1956 Toronto municipal election

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 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:^[1]

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:^[1]

Forest Hill

Reeve: Laurie T. Simonsky (acclaimed)

Source:^[1]

Leaside

Mayor: (incumbent)Charles Hiscott (acclaimed)

Source:^[1]

Long Branch

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

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

Source:^[1]

Mimico

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

Source:^[1]

New Toronto

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

Source:^[1]

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:^[1]

Scarborough

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

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

Source:^[1]

Swansea

Reeve: (incumbent)Dorothy Hague (acclaimed)

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

Source:^[1]

Weston

Mayor

(incumbent)Harry Clark (acclaimed)

Source:^[1]

York

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

Source:^[1]

References

Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 4, 1956

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l "Many New Faces Lead Suburban Councils", Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]04 Dec 1956: 10.

[star-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l "Many New Faces Lead Suburban Councils", Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]04 Dec 1956: 10.

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