# 1954 Toronto municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 6, 1954. Incumbent mayor Leslie Saunders was defeated by Nathan Phillips in a close contest.

## Toronto mayor

Controller Leslie Saunders had been appointed mayor after the resignation of Allan Lamport, who left to work with the Toronto Transit Commission. He was challenged by Nathan Phillips, a longtime city councilor who had made a previous attempt to win the mayoralty. Phillips was Jewish, a sharp departure from the standard for Toronto mayors, who for decades had been Protestant Orange Order members.
Phillips' religion was an important issue in the election. Saunders publicly proclaimed he was running as "Leslie Saunders, Protestant". Saunders was a leader of the Orange Order and the publisher of the radical monthly newspaper Protestant Action. His anti-Catholicism and proclamations that Toronto was a "Protestant city" had caused controversy in the past. One of his first acts after ascending to the mayoralty was to issue an official proclamation commemorating The Twelfth, the anniversary of the victory of William of Orange over the Irish.
A second controversy arose during the election when candidate Arthur J. Brown released accusations about room 1735 in the Royal York hotel. He argued that the room was a secret entertainment suite paid for by the city for the use of the mayor. Saunders claims that it was rented by Mayor Lamport and that he was totally unaware of the suite. Nonetheless the scandal hurt his reelection bid.
Also running was former school board head Arthur Brown, who had previously come close to defeating Lamport for the job, and who had the support of the Globe and Mail newspaper. The Toronto Star and the Telegram both supported Phillips. Saunders in his memoirs accuses Brown of splitting the "Christian and Gentile vote" and getting Phillips elected.
The fourth candidate was Communist A. A. MacLeod, former Labor-Progressive Party M.P.P in the Ontario legislature for Bellwoods.

### Results

    Nathan Phillips - 40,683
    Leslie Saunders - 36,756
    Arthur J. Brown - 36,613
    A. A. MacLeod - 4,932

## Board of Control

Saunders' appointment to the mayoralty led to the appointment of Alderman Ross Lipsett to the Board of Control. This controversially passed over former Alderman Joseph Cornish, who had finished fifth in the 1953 election. In the 1954 election, Cornish displaced Lipsett to win the fourth and final seat on the Board. The most senior two Controllers in terms of votes also sat on Metro Toronto Council.

### Results

    Ford Brand (incumbent) - 69,540
    Roy E. Belyea (incumbent) - 66,223
    David Balfour (incumbent) - 62,871
    Joseph Cornish - 55,277
    Ross Lipsett (incumbent) - 45,385
    Harry Bradley - 20,488
    Harry Hunter - 14,114
    Ben Nobleman - 9,413
    George Rolland - 5,280

## 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)

    William Allen (incumbent) - 8,855
    Ken Waters (incumbent) - 8,042
    George Phillips - 2,282
    Stanley Hare - 1,381
    Thornley - 932

### Ward 2 (Regent Park and Rosedale)

    William Dennison (incumbent) - 4,831
    Edgar Roxborough (incumbent) - 4,479
    Douglas Shaw - 2,268
    C.M. Edwards - 1,551
    Morrison - 669
    Philip Rowley - 647

### Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill)

    Howard Phillips (incumbent) - acclaimed
    John MacVicar (incumbent) - acclaimed
Phillips was chosen to become Metro Councillor.

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

    Allan Grossman (incumbent) - 6,455
    Herbert Orliffe (incumbent) - 5,345
    Robert Laxer - 1,368
    Bernard Levitt - 1,307
    Blainey - 756

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

    Philip Givens (incumbent) - 7,470
    Joseph Gould (incumbent) - 6,770
    Stewart Smith - 2,678
    Teslia - 2,105

### Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)

    May Robinson (incumbent) - 11,349
    Frank Clifton (incumbent) - 10,470
    Grittani - 2,763
    Hector MacArthur - 2,067
    Tennant - 1,684
    Muir - 1,561
    Patrick McKeown - 1,039

### Ward 7 (Bloor West Village)

    William Davidson (incumbent) - 6,228
    John Kucherepa (incumbent) - 4,989
    John Duncan - 3,951
    John Weir - 1,915

### Ward 8 (The Beaches)

    Donald Summerville - 10,002
    Alex Hodgins (incumbent) - 8,327
    Albert G. Cranham - 6,485
    William Probert (incumbent) - 3,169
    McNulty - 2,553
    James Davis - 1,210
    John Square - 384

### Ward 9 (North Toronto)

    Jean Newman - 14,873
    Leonard Reilly (incumbent) - 11,261
    David Burt (incumbent) - 9,819
    Frederick Vacher - 1,394
Results are taken from the December 7, 1954 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

## Suburbs
### East York
#### Reeve

    Harry G. Simpson - 3,723
    Jack Allen - 2,613
    John Warren - 2,211
Source: "East York Returns Reeve for 8th Term", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1954: 1.

### Etobicoke
#### Reeve

    Beverley Lewis (acclaimed)

#### Deputy Reeve

    Henry O. Waffle - 7,513
    William R. Hodgson - 4,608
Source: Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]07 Dec 1954: 7.

### Forest Hill
#### Reeve

    Charles O. Bick (acclaimed)
Source: Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]07 Dec 1954: 7.

### Leaside
#### Mayor

    (incumbent)Howard T. Burrell (acclaimed)
Source: "Weston, Leaside Voters To Elect 10 Councillors", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Dec 3, 1954; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: pg. 8

### Long Branch
#### Reeve

    (incumbent)Marie Curtis 2,020
    Sherman Anderson 248
Election occurred on December 11.
Source: "Mrs. Marie Curtis Reeve Again By An Overwhelming Majority", Toronto Daily Star, December 13, 1954, pg 10

### Mimico
#### Mayor

    William Arthur (Gus) Edwards 1,669
    (incumbent)Archibald Douglas Norris 1,256
Election occurred on December 11.
Source: "Reeve W. Edwards Defeats Mayor Norris At Mimico", Toronto Daily Star, December 13, 1954, pg 10

### New Toronto
#### Mayor

    Donald Russell 1,811
    (incumbent)John L. (Jack) Strath 841
Election occurred on December 11.
Source: "Mayor Strath Defeated. D. Russell Easy Winner", Toronto Daily Star, December 13, 1954, pg 10

### North York
#### Reeve

    (incumbent)Fred J. McMahon - 18,224
    Samuel Wagman - 3,837
Source: Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]07 Dec 1954: 7.

### Scarborough
#### Reeve

    Oliver E. Crockford - 9,064
    Richard Sutton - 8,036
    Hilda Murray - 1,052

#### Deputy Reeve

    Augustus Harris - 10,010
    Fred Sloky - 7,889
Source: Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]07 Dec 1954: 7.

### Swansea
#### Reeve

    (incumbent)Dorothy Hague (acclaimed)

### Weston

    Harry Clark (acclaimed)
Source: "Election Returns", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1954: 32

### York
#### Reeve

    (incumbent)Frederick W. Hall - 10,724
    Charles McMaster - 3,178
    Norman Penner - 1,723
Source: "Election Results", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1954: 32.