# 1997 Toronto municipal election

The 1997 Toronto municipal election was the first election held for offices in the amalgamated "megacity" of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The elections were administered by the old City of Toronto and its five suburbs within Metropolitan Toronto. The vote was held November 10, 1997, electing the mayor and 56 councillors in 28 wards who took office on January 1, 1998, the day of the amalgamation.
The election resulted in a showdown between two incumbent mayors of cities being dissolved into the megacity: Barbara Hall, the one-term mayor of the old city of Toronto, and Mel Lastman, who had been mayor of the suburban city North York for 25 years. Both candidates were independent, but Hall was a prior member of the left-of-centre New Democratic Party and Lastman of the right-of-centre Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Lastman was additionally well-known as pitchman for his family-owned Bad Boy furniture and appliance stores.

## Mayor

The mayoral race saw incumbents from the two largest former cities run to be mayor, the left-leaning Barbara Hall and the right-leaning Mel Lastman. Lastman won the election by a narrow margin, around 40,000 votes.
Election for Mayor, City of Toronto, 1926 of 1926 Polls Reporting :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| Mel Lastman | 387,848 | 51.92% |
| Barbara Hall | 346,452 | 46.38% |
| Don Andrews | 1,985 | 0.26% |
| Ben Kerr | 1,670 | 0.22% |
| William Burrill | 1,421 | 0.19% |
| Steve Markle | 1,244 | 0.16% |
| C. Edwards | 1,214 | 0.12% |
| Munyonzwe Hamalengwa | 1,124 | 0.15% |
| Hazel Jackson | 1,062 | 0.14% |
| Alan Heisey, Sr. | 994 | 0.13% |
| Hans Bathija | 869 | 0.11% |
| Karl Hille | 695 | 0.09% |
| Santa Cuda | 647 | 0.08% |
| Laurence M. Honickman | 610 | 0.08% |
| Joanne Pritchard | 552 | 0.07% |
| George Dowar | 462 | 0.06% |
| Jeffery Sharpe | 379 | 0.05% |
| Ernest Michaud | 281 | 0.03% |
| Michael Houlton-Charette | 211 | 0.02% |
| Duri Naimji | 177 | 0.02% |
| Totals | 746,897 | 100% |

## Council

The election followed a plurality-at-large voting system where electors could vote for two candidates. Each of the 28 wards elected two councillors.

### Ward 1 – East York

    Michael Prue – 22440
    Case Ootes – 8608
    Jane Pitfield – 6926
    Michael Tziretas – 6349
    Elizabeth Rowley – 5707
    Bob Dale – 4709
    George Vasilopoulos – 4275
    Paul Fernandes – 3156
    Paul Robinson – 2885
    Hortencia Fotopoulos – 663
    Edward Wigglesworth – 368

### Ward 2 – Lakeshore Queensway

    Irene Jones – 9387
    Blake Kinahan – 7788
    Peter Milczyn – 7127
    Jeff Knoll – 6877
    Connie Micallef – 5179
    Diethar Lein – 4396
    David Smith – 2286
    Joe Connell – 713
    George Kash – 409

### Ward 3 – Kingsway Humber

    Gloria Lindsay Luby – 13123
    Mario Giansante – 12767
    Dennis Flynn – 10092
    Rob Ford – 9366
    Adam Slobodian – 797
    Ben Cachola – 753

### Ward 4 – Markland Centennial

    Doug Holyday – 15430
    Dick O'Brien – 10410
    Agnes Ugolini Potts – 9650
    Brian Flynn – 6809
    Steve Deighton – 3974
    Helen Bodanis – 799
    Mark Stanisz – 507
    Daphne Gabriel – 413
    Alexander P. Masur – 279

### Ward 5 – Rexdale Thistletown

    Elizabeth Brown – 6546
    Bruce Sinclair – 6482
    Vincent Crisanti – 3540
    John Kiru – 3203
    Marco Luciani – 2847
    Carmela Sasso – 2244
    Brian Ineson – 2135
    Nicolo Fortunato – 1925
    Peter Kell – 1240
    Anthony Caputo – 1133
    Patrick McCool – 1045
    Rosemarie Mulhall – 413

### Ward 6 – North York Humber

    Judy Sgro – 14334
    George Mammoliti – 10226
    Gina Serverino – 6875
    Tony Marzilli – 5205
    Bob Churchhill – 5012
    Michael Marson – 722

### Ward 7 – Black Creek

vte1997 Toronto municipal election: Councillor, Ward Seven (two members elected) :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Maria Augimeri | 11,243 | 28.01 |
| Peter Li Preti | 9,747 | 24.28 |
| Maria Rizzo | 8,850 | 22.05 |
| Anthony Perruzza | 6,347 | 15.81 |
| Anna Stella | 2,961 | 7.38 |
| Jeanelle Julien | 523 | 1.30 |
| Abdulhaq Omar | 467 | 1.16 |
| Total valid votes | 40,138 | 100.00 |
* Anna Stella is a longtime community activist in the Black Creek area of Toronto. She applied to replace Anthony Perruzza as North York's fifth ward councillor in 1990, after Perruzza was elected to the provincial legislature and council decided to nominate an interim replacement rather than hold a by-election. She was turned down in favour of Claudio Polsinelli. Stella was later elected to the Metro Toronto Separate School Board in the 1994 municipal election, easily defeating four other candidates in Ward Twelve. She supported greater parental involvement in school affairs and a zero-tolerance policy toward violence, although she opposed Scarborough's policy of expulsion. In the 1997 election, she was endorsed by Art Eggleton and Annamarie Castrilli.
* Jeanelle Julien was a first-time candidate.

### Ward 8 – North York Spadina

vte1997 Toronto municipal election: Councillor, Ward Eight (two members elected) :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| (x)Howard Moscoe | 16,187 | 35.74 |
| (x)Mike Feldman | 14,737 | 32.54 |
| Frank Di Giorgio | 11,487 | 25.36 |
| Henry Braverman | 1,572 | 3.47 |
| Nickeisha Hudson | 923 | 2.04 |
| Roy Dzeko | 383 | 0.85 |
| Total valid votes | 45,289 | 100.00 |
* Henry Braverman was a first-time candidate.
* Nickeisha Hudson was a student trustee in 1997, and was awarded a Harry Jerome Award for leadership. She was a first-time candidate. In 1999, she was a youth events coordinator in Hamilton.
* Dzeko is a businessman in Toronto. He was a first-time candidate.

### Ward 9 – North York Centre South

    Joanne Flint – 16447
    Milton Berger – 12370
    Dick Chapman – 8484
    Stuart Ian Weinstein – 3740

### Ward 10 – North York Centre

    John Filion – 17533
    Norman Gardner – 15135
    Ron Summers – 11212

### Ward 11 – Don Parkway

    Gordon Chong – 11961
    Denzil Minnan-Wong – 11001
    Don Yuill – 10450
    Kim Scott – 4742
    Allen Scott – 4369
    Janaki Bala-Krishan – 2901
    Neil Milson – 684
    Christopher M. Beale – 653
    Dixon Rhamadeen – 380

### Ward 12 – Seneca Heights

    Joan King – 18471
    David Shiner – 18319
    Raffi Assadourian – 5151
    Joel Ginsberg – 3345
    Bernadette Michael – 2938

### Ward 13 – Scarborough Bluffs

    Brian Ashton – 15528
    Gerry Altobello – 12605
    Fred Johnston – 11265
    Gaye Dale – 6491
    Karin Eaton – 4670
    Ed Green – 931

### Ward 14 – Scarborough Wexford

    Norm Kelly – 13740
    Mike Tzekas – 12318
    Aris Babikian – 3644
    Gerry Leonard – 2366
    George Pornaras – 2024

### Ward 15 – Scarborough City Centre

    Brad Duguid – 15686
    Lorenzo Berardinetti – 14179
    Paul Mushinski – 9141
    Betty Hackett – 4579
    Russell Worrick – 3882
    Ron Hartung – 743

### Ward 16 – Scarborough Highland Creek

    Frank Faubert – 15062
    Ron Moeser – 13955
    David Soknacki – 12183
    Chris Braney – 7142

### Ward 17 – Scarborough Agincourt

    Sherene Shaw – 10634
    Doug Mahood – 9861
    Wayne Cook – 5631
    Jeff Mark – 4909
    Doug Hum – 4645

### Ward 18 – Scarborough Malvern

    Raymond Cho – 11190
    Bas Balkissoon – 10745
    Edith Montgomery – 10659
    Jim Mackey – 2621
    Terry Singh – 1812
    Sinna Chelliah – 1165
    Jasmine Singh – 871
    Arlanna Lewis – 666
    George B. Singh – 339

### Ward 19 – High Park

vte1997 Toronto municipal election: Councillor, Ward Nineteen (two members elected) :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| (x)David Miller | 13,665 | 27.64 |
| (x)Chris Korwin-Kuczynski | 13,115 | 26.53 |
| Connie Dejak | 8,267 | 16.72 |
| (x)David Hutcheon | 7,437 | 15.04 |
| Alex Chumak | 3,931 | 7.95 |
| Ed Hooven | 1,336 | 2.70 |
| Walter Melnyk | 1,085 | 2.19 |
| Jorge Van Schouwen | 599 | 1.21 |
| Total valid votes | 49,435 | 100.00 |
* Connie Dejak is a longtime administrator at Runnymede Chronic Care Hospital. As of 2006, she is the hospital's president and chief executive officer. When a reviewing committee appointed by the Mike Harris provincial government decided to close Runnymede in 1997, she organized the hospital's successful challenge against the decision. Dejak is also a community activist, and has served on a police liaison committee for her neighbourhood. She and David Miller were endorsed by the Toronto Star newspaper in the 1997 campaign. She later sought an appointment to the Toronto Police Serves Board in 1999, but was passed over in favour of Alan Heisey. In the 2003 mayoral contest, she supported John Nunziata. Dejak is a member of the Liberal Party, and there are reports that she considered running for the party in a 2006 provincial by-election in Parkdale—High Park.
* Ed Hooven has a PhD in Sociology, and is currently an assistant professor at York University. His formal biographical sketch indicates that his past works have focused on European integration, the post-war Japanese economy and North American free trade agreements. His current work focused on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and "judicial activism". He has contributed a chapter to "Canada and the New Economic Order", entitled "The New World Order: In a New Millennium". Hooven has called for governments to distinguish between the "deserving" and "undeserving" when determining policies on social assistance. He has written against multiculturalism and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as leading to "creeping moral relativism", and has also criticized the powers of the Canadian judiciary. He has accused feminists of seeking to destroy the nuclear family. Hooven has been active with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and was research director for the Republican candidate for governor in the 1998 New Hampshire state elections. He is a member of Republicans Abroad Canada. He also plays guitar in the Mississauga Big Band Ensemble.
* Walter Melnyk was a teacher in Peel, and later worked in sales. He was a member of the Metro Toronto Separate School Board from 1980 to 1988. He was first elected in the 1980 municipal election, defeating incumbent trustee Edward Boehler in the city's first ward. During this campaign, he called for better services for graduating elementary students entering the public school system. In 1984, he brought forward a motion to provide medical services for students afflicted by poor environmental conditions in Toronto's Junction Triangle. Melnyk also promoted mandatory physical education programs. In January 1988, he brought forward a motion criticizing existing practices on the Separate School Board, suggesting that the board consider breaking itself up into regional bodies. He argued that the board was dominated by a secretive "old guard", who often reduced other trustees to the role of passive spectators. The board rejected his motion. Melnyk also called for non-Catholics to be allowed into Catholic schools. He was defeated by Barbara Poplowski in the 1988 municipal election; a newspaper article from the campaign lists him as thirty-nine years old. After the election, he was appointed as a school representative on the Toronto Board of Health. He campaigned for a seat on the Toronto City Council in 1991, promising to introduce a taxpayers' bill of rights. He narrowly lost to New Democratic Party incumbent Rob Maxwell in the eleventh ward. Melnyk was later banned from running in the 1994 municipal election, after failing to file a financial statement for his 1991 campaign. He worked as the campaign manager for city council candidate Alex Chumak, but was forced to leave this campaign amid controversy. Chumak informed the media that Melnyk had offered a rival candidate a position on the Toronto Board of Health in return for leaving the race; Melnyk said that he did nothing wrong. Melnyk ran for a position on the new city council in 1997, and was defeated. He tried to return to the Separate School Board (now renamed as the Toronto Catholic District School Board) in 2000, but lost to Barbara Poplowski for a second time.

### Ward 20 – Trinity Niagara

    Joe Pantalone – 11031
    Mario Silva – 10252
    Martin Silva – 8329
    Joe Magalhaes – 4035

### Ward 21 – Davenport

    Betty Disero – 10747
    Dennis Fotinos – 7587
    Rob Maxwell – 6858
    John Doherty – 5096
    Tony Letra – 4788
    Dale Ritch – 1111
    Jennifer Bauer – 1049

### Ward 22 – North Toronto

    Anne Johnston – 17123
    Michael Walker – 16449
    Kay Gardner – 15275
    Linda Sparling – 8235
    David N. Coleman – 1525
    John Ringer – 665

### Ward 23 – Midtown

    John Adams – 12010
    Ila Bossons – 11553
    Howard Joy – 10651
    Brian Mayes – 8659
    Howard Levine – 6167
    David Vallance – 2112
    Blair Gray – 622
    Philip Charles – 427

### Ward 24 – Downtown

    Olivia Chow – 20453
    Kyle Rae – 16149
    Al Carbone – 5186
    Paul Hogan – 2319
    Rosie Schwartz – 2001
    Doug Lowry – 1615
    Charlene Cottle – 864
    Roberto Verdecchia – 787
    Carmin Priolo – 398

### Ward 25 – Don River

    Jack Layton – 15045
    Pam McConnell – 8359
    Peter Tabuns – 8141
    Soo Wong – 7212
    Spiros Papathanasakis – 6590
    Terry Brackett – 1546
    Mike Armstrong – 1429
    Wendy Forrest – 947
    Larry Tabin – 939

### Ward 26 – East Toronto

    Tom Jakobek – 14945
    Sandra Bussin – 13323
    Paul Christie – 12883
    Steve Ellis – 11649
    Bruce Bryce – 643

### Ward 27 – York Humber

    Frances Nunziata – 14354
    Bill Saundercook – 6295
    Michael McDonald – 5245
    Randy Leach – 4837
    Carl Miller – 4684
    Stan Kumorek – 1535
    Natalie Wall – 661
    Arthur Saverino – 540
    Paul Jewett – 268

### Ward 28 – York Eglinton

    Joe Mihevc – 7548
    Rob Davis – 6660
    Caroline DiGiovanni – 5989
    Tony Rizzo – 5538
    Joan Roberts – 4077
    Chai Kalevar – 912