Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1947. With little serious opposition Robert Hood Saunders was re-elected as mayor.
The election was a major defeat for the communist Labor-Progressive Party faction on city council, with Controller Stewart Smith and Alderman Dewar Ferguson being defeated. This left the party with only two seats on city council, Norman Freed and Charles Sims. This was somewhat mitigated by two communists winning seats on the Toronto Board of Education.
The vote also featured three referendums. Two were approved that would have a lasting effect on the city of Toronto. One called for the creation of the Regent Park housing project in the east end of the city. The second approved the city buying up the land northwest of the intersection of Bay and Queen streets for a city square and municipal buildings. This would later be the site of Nathan Phillips Square and Toronto City Hall. Rejected for a third time was a proposal to move to three year municipal terms.
Toronto mayor Mayor Robert Hood Saunders faced only fringe candidates: Frank O'Hearn, who would go on to found the New Capitalist Party, and Trotskyist Murray Dowson.
Results Robert Hood Saunders - 92,762 Frank O'Hearn - 9,477 Murray Dowson - 3,180
Board of Control The only major change on the Board of Control was the defeat of Stewart Smith, the leader of the Communist faction at city hall. He was ousted by North Toronto alderman John Innes.
Results Hiram E. McCallum (incumbent) - 58,524 John Innes - 53,137 David Balfour (incumbent) - 51,578 Kenneth Bert McKellar (incumbent) - 49,680 Stewart Smith (incumbent)- 42,106 M.A. Sanderson - 26,136 Harry Bradley - 10,749 Harry Clairmont - 4,858
City council
Ward 1 (Riverdale) Charles Walton (incumbent) - 4,788 Leslie Saunders - 4,596 William Murdoch (incumbent) - 3,969 W. Simpson - 2,067 Harry Marley - 1,606
Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale) Louis Shannon (incumbent) - 4,102 Everett Weaver - 3,215 May Birchard (incumbent) - 3,079 George A. Wilson - 3,015 William Dennison - 2,248
Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill) Harold Fishleigh (incumbent) - 3,397 Allan Lamport (incumbent) - 2,884 John McVicar - 1,245 Harry Gilbert - 682 Karl Prager - 271
Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District) Norman Freed (incumbent) - 4,910 Nathan Phillips (incumbent) - 4,690 Francis Chambers - 3,703 C.G. Hamilton - 1,121
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods Charles Sims (incumbent) - 7,283 Arthur Frost (incumbent) - 6,848 Margaret Luckock - 4,936 Patrick McKeown - 1,335
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale) George Granell - 8,526 William Clifton - 6,803 Dewar Ferguson (incumbent) - 5,775 D.J. Bennett - 5,091 Eamon Park - 1,825
Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction) William Butt (incumbent) - 5,773 E.C. Roelofson (incumbent) - 3,557 J.A. Service - 2,240
Ward 8 (The Beaches) W.H. Collings (incumbent) - 8,120 Roy Mealing - 5,678 William Howell (incumbent) - 5,319 Murray Cotterill - 4,756 James Davis - 1,522
Ward 9 (North Toronto) Melville Wilson (incumbent) - 8,307 Leonard Reilly - 6,173 W.H. Harris - 5,999 Alex Thompson - 4,109 H.V. Locke - 3,542 R.M. McLean - 1,480
Results taken from the January 2, 1947 Globe and Mail and might not exactly match final tallies.
References Election Coverage. Globe and Mail. January 2, 1947