The 1974 Toronto municipal election was held on December 2, 1974 in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mayors, controllers, city councillors and school board trustees were elected in the municipalities of Toronto, York, East York, North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough.
David Crombie was re-elected as Mayor of Toronto with around 83% of the vote, and Mel Lastman was re-elected as Mayor of North York.
Toronto
Mayoral race Incumbent David Crombie was extremely popular after his first term and faced no serious opposition in winning reelection. White supremacist Don Andrews placed second amongst the also-rans. As a result, the municipal law was changed so that the runner-up in the mayoralty contest no longer had the right to succeed to the mayor's chair should the position become vacant between elections.
Results David Crombie - 100,680 Don Andrews - 5,662 Joan Campana - 3,022 Rosy Sunrise - 2,294 William Harris - 2,262 Glenn Julian - 2,423 Richard Sangers - 1,454 Ronald Rodgers Rick Peletz - 1,024 Arthur Seligman - 745 Karl von Harten - 624
City council
Two aldermen were elected per ward. The alderman with the most votes was declared senior alderman and sat on both Toronto City Council and Metro Council.
There were few major changes on city council. The reform faction remained the largest group on council, but did have a majority. The conservative "old guard" retained their seats as did the small Crombie-led group of moderates that made up the swing vote on council. Most incumbents were reelected with only a handful of exceptions. After failing to win the mayoralty in 1972 Tony O'Donohue returned to city council and successfully ousted New Democrat Archie Chisholm in Ward 2. In the downtown Ward 6 race anti-Spadina Expressway activist Allan Sparrow ousted long serving old guard member William Archer.
The final executive, elected by city council, consisted of two right-of-centre moderates, Art Eggleton and David Smith, and two moderate reformers, Elizabeth Eayrs and Reid Scott. Crombie held the deciding vote between the right- and left-wing duos.
Ward 1 (Swansea and Bloor West Village) William Boytchuk (incumbent) - 6,158 Elizabeth Eayrs (incumbent) - 3,038 Ed Ziemba - 4,199 Ben Grys - 3,174 Wally Soia - 1,861 Ceri Gluszczek - 1,275 Ed Homonvio - 916 Ib Amonsen - 764 Joe Grabek - 481 Yvette Tessier - 189 Andries Murnieks - 157
Ward 2 (Parkdale and Brockton) Tony O'Donohue - 6,375 Ed Negridge (incumbent) - 4,968 Archie Chisholm (incumbent) - 3,538 Eleanor Bra - 1,192 Anne Fritz - 941 Jack Prins - 175
Ward 3 (Davenport and Corso Italia) Michael Goldrick (incumbent) - 5,216 Joseph Piccininni (incumbent) - 4,254 Slough Bolton - 1,395 Jerry Hill - 405 George Zapparoli - 404 Michael Hookway - 191 Manuel Lumbreras - 119
Ward 4 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy) Art Eggleton (incumbent) - 4,341 George Ben (incumbent) - 2,708 Joe Pantalone -1,759 Frank Latka - 1,247 Pat Case - 533 Penny Simpson - 234 Bob Smith - 200
Ward 5 (The Annex and Yorkville) Colin Vaughan (incumbent) - 8,195 Ying Hope (incumbent) - 7,173 Erna Koffman - 1,737 Manfred Schulzke - 1,643 David Astle - 1,096 Judy Lily Lucko - 371 Lazlo Simo - 287 Gary Weagle - 201
Ward 6 (Financial District, Toronto - University of Toronto) Dan Heap (incumbent) - 6,607 Allan Sparrow - 5,564 William Archer (incumbent) - 4,311 K Dock Yip - 2,507 John Combs - 1,346 Arthur Boyes - 368 Fred Nelson - 294
Ward 7 (Regent Park and Riverdale) John Sewell (incumbent) - 6,233 Janet Howard - 4,248 Gary Stamm - 3,813 Andy Marinakis - 603 Peggy Reinhardt - 454 John Bizzell - 289 Stanley Carrier - 388 Kate Alderdice - 329 Steve Necheff - 257 Sandra Fox - 248 Armand Siksna - 212
Ward 8 (Riverdale) Thomas Clifford (incumbent) - 5,567 Fred Beavis (incumbent) - 5,574 Dallard Runge - 3,967 Steve Martino - 796 Larry Haiven - 496 John Iannou - 398 John Tsopelas - 361 Alex Lauder - 338 Beatrice Zaverrucha - 245 Chris Greenland - 236
On January 28, 1975 a judicial recount gave Clifford a 7 vote majority over Beavis which gave him a seat on Metro Council.
Ward 9 (The Beaches) Reid Scott (incumbent) - 8,405 Dorothy Thomas (incumbent) - 7,016 Joe McNulty - 5,106 Mary Trew - 417 Brian Dunia - 412
Ward 10 (Rosedale and North Toronto) William Kilbourn (incumbent) - 11,446 John Bosley - 5,352 Kevin Garland - 4,979 Juanne Hemsol - 3,754 Michael Grayson - 1,818 Bruce Haines - 1,543 Russell Puskluwez - 1,464 Margaret Bryce - 953 Horace Brown - 680 John Kelly - 597
Ward 11 (Forest Hill and North Toronto) David Smith (incumbent) - 11,933 Anne Johnston (incumbent) - 10,804 Pauline Shapero - 3,140 Sydney Zaidi - 741
Vacancy Ward 9 Alderman Reid Scott resigned upon appointment as provincial judge August 6, 1976. Dorothy Thomas now became sole Alderman and was appointed Metro Councillor on August 18.
East York (incumbent)Willis Blair - 15,018 Ed Shaw - 6,513
(Source: Globe and Mail, pg 10, December 3, 1974)
Etobicoke Mayor (incumbent)Dennis Flynn - 28,390 Bill Stockwell - 21,160 Mary Legg - 2,022 Richard Broughton - 1,749
(Source: Globe and Mail, pg 10, December 3, 1974)
Board of Control (4 elected) (incumbent)Bruce Sinclair - 30,373 (incumbent)E. H. Farrow - 26,157 Nora Pownall - 24,078 (incumbent)John Allen - 21,528 Marcel Cox - 19,551 Dorothy Price - 16,639 Andrew Macdonald - 14,170 Don Nelson - 6,776
North York
Mayor (incumbent)Mel Lastman - 52,567 Edward Wells - 19,831 Malcolm Cairnduff - 2,875 (1057 out of 1216 polls)
Board of Control (4 elected) (incumbent)Barbara Greene - 46,355 William Sutherland - 36,752 (incumbent)Alex McGivern - 30,752 Joseph Markin - 27,974 Jack Bedder - 18,814 Wagman - 16,977 Holmes - 16,383 Petersen - 12,205 Bernadette Michael - 11,962 Medhurst - 8,276 Telfer - 4,231 (1057 out of 1216 polls)
Ward Alderman
Esther Shiner and Robert Yuill were re-elected aldermen for Wards 2 and 4 respectively.
Peter Caruso served on the North York Board of Education from 1974 to 1978, and again from 1980 to 1982. He was a business evaluator in private life, and owned Equity Reality Ltd. in the 1980s.Julia Turner, "Get rid of portables, separate school hopefuls say", Globe and Mail, 6 November 1980, P5. He was first elected in 1974, defeating William Higgins to become the Separate School Representative for Area One. Re-elected in 1976, he lost his seat to Leonardo Cianfarani in 1978. He was re-elected for Area Two in 1980. In 1982, Toronto Separate School trustee Antonio Signoroni accused fellow trustee Joseph Marrese of being involved in a conflict-of-interest situation with Caruso. Marrese and Caruso were cousins and shared a business office, and Marrese had previously voted for contracts that went to Caruso's firm. Both Marrese and Caruso acknowledged the contracts, but denied any wrongdoing. Marrese argued that he had never shown preference to Caruso and questioned Signoroni's motives in raising the matter, noting that another of his relatives was challenging Signoroni in the 1982 campaign.John Spears, "Catholic trustee shrugs off conflict-of-interest claim", Toronto Star, 22 October 1982, A06. Caruso had previously managed Marrese' campaign as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1975 provincial election. See Daniel Stoffman, "Vote-catching machines sputter to a start", Toronto Star, 16 August 1975, B1. Marrese was re-elected, but Caruso lost his seat on the North York board to Maria Augimeri. William Higgins served on the North York Board of Education from 1972 to 1974, as one of the board's first two Separate School Representatives following reforms by the provincial government of Bill Davis. Higgins was 23 years old at the time of his election, and was a high school history teacher in private life."Metro elections '72", Toronto Star, 1 December 1972, p. 11. He was also a representative on the Ontario English Teachers' Catholic Association. He defeated Donald Clune to win election in 1972, and was defeated by Peter Caruso in 1974. He later sought election 1976, but finished fourth against Jim Travers in Area Two. In 2000, a retired person named Bill Higgins campaigned unsuccessfully for the Toronto Catholic District School Board's fifth ward. It is assumed that this is the same person."School Board Trustees", Toronto Star, 9 November 2000, G13.
Electors could vote for two candidates. The percentages are determined in relation to the total number of votes. There may be a transcription error in the result for Carl Anderson (the last two numbers were partly obscured).
Dunn and McConvey ran as a team, and described themselves as "sound administration" candidates. A newspaper advertisement from 1974 lists their accomplishments on the Hydro Commission, and indicated that they did not incur any debt.Advertisement, Toronto Star, 2 December 1972, p. 27; "Without borrowing any money ..." (advertisement), Globe and Mail, 30 November 1974, p. 4. John Rankin Dunn was a professional engineer, and an employee of Lake Engineering Ltd."Claims 2 in Hydro race have interest conflict", Globe and Mail, 24 November 1972, p. 6. He was first elected to the Hydro Commission in 1966, and served until shortly after the 1976 election when, at age sixty, he was appointed to the Ontario Energy Board."Principal, 45, gets Hydro seat in North York", Globe and Mail, 18 January 1977, p. 4. Dunn died on June 2, 2000."Birth and death notices", Globe and Mail, 5 June 2000, A10. D'arcy McConvey was a professional engineer, and was the founder and president of the Dalex Corporation. He was first elected to the Hydro Commission in 1969, and served until his defeat at the polls in 1978 at age sixty. Initially an ally of John Rankin Dunn, McConvey campaigned in an alliance with Carl Anderson following Dunn's retirement."For sound administration continue with ..." (advertisement), Globe and Mail, 11 November 1978, p. 11. He sought re-election in 1980, but was unsuccessful."Some hydro candidates take aim at province for continual rate boosts", Globe and Mail, 31 October 1978, p. 3.