# 1974 Toronto municipal election

The 1974 Toronto municipal election was held on December 2, 1974 in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mayors, controllers, city councillors and school board trustees were elected in the municipalities of Toronto, York, East York, North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough.
David Crombie was re-elected as Mayor of Toronto with around 83% of the vote, and Mel Lastman was re-elected as Mayor of North York.

## Toronto
### Mayoral race

Incumbent David Crombie was extremely popular after his first term and faced no serious opposition in winning reelection. White supremacist Don Andrews placed second amongst the also-rans. As a result, the municipal law was changed so that the runner-up in the mayoralty contest no longer had the right to succeed to the mayor's chair should the position become vacant between elections.

#### Results

    David Crombie - 100,680
    Don Andrews - 5,662
    Joan Campana - 3,022
    Rosy Sunrise - 2,294
    William Harris - 2,262
    Glenn Julian - 2,423
    Richard Sangers - 1,454
    Ronald Rodgers
    Rick Peletz - 1,024
    Arthur Seligman - 745
    Karl von Harten - 624

### 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.
There were few major changes on city council. The reform faction remained the largest group on council, but did have a majority. The conservative "old guard" retained their seats as did the small Crombie-led group of moderates that made up the swing vote on council. Most incumbents were reelected with only a handful of exceptions. After failing to win the mayoralty in 1972 Tony O'Donohue returned to city council and successfully ousted New Democrat Archie Chisholm in Ward 2. In the downtown Ward 6 race anti-Spadina Expressway activist Allan Sparrow ousted long serving old guard member William Archer.
The final executive, elected by city council, consisted of two right-of-centre moderates, Art Eggleton and David Smith, and two moderate reformers, Elizabeth Eayrs and Reid Scott. Crombie held the deciding vote between the right- and left-wing duos.

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

    William Boytchuk (incumbent) - 6,158
    Elizabeth Eayrs (incumbent) - 3,038
    Ed Ziemba - 4,199
    Ben Grys - 3,174
    Wally Soia - 1,861
    Ceri Gluszczek - 1,275
    Ed Homonvio - 916
    Ib Amonsen - 764
    Joe Grabek - 481
    Yvette Tessier - 189
    Andries Murnieks - 157

#### Ward 2 (Parkdale and Brockton)

    Tony O'Donohue - 6,375
    Ed Negridge (incumbent) - 4,968
    Archie Chisholm (incumbent) - 3,538
    Eleanor Bra - 1,192
    Anne Fritz - 941
    Jack Prins - 175

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

    Michael Goldrick (incumbent) - 5,216
    Joseph Piccininni (incumbent) - 4,254
    Slough Bolton - 1,395
    Jerry Hill - 405
    George Zapparoli - 404
    Michael Hookway - 191
    Manuel Lumbreras - 119

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

    Art Eggleton (incumbent) - 4,341
    George Ben (incumbent) - 2,708
    Joe Pantalone -1,759
    Frank Latka - 1,247
    Pat Case - 533
    Penny Simpson - 234
    Bob Smith - 200

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

    Colin Vaughan (incumbent) - 8,195
    Ying Hope (incumbent) - 7,173
    Erna Koffman - 1,737
    Manfred Schulzke - 1,643
    David Astle - 1,096
    Judy Lily Lucko - 371
    Lazlo Simo - 287
    Gary Weagle - 201

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

    Dan Heap (incumbent) - 6,607
    Allan Sparrow - 5,564
    William Archer (incumbent) - 4,311
    K Dock Yip - 2,507
    John Combs - 1,346
    Arthur Boyes - 368
    Fred Nelson - 294

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

    John Sewell (incumbent) - 6,233
    Janet Howard - 4,248
    Gary Stamm - 3,813
    Andy Marinakis - 603
    Peggy Reinhardt - 454
    John Bizzell - 289
    Stanley Carrier - 388
    Kate Alderdice - 329
    Steve Necheff - 257
    Sandra Fox - 248
    Armand Siksna - 212

#### Ward 8 (Riverdale)

    Thomas Clifford (incumbent) - 5,567
    Fred Beavis (incumbent) - 5,574
    Dallard Runge - 3,967
    Steve Martino - 796
    Larry Haiven - 496
    John Iannou - 398
    John Tsopelas - 361
    Alex Lauder - 338
    Beatrice Zaverrucha - 245
    Chris Greenland - 236
On January 28, 1975 a judicial recount gave Clifford a 7 vote majority over Beavis which gave him a seat on Metro Council.

#### Ward 9 (The Beaches)

    Reid Scott (incumbent) - 8,405
    Dorothy Thomas (incumbent) - 7,016
    Joe McNulty - 5,106
    Mary Trew - 417
    Brian Dunia - 412

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

    William Kilbourn (incumbent) - 11,446
    John Bosley - 5,352
    Kevin Garland - 4,979
    Juanne Hemsol - 3,754
    Michael Grayson - 1,818
    Bruce Haines - 1,543
    Russell Puskluwez - 1,464
    Margaret Bryce - 953
    Horace Brown - 680
    John Kelly - 597

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

    David Smith (incumbent) - 11,933
    Anne Johnston (incumbent) - 10,804
    Pauline Shapero - 3,140
    Sydney Zaidi - 741

## Vacancy

Ward 9 Alderman Reid Scott resigned upon appointment as provincial judge August 6, 1976. Dorothy Thomas now became sole Alderman and was appointed Metro Councillor on August 18.

## East York

* (incumbent)Willis Blair - 15,018
* Ed Shaw - 6,513
(Source: Globe and Mail, pg 10, December 3, 1974)

## Etobicoke
### Mayor

* (incumbent)Dennis Flynn - 28,390
* Bill Stockwell - 21,160
* Mary Legg - 2,022
* Richard Broughton - 1,749
(Source: Globe and Mail, pg 10, December 3, 1974)

### Board of Control

(4 elected)
* (incumbent)Bruce Sinclair - 30,373
* (incumbent)E. H. Farrow - 26,157
* Nora Pownall - 24,078
* (incumbent)John Allen - 21,528
* Marcel Cox - 19,551
* Dorothy Price - 16,639
* Andrew Macdonald - 14,170
* Don Nelson - 6,776

## North York
### Mayor

* (incumbent)Mel Lastman - 52,567
* Edward Wells - 19,831
* Malcolm Cairnduff - 2,875
(1057 out of 1216 polls)

### Board of Control

(4 elected)
* (incumbent)Barbara Greene - 46,355
* William Sutherland - 36,752
* (incumbent)Alex McGivern - 30,752
* Joseph Markin - 27,974
* Jack Bedder - 18,814
* Wagman - 16,977
* Holmes - 16,383
* Petersen - 12,205
* Bernadette Michael - 11,962
* Medhurst - 8,276
* Telfer - 4,231
(1057 out of 1216 polls)

### Ward Alderman

Esther Shiner and Robert Yuill were re-elected aldermen for Wards 2 and 4 respectively.
vte1974 Toronto municipal election: North York Board of Education, Separate School Representative (Area One) :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Peter Caruso | 2,393 | 38.77 |
| (x)William Higgins | 1,919 | 31.09 |
| Joe Volpe | 1,860 | 30.14 |
| Total valid votes | 6,172 | 100.00 |
* Peter Caruso served on the North York Board of Education from 1974 to 1978, and again from 1980 to 1982. He was a business evaluator in private life, and owned Equity Reality Ltd. in the 1980s. He was first elected in 1974, defeating William Higgins to become the Separate School Representative for Area One. Re-elected in 1976, he lost his seat to Leonardo Cianfarani in 1978. He was re-elected for Area Two in 1980. In 1982, Toronto Separate School trustee Antonio Signoroni accused fellow trustee Joseph Marrese of being involved in a conflict-of-interest situation with Caruso. Marrese and Caruso were cousins and shared a business office, and Marrese had previously voted for contracts that went to Caruso's firm. Both Marrese and Caruso acknowledged the contracts, but denied any wrongdoing. Marrese argued that he had never shown preference to Caruso and questioned Signoroni's motives in raising the matter, noting that another of his relatives was challenging Signoroni in the 1982 campaign. Marrese was re-elected, but Caruso lost his seat on the North York board to Maria Augimeri.
* William Higgins served on the North York Board of Education from 1972 to 1974, as one of the board's first two Separate School Representatives following reforms by the provincial government of Bill Davis. Higgins was 23 years old at the time of his election, and was a high school history teacher in private life. He was also a representative on the Ontario English Teachers' Catholic Association. He defeated Donald Clune to win election in 1972, and was defeated by Peter Caruso in 1974. He later sought election 1976, but finished fourth against Jim Travers in Area Two. In 2000, a retired person named Bill Higgins campaigned unsuccessfully for the Toronto Catholic District School Board's fifth ward. It is assumed that this is the same person.
vte1974 Toronto municipal election: North York Hydro Commission (two members elected) :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| (x) John Dunn | 29,240 | 21.14 |
| (x) D'arcy McConvey | 22,084 | 15.96 |
| Carl Anderson | 19,965 | 14.43 |
| Leon Donsky | 16,577 | 11.98 |
| Howard Moscoe | 14,575 | 10.54 |
| Alec Davis | 12,091 | 8.74 |
| Bernard Birman | 10,912 | 7.89 |
| Peter Slattery | 5,409 | 3.91 |
| William Lynch | 4,083 | 2.95 |
| Jack Newton | 3,407 | 2.46 |
| Total valid votes | 138,343 | 100.00 |
Electors could vote for two candidates. The percentages are determined in relation to the total number of votes. There may be a transcription error in the result for Carl Anderson (the last two numbers were partly obscured).
* Dunn and McConvey ran as a team, and described themselves as "sound administration" candidates. A newspaper advertisement from 1974 lists their accomplishments on the Hydro Commission, and indicated that they did not incur any debt.
* John Rankin Dunn was a professional engineer, and an employee of Lake Engineering Ltd. He was first elected to the Hydro Commission in 1966, and served until shortly after the 1976 election when, at age sixty, he was appointed to the Ontario Energy Board. Dunn died on June 2, 2000.
* D'arcy McConvey was a professional engineer, and was the founder and president of the Dalex Corporation. He was first elected to the Hydro Commission in 1969, and served until his defeat at the polls in 1978 at age sixty. Initially an ally of John Rankin Dunn, McConvey campaigned in an alliance with Carl Anderson following Dunn's retirement. He sought re-election in 1980, but was unsuccessful.
* D. Carl Anderson was a school principal in private life. He was made a fellow of the Ontario Teachers' Federation in 1976, and an Honorary Life Member of the Ontario Public School Teachers' Federation in 1987. He first sought election to the North York Hydro Commission in 1974, and finished third. He placed third again in 1976, but was appointed by council to the commission following the election when incumbent commissioner John Dunn resigned to take a position on the Ontario Energy Board. Anderson was re-elected in 1978, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1991 and 1994. He became chairman of the commission in or around 1980, and held the position on-and-off until the 1997, when North York was amalgamated into Toronto and the local hydro commission ceased to exist. He also served as chairman of Ontario's Municipal Electrical Association during the 1980s, and sat on the board of directors of the American Public Power Association. He warned of a possible energy shortage in 1989, and recommended the immediate construction of new facilities. In 1994, he helped introduce hydro bill gift certificates for North York residents. Anderson was appointed to the board of Ontario Hydro in June 1995, and to the board of directors of Ontario's newly created Independent Electricity Market Operator in February 1999. He was listed as fifty-seven years old in a 1988 newspaper article.
* Leon Donsky campaigned for the North York Hydro Board in 1964, 1966, 1969, 1972 and 1974, losing each time. A 1964 newspaper article identifies him as a thirty-four-year-old electrical technology graduate from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
* Alex Davis (also called Alec Davis) campaigned for the North York Hydro Board in 1974 and 1976, and ran for the North York Board of education in 1978. A newspaper article from the latter campaign lists him as a forty-nine-year-old telecommunications manager. He supported completion of the Spadina Expressway. He led a sub-committee to draft a smoking control by-law in 1984.
* Bernard Birman ran for the North York Hydro Board in 1972 and 1974, losing both times.
* Peter Slattery was a first-time candidate.
* William (Bill) Lynch campaigned for the North York City Council in 1969, and for the Hydro Council in 1974, 1980 and 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party, although he campaigned as an independent. A newspaper article from his first campaign lists him as a thirty-eight-year-old car salesman.
* John (Jack) V. Newton was elected as a North York School Trustee in 1962, and was re-elected in 1964 and 1966 before losing to Margaret Grant in 1969. He supported religious teaching in the public system. He campaigned for the North York City Council in 1972 and the Hydro Commission in 1974, and lost both times. A report from the 1972 election lists him as a metallurgical engineer and sales co-ordinator for the metal industry, and a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. He tried to return to the Board of Education in 1976, and was again defeated.
Results taken from the Toronto Star, 3 December 1974. The final official results were not significantly different.

## Scarborough

In Scarborough, Paul Cosgrove was re-elected as Mayor of Scarborough.

### Mayor

    (incumbent)Paul Cosgrove, 51,120
    John McMahon, 6,432

### Board of Control (4 elected)

    (incumbent)Gus Harris, 37,931
    (incumbent)Ken Morrish, 37,277
    (incumbent)Brian Harrison, 32,643
    Joyce Trimmer, 28,659
    Anne Johnston, 20,831
    (incumbent)Karl Mallette, 20,430

### Council
#### Ward 1

    Bill Belfontaine, 3,983
    Wally Malesky, 983

#### Ward 2

    Carol Ruddell, 2,671
    Jon Halun, 1,183
    Gordon McMillen, 681

#### Ward 3

    Norm Kelly, 2,503
    Herb Crosby, 1,770
    Jim Cottrell, 978
    Kevin Smith, 151

#### Ward 4

    Jack Goodland, 3,483
    Ted Littleford, 1,431

#### Ward 5

    Frank Faubert, 3,458
    Spurge Near, 1,963

#### Ward 6

    Fred Bland, 2,335
    Ross Daswell, 1,437
    Michael McPherson, 630
    Richard Wells, 413

#### Ward 7

    Ed Fulton (acclaimed)

#### Ward 8

    Shirley Eidt (acclaimed)

#### Ward 9

    Doug Colling, 4,972
    Mary Zissoff, 1,139

#### Ward 10

    Ron Watson, 2,915
    Clare Mabiev, 2,226

#### Ward 11

    John Wimbs, 1,324
    Gary Jackson, 1,263
    Bob Watson, 889

#### Ward 12

    Joe Dekort, 779
    Ben Loughlin, 391
    Larry Calcutt, 363
    Gordon Clarke, 328
    Jim Bryers, 269
    Bill Waters, 229
    Sean Regan, 175

## York
### Mayor

* (incumbent)Philip White - 13,590
* Fergy Brown - 11,791

### Board of Control

(2 elected)
* (incumbent)Douglas Saunders - 17,207
* (incumbent)James Trimbee - 14,987
* Rose Gallic - 4,981
(Source: Globe and Mail, pg 10, December 3, 1974)