# 1978 Toronto municipal election

The Toronto municipal election of 1978, held on Monday, November 13, 1978, was the first seriously contested mayoralty race in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, since David Crombie took office in the 1972 election. Crombie left municipal politics earlier in 1978 to seek and win a seat in the House of Commons of Canada as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Rosedale electoral district.

## Toronto
### Mayoral race

The contest to succeed Crombie (or more correctly, interim Mayor Fred Beavis) was a wide-open affair that saw three aldermen, David Smith, Tony O'Donohue and John Sewell contest the position.
Though O'Donohue and Smith were both aligned with the Liberals with links to developers, O'Donohue was seen as more right-wing and won the endorsement of the conservative Toronto Sun newspaper, while Smith was seen as more of a centrist.
Sewell had first been elected to Toronto city council in 1969 and had a reputation as a community activist and even a radical. His backers consisted of New Democratic Party supporters (although Sewell himself has never been a member of the party), left-wing Liberals and Red Tories, many of whom had supported Crombie who, despite his Tory allegiance, had a reputation as a reform mayor on the left-wing of the municipal political spectrum.
The split on the right between O'Donohue and Smith allowed Sewell to win with less than 50% of the vote.
Sewell received strong support from younger voters, tenants, and the highly educated and affluent. He carried midtown (ward 5), the downtown (wards 6 and 7, the latter of which he represented as an alderman), the east end (wards 8 and 9) and one of the city's wealthy northern wards (ward 10). O'Donohue won the working class, heavily Catholic and ethnic west end (wards 1-4), one of which he represented as an alderman; Sewell fared poorly in the west end. Smith narrowly beat Sewell in the northern ward 11, which he had represented as an alderman.

#### Results

    John Sewell - 71,885
    Tony O'Donohue - 62,173
    David Smith - 45,071
    Joe Martin - 1,658
    Ron Morawski - 1,546
    John Beattle - 1,239
    Louis Thomas - 826
    Richard Sanders - 778
    Zoltan Szoboszloi - 439
    Hardial Dhir - 379
    Walter Lohaza - 336
    Andries Murnieks - 323

### City council

Top two from each ward elected to Toronto City Council. Top one from each ward also wins a seat on Metro Toronto council.

#### Ward 1 (Swansea and Bloor West Village)

    (incumbent)David White - 8,087
    William Boytchuk - 7,379
    Audrey Jardine - 5,281
    Diane Fancher - 4,943
    Io Amoneen - 4,457
    Aiden Buckley - 1,209

#### Ward 2 (Parkdale and Brockton)

    Tony Ruprecht - 4,843
    Barbara Adams - 4,582
    Thor Wons - 3,457
    Chris Korwin - 3,008
    Les Wawrow - 1,959
    Glen Bany - 1,956
    Bob Grossi - 1,237
    Frank Bray - 299
    Larry Daoust - 141

#### Ward 3 (Davenport and Corso Italia)

    (incumbent)Joseph Piccininni - 7,566
    (incumbent)Richard Gilbert - 6,377
    Joe Renda - 2,616
    Tony Amono - 1,071
    Tina Martin - 732

#### Ward 4 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)

    (incumbent)Art Eggleton - 4,961
    (incumbent)George Ben - 3,402
    Joe Pantalone - 3,251
    John Medeiros - 1,844
    Tony Ianno - 1,807
    Bill Moniz - 1,398
    Manuel Alves - 671
    Robert Taddeo - 547
    Joe Pimental - 341
    Manuel Garcia - 330

#### Ward 5 (The Annex and Yorkville)

    (incumbent)Ying Hope - 11,870
    (incumbent)Susan Fish - 11,505
    Frank Severino - 2,056

#### Ward 6 (Financial District, Toronto - University of Toronto)

    (incumbent)Allan Sparrow - 8,029
    (incumbent)Dan Heap - 7,514
    Dan Richards - 6,421
    Rose Smith - 2,785
    Joe Martin - 1,143

#### Ward 7 (Regent Park and Riverdale)

    Gordon Cressy - 11,869
    (incumbent)Janet Howard - 9,533
    George Patton - 4,258
    Randall Parsons - 837
    Charles Rolfe - 573
    Steve Necheff - 483

#### Ward 8 (Riverdale)

    (incumbent)Fred Beavis - 7,997
    (incumbent)Thomas Clifford - 7,205
    Charlotte Stuart - 5,097
    Chris Toutounis - 2,933
    Beatrice Zeveruche - 691
    Louis Kostan - 493
    Jim McMillan - 376
    Vincent Corriero - 267
    Elizabeth Parsons - 253
    Alex Yaung - 189

#### Ward 9 (The Beaches)

    (incumbent)Pat Sheppard - 9,248
    (incumbent)Tom Wardle, Jr. - 8,815
    Brian Fullerton - 7,489
    Bruce Budd - 7,113
    Sharon Meecham - 2,366
    Charles Martin - 396

#### Ward 10 (Rosedale and North Toronto)

    (incumbent)June Rowlands - 15,790
    Andrew Paton - 14,980
    Harvey Dyck - 8,911
    Neil Agnoo - 640

#### Ward 11 (Forest Hill and North Toronto)

    (incumbent)Anne Johnston - 14,996
    Michael Gee - 11,395
    Kay Gardner - 8,485
    Eunice Grayson - 6,115
    Dennis Hunt - 1,388

### By-elections

Ward 4 Alderman George Ben died on December 17, 1978. A by-election was held on February 26, 1979:
    Tony O'Donohue: 4,699
    Joe Pantalone - 4,361
    Tony Marchese - 413
    Mike Lotosky - 87
    Richard Sanders - 40

## East York
### Mayor

    Alan Redway (acclaimed)

## Etobicoke
### Mayor

    (incumbent)Dennis Flynn - 46,680
    Terry Howes - 12,903
    Alexander Masur - 4,941
(783 out of 815 polls)

### Board of Control

(four to be elected)
    (incumbent)Bill Stockwell - 48,336
    (incumbent)Bruce Sinclair - 39,525
    (incumbent)Nora Pownall - 35,888
    Morley Kells - 35,786
    (incumbent)E. H. (Pete) Farrow - 31,067
(783 out of 815 polls)

## North York

Mel Lastman was re-elected mayor receiving the most votes ever recorded for a North York mayor. Barbara Greene, Esther Shiner and Robert Yuill were re-elected to Board of Control with Irving Paisley taking the fourth seat. Greene received the most votes for a Board of Control member which carries the post of deputy mayor. Some analysts thought that her chances of retaining the position may have been hurt by her becoming a single mother in the previous year. In the ward races, three incumbents were ousted including Mario Sergio over Gord Risk in Ward 1; Howard Moscoe over Murray Markin in Ward 4; and Mike Foster over Marilyn Meshberg in Ward 5. Elinor Caplan won in ward 13 to replace Mike Smith who retired from council.

### Mayor

    (incumbent)Mel Lastman - 83,811
    Perry Dane - 11,396
    Helena Obadia - 5,646

### Board of Control

(four to be elected)
    (incumbent)Barbara Greene - 57,808
    (incumbent)Esther Shiner - 55,429
    (incumbent)Robert Yuill - 44,748
    Irving Paisley - 34,648
    Ron Summers - 34,514
    Alex McGivern - 33,602
    Harvey Haber - 18,228
    Paul Wizman - 14,221
    Doreen Leitch - 9,791
    Gino Vatri - 9,729
    Sheena Suttaby - 6,049

### Council
#### Ward 1

    Mario Sergio - 2,224
    (incumbent)Gord Risk - 1,945
    Sheila Lambrinos - 1,468

#### Ward 2

    (incumbent)Mario Gentile - 5,155
    Rocco Cossidente - 1,332

#### Ward 3

    (incumbent)Pat O'Neill - 2,915
    Peter Pallotta - 1,882
    Derek Warner - 806
    Roy Wilcox - 325
vte1978 Toronto municipal election: North York Councillor, Ward Four :
| Candidate | Votes | % | Notes |
| Howard Moscoe | 2,757 | 45.74 | High school teacher |
| (x)Murray Markin | 1,934 | 32.09 | Incumbent |
| Eleanor Rosen | 630 | 10.45 | |
| Jean Lance | 447 | 7.42 | Tenant activist |
| Alan Mostyn | 259 | 4.30 | Lawyer |
| Total valid votes | 6,027 | 100.00 | |

#### Ward 5

    Michael Foster - 3,877
    (incumbent)Marilyn Meshberg - 3,620
    Amerigo Petruzzo - 1,430
    Judy Taylor - 594

#### Ward 6

    (incumbent)Milton Berger - Acclaimed

#### Ward 7

    (incumbent)Irving Chapley - 5,218
    Jack Bedder - 2,447

#### Ward 8

    (incumbent)Alan Heisey - Acclaimed

#### Ward 9

    (incumbent)Norman Gardner - 5,914
    Morry Smith - 3,526

#### Ward 10

    (incumbent)Marie Labatte - 4,689
    Allan Payne - 1,663

#### Ward 11

    (incumbent)Peter Clarke - 3,853
    Shirley Scaife - 3,465
    Howard Cohen - 714

#### Ward 12

    (incumbent)Barry Burton - 4,238
    Gus Cusimano - 2,143
    Norman Brudy - 1,098

#### Ward 13

    Elinor Caplan - 4,416
    Dan Pickett - 2,057
    Paul McCann - 782
    Alec Davis - 733
    Bernadette Michael - 324
    Sudhi Shankar Menon - 166

#### Ward 14

    (incumbent)Betty Sutherland - Acclaimed

### Public school trustee
#### Ward 1

    Jo Treasure - 1,463
    Jack Sweet - 1,365

#### Ward 2

    Peg Grant - Acclaimed

#### Ward 3

    Peggy Gemmell - 1,176
    Elizabeth Smith - 1,170
    Bev Folkes - 640

#### Ward 4

    Else Chandler - 2,970
    Ben Treos - 644
    Sherland Chhangur - 288

#### Ward 5

    George McCleary - Acclaimed

#### Ward 6

    Frances Chapkin - 2,144
    Zale Newman - 965
    Ian Lovatt - 881
    Robert Howse - 716
    Peter Beecham - 334
    Vladimir Machlis - 126

#### Ward 7

    Mae Waese - 2,654
    Adam Fuerstenberg - 2,121
    Leon Stalner - 971
    Alan Simons - 840
    Morley Philips - 761
    Charles Stewart - 375

#### Ward 8

    Marilyn Knowles - 2,586
    Diane Betts - 1,946
    John Buttrick - 617
    Charles Kasner - 483
    Judy Mandel - 265
    Phil Reeve - 250
    Morris Atlas - 151

#### Ward 9

    Neil Strauss - 3,704
    Harold Koehler - 2,877
    George Hamell - 1,265
    Irwin Krakowsky - 357

#### Ward 10

    Sybil Darnell - 2,306
    William Gruber - 1,357
    David Reed - 1,330

#### Ward 11

    Marion Gordon - 3,733
    Edward Reiken - 994
    George Malner - 844
    Ken Stagg - 716

#### Ward 12

    Ken Crowley - 3,724
    Althea Collins-Poulos - 1,093

#### Ward 13

    Lawrence Krackower - 2,844
    Gerald Wiseman - 1,905
    Ralph Benner - 1,725
    Victoria Sibila - 392

#### Ward 14

    Martin Park - 3,964
    Serj Assadourian - 1,063

### Hydro Commission

(two to be elected)
    Bill Sutherland - 41,561
    Carl Anderson - 28,750
    Paul Adler - 21,904
    D'Arcy McConvey - 18,907
    Mollie Goodbaum - 15,189
    Norman Baird - 12,984
    David Horwood - 7,065
    Nicholas Tryphonopoulos - 5,350

## Scarborough

Gus Harris won his first term as mayor defeating interim mayor Ken Morrish by 3,000 votes. Morrish was appointed interim mayor after Paul Cosgrove resigned to run federally. Incumbent controllers Brian Harrison, Joyce Trimmer and Frank Faubert were all re-elected while alderman Carol Ruddell took the fourth spot. Shirley Eidt returned to council after beating one term alderman Brian Brazier. Newcomers include Wally Majesky (Ward 2), Alan Robinson (Ward 5), and Maureen Prinsloo (Ward 10).

### Mayor

    Gus Harris - 33,483
    (incumbent)Ken Morrish - 29,908
    Ron Watson - 13,822
    Lois James - 4,241
    Donald Lunny -2.404

### Board of Control

(Four to be elected)
    (incumbent)Brian Harrison - 50,728
    (incumbent)Joyce Trimmer - 44,502
    Carol Ruddell - 42,299
    (incumbent)Frank Faubert - 39,897
    Bob Watson - 28,121
    Jim Bryers - 22,594
    John Tsopelas - 9,768
    Greg McGroarty - 9,218

### Council
#### Ward 1

    (incumbent)Bill Belfontaine - 5,326
    Doug Varsey - 2,067

#### Ward 2

    Wally Majesky - 2,736
    Don MacMillan - 2,374
    Gordon McMillen - 993
    Doug Springhope - 838

#### Ward 3

    (incumbent)Norm Kelly - Acclaimed

#### Ward 4

    (incumbent)Jack Goodlad - Acclaimed

#### Ward 5

    Alan Robinson - 2,465
    Gord Ashberry - 2,113
    Don Hillard - 1,203

#### Ward 6

    (incumbent)Frederick Bland - 4,562
    Joe Zammit - 2,326

#### Ward 7

    (incumbent)Ed Fulton - 4,359
    Joe Crowley - 2,530
    Elizabeth McKenzie - 1,938

#### Ward 8

    Shirley Eidt - 4,137
    (incumbent)Tom Brazier - 3,738

#### Ward 9

    (incumbent)Doug Colling - Acclaimed

#### Ward 10

    Maureen Prinsloo - 2,991
    Harry Murphy - 1,845
    Scott MacPherson - 1,405
    Arne Boye - 749
    Larry Calcutt - 622
    Ken Wayne - 382

#### Ward 11

    (incumbent)John Wimbs - Acclaimed

#### Ward 12

    (incumbent)Joe DeKort - 3,823
    Jack Heads - 967

## York

In the borough of York, Gayle Christie defeated Philip White who had been Mayor since 1969.

### Mayor

    Gayle Christie 15,732
    Philip White 14,050
    Douglas Saunders 8,322

### Board of Control (2 elected)

    Fergy Brown (Acclaimed)
    Alan Tonks (Acclaimed)

### Ward 1

    Ben Nobleman (Acclaimed)

### Ward 2

    Oscar Kogan 1,429
    Tony Mandarano 1,326
    Marvin Gordon 351
    Deanna Michael 243

### Ward 3

    Ron Bradd 2,217
    Nino D'Apria 1,762

### Ward 4

    Patrick Canavan 1,106
    Cillard Ward 1,045
    Enzo Ragno 744

### Ward 5

    Chris Tonks 2,330
    Hilde Zimmer 1,176

### Ward 6

    Lois Lane 2,520
    Lloyd Sainsbury 2,250
    Buzz Fedunchak 1,056

### Ward 7

    John Nunziata 2,019
    Don Kendal 1,843
    Harold Stuart 1,051
    Mario Ruffolo 981
    Alex Dulkewych 415