1972 Toronto municipal election

1972 Toronto mayoral election

← 1969 December 4, 1972 1974 →
Turnout	40% [1]
Candidate David Crombie Tony O'Donohue David Rotenberg Popular vote 82,754 58,362 35,213 Percentage 43% 30% 18%
Mayor of Toronto before election William Dennison Elected Mayor of Toronto David Crombie

The 1972 Toronto municipal election was held December 4, 1972, to elect the governments of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the five other boroughs, and the government of Metro Toronto as well.

The election was overshadowed by the 1972 federal election held October 30 and the American elections held November 7, but it resulted in a dramatic change in the city government. Four new mayors were elected, and 17 of 32 Metro seats were held by newcomers. In the City of Toronto, control of city council was won by the reform faction and reform leader David Crombie was elected mayor.

As in the 1969 election many of the central debates were over proposed megaprojects. The Spadina Expressway had been halted in 1971, but some wanted it built. The debate over the Scarborough Expressway was also one of the central issues in the east end.

An IBM 370-155 was used by the Star to process the results.^[2]

Incumbent mayor William Dennison chose not to turn for reelection. The three main candidates vying to replace him were city councillors David Rotenberg, David Crombie, and Tony O'Donohue. O'Donohue and Rotenberg were veteran councillors. Rotenberg had been on council ten years and had served as Deputy Mayor. He also won the endorsement of the Toronto Star. Crombie had been elected to city council only three years earlier, previously serving as a professor at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute. He was a moderate member of the reform faction on council, willing to compromise with the Old Guard. A fourth notable candidate was Toronto Sun columnist Paul Rimstead, who ran a semi-serious campaign based on law and order policies.

Crombie dominated the affluent midtown and North Toronto wards, and also carried the east end of the city. O'Donohue won the heavily ethnic, working class wards of the west end.^[3]

Results

David Crombie - 82,754

Tony O'Donohue - 58,362

David Rotenberg - 35,213

Paul Rimstead - 7,934

Don Andrews - 1,960

Jacquie Henderson - 1,598

Nelson Clarke - 1,549

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.

The council elected in 1969 was split into two factions. The dominant group, commonly referred to as the 'Old Guard,' were 12 councillors who generally sided with developers and supported plans for urban renewal and new expressways. The opposition faction was made up of seven members who supported the reform movement.^[4] The reformers won a clear victory. Only four Old Guard aldermen were reelected: William Boytchuk, Joseph Piccininni, Fred Beavis, and Thomas Clifford. The reform faction won five new seats, giving them an overall majority on council.

Ward 1 (Swansea and Bloor West Village)

Elizabeth Eayrs (reform) - 10,312

William Boytchuk (incumbent) - 9,229

Ben Grys (incumbent) - 4,618

Carl Glutsczak - 3,416

Slough Bolton - 2,377

Ed Homonylo - 1,046

Yvette Tessier - 627

Andrejs Murniecks - 370

Ward 2 (Parkdale and Brockton)

Archie Chisholm (incumbent, reform) - 5,156

Ed Negridge - 3,222

Ken Dear - 2,938

Dave May - 2,316

Robert Grossi - 1,992

Anne Fritz - 1,693

Helen Johnson - 1,319

Michael Hookway - 1,202

Stanley Steban - 839

John Stifel - 602

Jack Prins - 203

Ward 3 (Davenport and Corso Italia)

Michael Goldrick (reform) - 4,967

Joseph Piccininni (incumbent) - 4,439

Hugh Bruce (incumbent) - 3,800

Joe Garisto - 2,213

Tim Burke - 978

Ward 4 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)

Art Eggleton (incumbent) - 3,034

George Ben - 3,023

Margot Andras (reform) - 2,439

Frank Lacka - 1,587

Harold Menzies - 1,593

John Conforzi - 1,563

Mary Fraser - 1,054

Richard Follert - 319

Robert Fairley - 207

Darrell Furlotte - 163

Ward 5 (The Annex and Yorkville)

Ying Hope (incumbent, reform) - 12,872

Colin Vaughan (reform) - 11,585

Erna Kauffman - 2,685

David Astle - 1,469

David Boyd - 933

Manfred Schulzke - 698

Melania Gural - 561

Wilson Greig - 437

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

William Archer (incumbent) - 7,395

Dan Heap (reform) - 7,153

June Marks (incumbent) - 6,396

Horace Brown (incumbent) - 2,928

Arthur Downes - 2,127

Ward 7 (Regent Park and Riverdale)

Karl Jaffary (incumbent, reform) - 10,572

John Sewell (incumbent, reform) - 9,952

Richard Kirkup - 4,969

Samuel Rotenberg - 3,212

Karl Van Harten - 448

Charles Rolfe - 422

Ward 8 (Riverdale)

Fred Beavis (incumbent) - 7,253

Thomas Clifford (incumbent) - 6,794

Dallard Runge (reform) - 5,724

Ellie Kirzner - 595

Christopher Greenland - 542

Ward 9 (The Beaches)

Reid Scott (reform, incumbent) - 10,432

Dorothy Thomas (reform) - 5,643

Joe McNulty - 4,479

Jim Purdie - 4,199

Tom Wardle Jr. - 4,004

John Oliver - 2,100

Don Ray - 797

George Leslie - 318

John Square - 115

Ward 10 (Rosedale and North Toronto)

William Kilbourn (incumbent, reform) - 20,099

Paul Pickett (incumbent) - 14,023

Juanne Hemsol (reform) - 9,578

Margaret Bryce - 2,641

Art Keay - 1,449

Ward 11 (Forest Hill and North Toronto)

Anne Johnston (reform) - 14,325

David Smith - 11,297

Larry Grossman - 9,127

Jim Mills - 8,035

William McKay - 1,399

Morris Kestin - 1,334

Alan Morrison - 1,329

Richard Sommers - 818

Sydney Zaidi - 605

Alan Manington - 551

John Houseman - 435

John Ross Taylor - 323

• Willis Blair - 15,196 (57%)
• Royden Brigham - 11,458 (43%)

(Source: Toronto Star, pg 12, December 5, 1972)

• Dennis Flynn - 28,126 (54.9%)
• David Lacey - 21,634 (42.2%)
• Reg Sammons - 1,484 (2.9%)

(582 out of 610 polls)

• Bill Stockwell - 29,259
• Bruce Sinclair - 27,762
• E. H. Farrow - 22,616
• (incumbent)John Allen - 21,312
• (incumbent)John Carroll - 19,868
• Hugh MacGregor Griggs 16,705
• MacDonald 15,015

(582 out of 610 polls)

(Source: "How the voting went throughout Etobicoke", Toronto Star, pg 13, December 5, 1972)

• Mel Lastman - 48,328
• Paul Hunt - 36,380
• Andrew Fram - 2,536
• Rik Peletz - 1,264

(1033 out of 1075 polls)

Lastman is elected mayor for the first time and serves until 1997.

• Paul Godfrey - 60,421
• John Williams - 33,843
• Alex McGivern - 30,713
• Barbara Greene - 28,852
• Syd Moscoe - 23,129
• Joseph Gould - 20,075
• Ruby Richman - 17,861
• Joseph Morra - 14,596
• Sam Sherman - 10,784
• Malcolm Cairnduff - 6,291
• Ronald Premier - 4,329

Source:^[5][6]

Paul Godfrey was appointed to the Board of Control by North York Council in 1970, following the death of Controller John Booth.^[7] He was returned to the Board of Control in 1972, his first time being elected to the body. In 1973, he resigned to become Metro Chairman. Barbara Greene is elected in an upset victory after running to protest a by-law which made it illegal for unrelated roommates to share a house or apartment if the neighbourhood was zoned for single family dwellings. She is not only the first woman ever elected to North York's Board of Control but she and her roommate, Kate Hayhurst who ran for alderman and Betty Sutherland who was also elected as an alderman in 1972 are the first three women ever elected to North York council

• Paul Cosgrove - 33,488 (63.2%)
• (incumbent)Robert W. White - 14,086 (28.6%)
• Francis O'Donnell - 5,423 (10.2%)

(735 of 855 polls)

• (incumbent)Gus Harris 34,030
• (incumbent)Ken Morrish 31,949
• (incumbent)Brian Harrison 28,324
• (incumbent)Karl Mallette 24,053
• John Wimbs 20,222
• Tom Rowland 14,705
• John Nowotny 7,714
• William T. Phipps 6,594

(735 of 855 polls)

• Ward 7 Ed Fulton

• (incumbent)Phillip White (acclaimed)

(Source: Toronto Star, page 12, December 5, 1972)

• (incumbent)Douglas Saunders - 15,899
• (incumbent)James Trimbee - 14,054
• Rose Gallic - 5,163

(Source: Toronto Star, page 12, December 5, 1972; "The Star's suggestions for Monday's elections", Toronto Star, December 2, 1972, page 20)