Riverdale (provincial electoral district)

Riverdale was a provincial riding in Ontario, Canada that existed from 1914 to 1999. It occupied an area east of the Don River from the city limits just north of Danforth Avenue south to Lake Ontario. It was named after the neighbourhood of Riverdale. In 1999 a major reduction in Ontario seats resulted in Riverdale being merged with part of East York into a larger riding called Broadview-Greenwood.

Riverdale

Ontario electoral district
Riverdale, in relation to the other Toronto ridings, after the 1914 redistribution.
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Ontario
District created	1914
District abolished	1996
First contested	1914
Last contested	1995

The 1964 by-election in this riding is well known for being among the first elections in Canadian history where a party (the NDP) used door to door canvassing and a get out the vote effort.[1]

Boundaries

In 1914 the riding was created out of the Toronto East riding. Its initial borders were Logan Avenue from Ashbridges Bay to the city limits just north of the Danforth. The northern boundary followed the city limits with East York east to Woodbine Avenue. The eastern boundary followed this road south to the lake.[2]

In 1926 five ridings were added to Toronto. Three new ridings were created to the east of Riverdale called Greenwood, Woodbine and Beaches. The borders of Riverdale were altered to accommodate the new ridings. The western boundary was moved west to the Don River and this encompassed parts of the old Toronto Southeast and Toronto Northeast ridings. The eastern boundary was moved to Carlaw Avenue which bordered Greenwood riding.[3]

Prior to the 1934 election, the riding of Greenwood was dissolved and split between Beaches riding to the east and Riverdale to the west. The new western boundary became Jones Avenue from Queen Street East to Danforth Avenue. North of Danforth Avenue the boundary continued along Dewhurst Avenue and south of Queen Street the boundary continued along Berkshire Avenue and south to the lake.[4]

In 1966 the boundaries on the east and west sides were altered. To the west it was moved east from the banks of the Don River. Instead it started on the south where Carlaw Avenue met Toronto Harbour. It went north along Carlaw to Queen Street East, then west along Queen to DeGrassi St. It went north along DeGrassi until Gerrard, west along Gerrard until Broadview Avenue, north along Broadview until Sparkhall Avenue, east along Sparkhall until Hampton Avenue and north along Hampton until it reached Danforth Avenue. North of Danforth it continued along Jackman Avenue until it reached the city limits. On the east side, next to the neighbouring riding of Beaches-Woodbine, the border started at the lake and went north along Coxwell Avenue to Queen Street East. A one block jog west and then it went north along Rhodes Avenue to the Danforth. At Danforth it jogged back east to Coxwell and then followed this street north to the city limits.[5]

In 1974 the eastern boundary with Beaches-Woodbine was altered. The new border consisted of Coxwell Avenue from Lake Ontario north to the railway right-of-way just south of Hanson Street. The boundary followed the right-of-way west until Greenwood Avenue. It then went north along Greenwood until it met the city limits.[6]

The boundaries were further altered in 1987. The western boundary was moved back to the Don River. This was followed north to the Toronto city limits. Going east it followed the city limits to Coxwell Avenue. It turned south following Coxwell to the Canadian National Railway right-of-way. It went west along the right-of-way turning south following Greenwood Avenue to Queen Street East, then west to Leslie Street, and then south to Lake Ontario.

It was merged into the riding of merged into the Toronto-Danforth in 1996 prior to the election in 1999.

Members of Provincial Parliament

Riverdale
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
prior to 1914 part of the Toronto East riding
14th	1914–1919		Joseph Russell	Conservative
15th	1919–1923		Joseph McNamara	Soldier
16th	1923–1926		George Oakley	Conservative
17th	1926–1929
18th	1929–1934
19th	1934–1937		Robert Allen	Liberal
20th	1937–1943		William Summerville[nb 1]	Progressive Conservative
21st	1943–1945		Leslie Wismer	Co-operative Commonwealth
22nd	1945–1948		Gordon Millen	Progressive Conservative
23rd	1948–1951		Leslie Wismer	Co-operative Commonwealth
24th	1951–1955		Robert Macaulay[nb 2]	Progressive Conservative
25th	1955–1959
26th	1959–1963
27th	1963–1964
	1964–1967		Jim Renwick[nb 3]	New Democratic
28th	1967–1971
29th	1971–1975
30th	1975–1977
31st	1977–1981
32nd	1981–1984
33rd	1985–1987		David Reville
34th	1987–1990
35th	1990–1995		Marilyn Churley
36th	1995–1999
Sourced from the Ontario Legislative Assembly[7]
Merged into the Broadview-Greenwood after 1999

Election results

1914 boundaries

1914 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[8]	Vote %
	Conservative	Joseph Russell	3,310	68.9
	Temperance	W.W. Hiltz	1,337	27.8
	Socialist	T.E. Black	135	3.3
		Total	4,782

1919 Ontario general election: Riverdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Soldier–Labour	Joseph McNamara	7,404	38.7
	Labour	John T. Vick	5,882	30.7
	Conservative	W.D. Robbins	5,673	29.6
	Socialist Labour	George Lockhart	192	1.0
Total			19,151
1919 was the first election to allow women to vote, more than doubling the vote counts in each riding.
2 polls unreported.
"Tory stronghold routed, five Liberals in Toronto". The Globe. Toronto. 1919-10-21. p. 8.

1923 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[9]	Vote %
	Conservative	George Oakley	11,250	78.7
	Independent Liberal	H.G. Farrell	1,831	12.8
	Labour	Alexander Lyon	1,208	8.5
		Total	14,289

1926 boundaries

Toronto riding boundaries after 1926 redistribution

1926 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[10][11][nb 4]	Vote %
	Conservative	George Oakley	8,755	61.3
	Conservative-Prohibitionist	A.R. Hansard	4,022	38.7
		Total	14,265

1929 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[12]	Vote %
	Conservative	George Oakley	5,435	79.4
	Liberal	James McLauchlin	2,130	20.6
		Total	8,668

1934 boundaries

Toronto riding boundaries after 1934 redistribution

1934 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[13]	Vote %
	Liberal	Robert Allen	10,909	49.0
	Conservative	George Oakley	10,325	46.4
	Socialist-Labour	Edward Farrell	1,010	4.5
		Total	22,244

1937 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[14]	Vote %
	Conservative	William Summerville	10,865	43.7
	Liberal	Robert Allen	8,211	33.3
	Co-operative Commonwealth	J.W. Buckley	4,407	22.9
	Socialist-Labour	Edward Farrell	95	26.0
		Total	22,343

1943 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[15]	Vote %
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Leslie Wismer	7,091	47.7
	Progressive Conservative	W.A. Summerville	6,959	39.3
	Liberal	W.R. Allen	2,068	13.0
		Total	17,685

1945 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Millen	11,769	39.8
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Leslie Wismer	7,851	31.2
	Liberal	Capt. W.R. Allen	3,722	27.4
	Labor–Progressive	Harry Bell	611	1.3
	Socialist Labour	Richard Dunk	186	0.3
Total			28,501
Canadian Press (1945-06-05). "How Ontario Electors Voted in all 90 Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 5. Retrieved 2012-03-03.

1948 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[16]	Vote %
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Leslie Wismer	12,419	46.8
	Progressive Conservative	Charles Walton	10,259	39.8
	Liberal	Joseph McNamara	3,194	12.5
	Socialist Labour	W.B. Hendry	245	0.9
		Total	27,308

1951 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[17]	Vote %
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Macaulay	10,705	45.5
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Carroll Coburn	7,150	30.4
	Liberal	A. Roy Cadwell	5,264	22.4
	Socialist Labour	Alan Sanderson	387	1.6
		Total	23,506

1955 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[18]	Vote %
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Macaulay	8,655	44.2
	Co-operative Commonwealth	H. Hargrave	5,128	37.6
	Liberal	Fred Beavis	4,195	16.9
	Labor–Progressive	Hector MacArthur	329	1.3
	Socialist Labour	Alan Sanderson	125	0.3
			Total	19,332

1959 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[19]	Vote %
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Macaulay	7,707	44.2
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Charles Daly	3,880	41.8
	Liberal	Carl Lewis	3,486	17.6
		Total	18,845

1963 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[20]	Vote %
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Macaulay	7,994	49.3
	Liberal	Barry Allen	4,302	26.5
	New Democrat	Gerry Gallagher	3,671	22.7
	Independent	Fred Graham	137	0.8
	Independent	Alan Sanderson	103	0.6
		Total	16,207

By-election September 10, 1964

	Party	Candidate	Votes[21]	Vote %
	New Democrat	Jim Renwick	7,326	38.7
	Progressive Conservative	Kenneth Waters	5,782	30.5
	Liberal	Charles Templeton	5,738	30.3
	Independent	Fred Graham	92	0.5
		Total	18,938

1966 boundaries

1967 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[22]	Vote %
	New Democrat	Jim Renwick	10,722	54.1
	Progressive Conservative	Ying Hope	6,136	30.9
	Liberal	Joseph Breglia	2,689	13.6
	Independent	William Hendry	289	1.5
		Total	19,836

1971 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[23]	Vote %
	New Democrat	Jim Renwick	9,919	46.8
	Progressive Conservative	J.J. Richards	8,344	39.3
	Liberal	Gordon Potts	2,635	12.4
	Social Credit	Vicki Andrens	315	1.5
		Total	21,213

1974 boundaries

1975 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[24]	Vote %
	New Democrat	Jim Renwick	9,133	50.3
	Progressive Conservative	Dick Perdue	4,865	26.8
	Liberal	Nick Kapelos	3,754	20.7
	Communist	Ed McDonald	389	2.2
	Independent	Walter Belej	60	0.3
	Independent	George Shand	34	0.2
	Social Credit	Armand Siksna	31	0.2
		Total	18,167

1977 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[25]	Vote %
	New Democrat	Jim Renwick	9,639	56.45
	Progressive Conservative	Nola Crewe	4,088	23.9
	Liberal	Dennis Drainville	2,821	16.5
	Communist	Gordon Massie	214	1.3
	Libertarian	Walter Belej	196	1.2
	Independent	Barry Weisleder	117	0.7
		Total	17,075

1981 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[26]	Vote %
	New Democrat	Jim Renwick	6,770	46.7
	Progressive Conservative	Peter Hesky	4,088	28.2
	Liberal	Ed Schofield	3,237	22.4
	Independent	Thelma Forsyth	233	1.6
	Communist	Anna Sidens	158	1.1
		Total	14,486

1985 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	David Reville	9,869	52.2
	Progressive Conservative	Bret Snider	4,590	24.3
	Liberal	Doug DeMille	3,949	20.9
	Communist	Maggie Bizzell	322	1.7
	Green	Michael Tegtmeyer	192	1.0
Total			18,922
Canadian Press.[27]

1987 boundaries

1987 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	David Reville	10,321	44.9
	Liberal	Jim Karygiannis	8,552	37.2
	Progressive Conservative	Bob Dodd	3,285	14.3
	Green	Debora Hojman	330	1.4
	Libertarian	Byron Garby	292	1.3
	Communist	Maggie Bizzell	210	0.9
Total			22,990
Toronto Star.[28]

1990 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[29]	Vote %
	New Democrat	Marilyn Churley	14,086	62.0
	Liberal	Pat Marquis	5,572	24.5
	Progressive Conservative	John Ruffolo	1,578	6.9
	Green	Leanne Haze	811	3.6
	Libertarian	Daniel Hunt	682	3.0
		Total	22,729

1995 Ontario general election

	Party	Candidate	Votes[30]	Vote %
	New Democrat	Marilyn Churley	10,948	46.9
	Progressive Conservative	John Gamble	6,348	27.2
	Liberal	Frank Lowery	5,443	23.3
	Independent	Pat Marquis	273	1.2
	Green	Marianna Tzabiras	217	0.9
	Natural Law	Loucas Café	124	0.5
		Total	23,353

References

Notes

1. In 1938, the title of Member of the Legislative Assembly was officially changed to Member of Provincial Parliament. Previously, it was unofficially used in the media and in the Legislature.
2. Macaulay resigned his seat midway through the 25th legislature which forced a by-election.
3. Renwick died in office 28 November 1984 but the 1985 election was held before a by-election could be called.
4. 64 out of 92 polls reporting.

Citations

1. "Death of a member for Riverdale, speech by Bob Rae on the death of Jim Renwick". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 29 November 1984.
2. "Toronto Ridings as they are now - how 10 seats are distributed". Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1914-06-12. p. 5.
3. "Map of Toronto showing Provincial election ridings and City Limits". Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1926-11-06. p. 22.
4. "Toronto and Suburban Ridings in June 19th Election Fight". Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1934-06-12. p. 3.
5. Provincial Electoral Districts (Map). Cartography by Lands and Surveys Branch, Department of Lands and Forests. Toronto: Queen's Printer for Ontario. 1967. To find this map in the Ontario Archives, please see sub-series title "Ontario electoral district maps", reference code RG 1-211, File item code RG 1-211-0-0-06.
6. Vallee, Brian (1975-08-26). "Riverdale: Prices are a growing concern". Toronto Star. p. A7.
7. For a listing of each MPP's Queen's Park curriculum vitae see below:
   • For Joseph Russell's Legislative Assembly information see "Joseph Russell, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
   • For Joseph McNamara's Legislative Assembly information see "Joseph McNamara, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
   • For George Oakley's Legislative Assembly information see "George Oakley, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
   • For Robert Aloysius Allen's Legislative Assembly information see "Robert Aloysius Allen, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
   • For William Arthur Summerville's Legislative Assembly information see "William Arthur Summerville, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
   • For Leslie Emery Wismer's Legislative Assembly information see "Leslie Emery Wismer, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
   • For Gordon James Millen's Legislative Assembly information see "Gordon James Millen, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
   • For Robert William Macaulay's Legislative Assembly information see "Robert William Macaulay, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
   • For James Alexander Renwick's Legislative Assembly information see "James Alexander Renwick, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
   • For David R. Reville's Legislative Assembly information see "David R. Reville, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
   • For Marilyn Churley's Legislative Assembly information see "Marilyn Churley, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
8. "Elect Russell in Riverdale Riding". The Toronto World. Toronto. 1914-06-30. p. 3.
9. "The Vote in Toronto and the York ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1923-06-26. p. 5.
10. Canadian Press (1926-12-02). "Ontario General Elections and By-elections, 1923-1926". The Globe. Toronto. p. 7.
11. "Sweep by Tories Returns 15 Wets in Toronto Seats". The Toronto Daily Star (Last Extra edition). Toronto. 1926-12-01. p. 1.
12. "Vote Cast and Personnel of the New Ontario Legislature". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1929-10-31. p. 43.
13. "Detailed Election Results". The Globe. Toronto. 1934-06-21. p. 3.
14. "Ontario Voted By Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1937-10-07. p. 5.
15. Canadian Press (1943-08-05). "Ontario Election Results". The Gazette. Montreal. p. 12.
16. Canadian Press (1948-06-08). "How Ontario Electors Voted in all 90 Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 24.
17. Canadian Press (1951-11-22). "Complete Ontario Vote". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal. p. 4. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
18. Canadian Press (1955-06-10). "Complete Results of Ontario Voting by Constituencies". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. p. 4. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
19. Canadian Press (1959-06-12). "Complete Results of Ontario Voting by Constituencies". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. p. 26. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
20. Canadian Press (1963-09-26). "78 in Tory Blue Wave -- 23 Is All Grits Saved". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. 25. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
21. "Riverdale and Windsor: 1-2 punch at Liberals". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1964-09-11. p. 1.
22. Canadian Press (1967-10-18). "Tories win, but..." The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. B2. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
23. Canadian Press (1971-10-22). "Here's who won on the Metro ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 12.
24. Canadian Press (1975-09-19). "Results from the 29 ridings in Metro". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. A18.
25. Canadian Press (1977-06-10). "How they voted in Metro area". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. A10.
26. Canadian Press (1981-03-20). "Election results for Metro Toronto ridings". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. 22. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
27. Canadian Press (1985-05-03). "The night the Tories tumbled; riding by riding results". Ottawa Citizen. Toronto. p. 43. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
28. "How Metro-Area Voted". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1987-09-11. p. A12.
29. "How Metro-Area Voted". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1990-09-07. p. A10.
30. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 1995-06-08. Archived from the original on 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2012-09-04.