-10-07). "Hepburn takes 67 seats". The Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan. p. 1. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
8. The Canadian Press (1943-08-05). "Ontario precedent set as 2 women elected". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal. p. 12. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
9. Star Staff (1945-06-05). "How Ontario's electors voted in all 90 ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 5. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
10. Star Staff (1945-05-29). "Candidates and their balliwicks for next Monday's provincial election: 69 run, 17 can win". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 3.
11. Forsyth, Robert (1963-09-11). "The Province of Ontario general election 1963 the Voters' List ACT III: Bracondale". The Toronto Star. Toronto. Elections Ontario. p. 31.
12. "Davenport" (PDF). 2011 Electoral District Maps. Toronto: Elections Ontario. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-13. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
13. "St. Paul's" (PDF). 2011 Electoral District Maps. Toronto: Elections Ontario. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-13. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
14. "Trinity–Spadina" (PDF). 2011 Electoral District Maps. Toronto: Elections Ontario. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-13. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
15. For a listing of each MPP's Queen's Park curriculum vitae see below:
    • For Arthur Russell Nesbitt's Legislative Assembly information see "Arthur Russell Nesbitt, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2016.
    • For Lionel Conacher's Legislative Assembly information see "Lionel Conacher, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2016.
    • For Rae Luckock's Legislative Assembly information see "Rae Luckock, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2016.
    • For Harry Hyndman's Legislative Assembly information see "Harry Hyland Hyndman, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2016.
    • For Harry Walters' Legislative Assembly information see "Harry Lindley Walters, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2016.
    • For Arthur Frost's Legislative Assembly information see "Arthur George Frost, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2016.
    • For Joseph Gould's Legislative Assembly information see "Joseph M. Gould, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2016.
    • For George Ben's Legislative Assembly information see "George Ben, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2016.
16. "Sweep by Tories Returns 15 Wets in Toronto Seats". The Toronto Daily Star (Last Extra edition). Toronto. 1926-12-01. p. 1. Results with 98 out of 99 polls reporting.
17. "Vote Cast and Personnel of the New Ontario Legislature". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1929-10-31. p. 43.
18. "Detailed Election Results". The Globe. Toronto. 1934-06-21. p. 3.
19. "Ontario Voted By Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1937-10-07. p. 5.
20. Canadian Press (1943-08-05). "Ontario Election Results". The Gazette. Montreal. p. 12.
21. Canadian Press (1945-06-05). "How Ontario Electors Voted in all 90 Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 5. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
22. Canadian Press (1948-06-08). "How Ontario Electors Voted in all 90 Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 24.
23. Canadian Press (1951-11-23). "How Ontario Electors Voted in all 90 Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 10. Results with 101 out of 109 polls reporting.
24. Canadian Press (1955-06-10). "Complete Results of Ontario Voting by Constituencies". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. p. 4. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
25. Canadian Press (1959-06-12). "Complete Results of Ontario Voting by Constituencies". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. p. 26. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
26. Canadian Press (1963-09-26). "Who Won Which Seats In P.C.s Ontario Sweep". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 20.
27. Canadian Press (1965-09-16). "Liberals Hold Two Seats". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. pp. 1, 6. Retrieved 2012-04-30.