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1956 Toronto municipal election

Election

1956 Toronto municipal election

Election

FieldValue
election_name1956 Toronto mayoral election
countryToronto
typeMayoral
ongoingno
party_nameno
previous_election1955 Toronto municipal election
previous_year1955
election_dateDecember 3, 1956
next_election1958 Toronto municipal election
next_year1958
candidate1Nathan Phillips
popular_vote180,352
percentage189.1%
image1File:Mayor Nathan Phillips wearing chain of office (cropped).jpg
color1
candidate2Ross Dowson
popular_vote29,834
percentage210.9%
image2Ross_Dowson.jpg
color2
titleMayor of Toronto
before_electionNathan Phillips
after_electionNathan Phillips

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 3, 1956. Incumbent mayor Nathan Phillips was easily reelected. Jean Newman became the first woman elected to the Board of Control, and topped the poll to become budget chief.

Toronto mayor

Nathan Phillips, elected two years earlier, faced only limited opposition from Trotskyist Ross Dowson and was easily reelected.

;Results :Nathan Phillips - 80,352 :Ross Dowson - 9,834

Board of Control

All four sitting Board of Control members chose to run for re-election. Controller and former mayor Leslie Saunders was pushed off the board by Jean Newman's victory. Newman is the first woman to be elected to the Board of Control or to win a city-wide election in Toronto. The most senior two Controllers in terms of votes also sat on Metro Toronto Council.

;Results :Jean Newman - 54,785 :Ford Brand (incumbent) - 54,178 :William Allen (incumbent) - 54,038 :Joseph Cornish (incumbent) - 49,385 :Leslie Saunders (incumbent) - 47,048 :Harry Bradley - 16,450 :Charles Sims - 6961 :George Rolland - 5,632

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 boundaries used in the 1956 election

;Ward 1 (Riverdale) :Ken Waters (incumbent) - 6,318 :Fred Beavis - 3,636 :Jean Brown - 3,412 :George Phillips (incumbent) - 2,578 :Dominic Di Stasi - 1,657 :Basil Ingleby - 494

;Ward 2 (Regent Park and Rosedale) :William Dennison (incumbent) - 4,962 :May Birchard - 2,614 :Sterling Campbell - 2,567 :Edgar Roxborough (incumbent) - 2,380 :Andrew Kavanaugh - 569 :Philip Rowley - 528

;Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill) :Ross Parry (incumbent) - 4,149 :John MacVicar - 1,980 :Richard James - 2,537

;Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District) :Herbert Orliffe (incumbent) - 4,437 :Francis Chambers (incumbent) - 3,449 :David Rotenberg - 2,692 :Dorothy Cureatz - 628

;Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy) :Philip Givens (incumbent) - 6,226 :Harold Menzies (incumbent) - 5,177 :Ben Nobleman - 1,500 :Paul Pauk - 1,092

;Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale) :May Robinson (incumbent) - 8,691 :Frank Clifton (incumbent) - 7,171 :William Stevens - 3,884 :Wallace Martin - 2,066 :John Shedden - 1,795 :George Jackson - 1,498

;Ward 7 (Bloor West Village) :William Davidson (incumbent) - 5,122 :John Kucherepa (incumbent) - 5,069 :Thomas Wilson - 1,548 :Stewart - 1,077 :William Repka - 579

;Ward 8 (The Beaches) :Donald Summerville (incumbent) - 12,567 :Albert G. Cranham (incumbent) - 9,577 :Chris Stavro - 2,488 :John Square - 1,146

;Ward 9 (North Toronto) :Frank Nash (incumbent) - 12,084 :Kenneth Ostrander - 10,515 :Alex Thompson - 8,064

Results are taken from the December 4, 1956 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Changes

Ward 7 Alderman John Kucherepa resigned January 6, 1958 having been elected in the 1957 Federal Election; Thomas Wilson was appointed replacement on January 20.

Suburbs

[[East York]]

;Reeve :Jack Raymond Allen - 5,757 :C. Howard Chandler - 4,510

Jack R. Allen defeated business executive C. Howard Chandler. Source:

[[Etobicoke]]

;Reeve :H.O. Waffle - 9,519 :Jack Bennett - 5,014

Deputy Reeve Waffle defeated Bennett, a former Toronto alderman to replace retiring reeve Bev Lewis.

;Deputy Reeve :Murray Johnston - 8,005 :Charles Devlin - 6,429

Source:

[[Forest Hill, Toronto|Forest Hill]]

;Reeve :Laurie T. Simonsky (acclaimed)

Source:

[[Leaside]]

;Mayor :(incumbent)Charles Hiscott (acclaimed)

Source:

[[Long Branch, Toronto|Long Branch]]

;Reeve :(incumbent)Marie Curtis - 1,522 :William Cambera - 553 :Sherman Anderson - 175

;Deputy Reeve :Maurice Breen - 1,309 :Stanley Purvis - 888

Source:

[[Mimico]]

;Mayor :(incumbent)William Arthur (Gus) Edwards - 1,802 :Owen Gertrude - 1,098

Source:

[[New Toronto]]

;Mayor :(incumbent)Donald Russell - 1,783 :David Post - 810

Source:

[[North York]]

;Reeve :Vernon Singer - 24,045 :Maurice T. Hook - 5,302

Councillor Singer defeated former deputy reeve Hook to replace retiring reeve, Fred McMahon. Source:

[[Scarborough, Ontario|Scarborough]]

;Reeve :Albert Campbell - 13,470 :(incumbent)Gus Harris - 11,569

;Deputy Reeve :George R. Mason - 13,270 :John Algar - 11,361

Source:

[[Swansea, Toronto|Swansea]]

;Reeve :(incumbent)Dorothy Hague (acclaimed)

;Deputy Reeve :H.B. Squarebriggs - 1,233 :K.C. Woodsworth - 740

Source:

[[Weston, Toronto|Weston]]

Mayor

  • (incumbent)Harry Clark (acclaimed)

Source:

[[York, Toronto|York]]

;Reeve :Chris Tonks - 8,742 :Walter Saunders - 7,736 :Charles McMaster - 1,993

Source:

References

  • Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 4, 1956

References

  1. "Many New Faces Lead Suburban Councils", ''Toronto Daily Star'' (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]04 Dec 1956: 10.
Info: Wikipedia Source

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