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.Brown to Run; 3 May Seek Mayoralty The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]. 09 Oct 1953: 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."Inaugural Meeting April 15 Large Sums To Be Needed For Services", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]08 Apr 1953: 1

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."Inaugural Meeting April 15 Large Sums To Be Needed For Services", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]08 Apr 1953: 1

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 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