# 1955 Toronto municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 5, 1955. Incumbent mayor Nathan Phillips, elected a year earlier, was easily reelected, defeating Controller Roy E. Belyea and Trotskyist Ross Dowson.
Two referendums were held with the elections. One, which passed, was to extend the municipal term to two years. Previously elections had been held every year. There was also a vote on funding a new Toronto City Hall, which was rejected by voters.

## Toronto mayor

Nathan Phillips was opposed for reelection after his first year in office by Board of Control member Roy E. Belyea, who had been a staunch opponent of Phillips during the year. Also running was Trotskyist Ross Dowson.

### Results√

    Nathan Phillips - 70,647
    Roy E. Belyea - 26,717
    Ross Dowson - 2,374

## Plebiscites

Two questions appeared on the ballot. The first was on whether municipal terms of office should be extended to two years from one. The second was to authorize the construction of a proposed new city hall to replace the existing city hall, which had been built in 1899. The proposed structure, designed by a partnership of three leading Toronto architectural forms, would have been a conservative, symmetrical limestone-clad building in the Modernist style facing a landscaped square, and was widely criticized as "drab and boxy".

### Two-year term

    For - 48,024
    Against - 33,688
Two-year terms would be put in place effective the 1956 Toronto municipal election.

### New City Hall

    For - 28,449
    Against - 32,564
As a result of the rejection of the proposed structure, city council decided, in 1956, to hold an [international architectural design competition to find a better design. A proposal by Finnish architect Viljo Revell would be accepted. Construction of New City Hall began in 1961, and the building was officially opened on 13 September 1965.

## Board of Control

There were two vacancies on the Board of Control after Roy E. Belyea's decision to run for mayor and Controller David Balfour's decision to retire. The most senior two Controllers in terms of votes also sat on Metro Toronto Council.

### Results

    Ford Brand (incumbent) - 59,264
    Joseph Cornish (incumbent) - 55,162
    William Allen - 53,455
    Leslie Saunders - 46,528
    Arthur Brown - 41,351
    Harry Bradley - 14,802
    Alex Hodgins - 13,503
    Harry Hunter - 9,493
    George Rolland - 3,923
    George Stanton - 3,863

## 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.

### Ward 1 (Riverdale)

    Ken Waters (incumbent) - 6,945
    George Phillips - 2,916
    Fred Beavis - 2,828
    Stanley Hare - 2,137
    Christie - 1,403
    Montgomery - 960
    Basil Ingleby - 886
    Jean Brown - 3,412

### Ward 2 (Regent Park and Rosedale)

    William Dennison (incumbent) - 5,366
    Edgar Roxborough (incumbent) - 4,051
    May Birchard - 2,127
    Douglas Shaw - 1,528
    Philip Rowley - 683

### Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill)

    Ross Parry - 4,149
    Howard Phillips (incumbent) - 2,802
    John MacVicar (incumbent) - 2,260
    Richard James - 1,737

### Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District)

    Herbert Orliffe (incumbent) - 4,515
    Francis Chambers - 3,746
    David Rotenberg - 2,086
    Robert Laxer - 1,073
    Levitt - 824
    John Anture - 386
    Dorothy Cureatz - 362

### Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)

    Philip Givens (incumbent) - 5,605
    Harold Menzies - 4,929
    Teslia - 1,907
    Paul Pauk - 1,228
    Tennant - 1,140
    Di Stasi - 872

### Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)

    May Robinson (incumbent) - 10,233
    Frank Clifton (incumbent) - 9,473
    Grittani - 2,797
    George Jackson - 2,274

### Ward 7 (Bloor West Village)

    William Davidson (incumbent) - 5,506
    John Kucherepa (incumbent) - 4,993
    Thomas Wilson - 2,124
    William Repka - 653

### Ward 8 (The Beaches)

    Donald Summerville (incumbent) - 13,139
    Albert G. Cranham - 8,456
    Brawley - 2,542
    Chris Stavro - 1,682
    Davis - 1,252
    John Square - 529

### Ward 9 (North Toronto)

    Jean Newman (incumbent) - 14,984
    Frank Nash - 12,736
    Waterfield - 3,101
Results are taken from the December 6, 1955 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

## Suburbs

Etobicoke, East York, Mimico, and Forest Hill elected their councils for two-year terms in 1954 and did not hold elections in 1955.

### Leaside
#### Mayor

    Charles H. Hiscott - 2,228
    Joseph Banigan - 1,073
Hiscott defeated Councillor Joseph Bannigan to replace retiring mayor Howard Burrell
Source: "Suburban elections", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1955: 13

### Long Branch
#### Reeve

    (incumbent)Marie Curtis (acclaimed)

### New Toronto
#### Mayor

    (incumbent)Donald R. Russell (acclaimed)

### North York
#### Reeve

    (incumbent)Fred J. McMahon - 16,269
    Maurice T. Hook - 6,181
McMahon was re-elected, defeating his challenger Deputy Reeve Maurice T. Hook.
Source: "Fred McMahon Is Re-elected N. York Reeve", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1955: 13

### Scarborough
#### Reeve

    Gus Harris - 14,304
    (incumbent)Oliver E. Crockford - 10,178

#### Deputy Reeve

    Albert Campbell - 15,369
    George Baker - 8,521
Harris defeated the incumbent, Oliver Crockford
Source: "Suburban elections", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1955: 13

### Swansea
#### Reeve

* (incumbent)Dorothy Hague (acclaimed)

### Weston
#### Mayor

* (incumbent)Harry Clark (acclaimed)

### York
#### Reeve

    (incumbent)Frederick W. Hall - 6,555
    Walter Saunders - 6,256
    Charles McMaster - 1,039
    Norman Penner - 1,006
Source: "Few Brave Cold Rain To Vote in 3 Suburbs", Taylor, Ewart. The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]05 Dec 1955: 1