Toronto municipal election, 1953
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.
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 city-wide 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 - 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
Due to the acclamation in Ward 1 City Council chose William Allen to represent the ward on Metro 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 taken form the December 8, 1953 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.
Changes
Controller Louis Shannon died on February 16, 1954; Controller Ford Brand now became a Metro Councillor. On February 23 Ward 9 Alderman Roy Belyea was appointed Controller; Leonard Reilly now became Senior Alderman and 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. Controller David Balfour now became a Metro Councillor. On July 7 Ward 8 Alderman Ross Lipsett is appointed Controller; Alex Hodgins now became Senior Alderman and Metro Councillor and William Probert is appointed Alderman.
Outside Toronto
North York
Fred J. McMahon elected as reeve.
Scarborough
Robert E. Crockford re-elected as reeve.
References
- Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 8, 1953
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