Battle of Backbone Mountain

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 7, 1953. Incumbent mayor Allan Lamport won an unexpectedly close race against school board chairman Arthur J. Brown.^[1] 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 had come into being on April 15, 1953 and was made up of the Metro Chairman, Frederick Gardiner, who had been appointed by the province, the Mayor of Toronto, the City of Toronto's two most senior Controllers, nine senior aldermen from each of the City of Toronto (the top finisher in each ward), and the twelve suburban mayors and reeves.^[2]

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 Brown, who had never run for city council before, came within 10,000 votes. A central issue of the campaign was the introduction of rent control, which Lamport opposed and Brown favoured. Part way through his term, Lamport resigned and was succeeded by Saunders.^[3]

Results

Allan Lamport (incumbent) - 55,064

Arthur J. Brown - 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 E. Belyea. The most senior two Controllers in terms of votes also sat on Metro Toronto Council.

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

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 E. 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 E. 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

(incumbent)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

Beverley Lewis - acclaimed

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, Toronto

Reeve

Charles O. Bick (acclaimed)

Source: "Last Ballot Dec. 11: No Changes So Far In Metro Council Slate", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]07 Dec 1953: 5

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

Marie Curtis (acclaimed)

Deputy Reeve

Crawford Bell (acclaimed)

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

Mimico

Mayor

Archibald D. Norris (acclaimed)

Source: "Mimico Mayor Sets a Record With 12 Terms", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]04 Dec 1953: 4.

New Toronto

Mayor

John L. (Jack) Strath 1,279

Harold Trickett 574

New Toronto's election occurred on December 12.

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

(incumbent)Fred J. McMahon - acclaimed

Scarborough

Reeve

Oliver E. Crockford (incumbent) - 8,605

George Mason - 4,071

George Barker - 1,673

Swansea

Reeve

(incumbent)Dorothy Hague (acclaimed)

Weston

Mayor

(incumbent)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

(incumbent)Frederick 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

References

• Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 8, 1953