1930 Hamilton, Ontario, municipal election

Hamilton municipal election, 1930

Monday, December 1, 1930

Candidate John Peebles Party Independent Popular vote Acclaimed

Mayor before election John Peebles Independent Elected mayor John Peebles Independent

The 1930 Hamilton municipal election was held on December 1, 1930 to select one Mayor, four Controllers, and sixteen members of the Hamilton, Ontario, City Council, two from each of the city's eight wards. Voters also cast ballots for trustees for the public school board.

Campaign

The 1930 campaign was marked by two major occurrences. The first was the absence of a vote on the city's Hydro Commissioner. Unlike in past elections, voters in Hamilton would not have the option to elect their representative to the publicly owned hydro-electric company for the city due to changes in provincial legislation that created an appointed board of three individuals to replace the single elected office of Commissioner. Attempting to de-politicize the office, Ontario's provincial government abolished the elected position and created a three-person board with appointees to be chosen by Queen's Park, city council, and the mayor.

The second event was the surprise nomination of local athlete Sam Manson for a seat on the Board of Control. Unbeknownst to any more than a dozen of Manson's closest friends, his nomination caught the city's local political establishment by surprise. When rumours of a last-minute entry began circulating city hall at 10:00 the morning of Friday, November 21, the city's sitting aldermen and controllers began questioning the city clerk. Refusing to reveal who the candidate was until five minutes before the close of nominations, the city clerk reportedly faced a "barrage of questioning" from local politicians.

Overall, interest in the election of 1930 was low, in part because of the worsening economic situation faced by Hamiltonians due to the Great Depression. The Hamilton Spectator reported that less than 30 people attended the traditional post-nomination speeches by candidates at city hall.

Mayor

"Last, but not least, we must congratulate Mayor Peebles on the signal honour accorded him. Of course, it was never expected that any one would contest the mayoralty this year. Not only is it an unwritten law that a mayor must have a second term unopposed, but his worship has displayed so much acumen and foresight in his conduct of civic affairs during one of the worst periods of the city's history, that there is a general feeling that no other hand but his could as successfully pilot the civic ship out of the shoals of depression."

Mayor John Peebles, who had been acclaimed to his first term in 1929, was returned to a second-term by acclamation once more in 1930. In his nomination speech, Peebles spoke at length about the successes of his administration over the previous year, including the opening of McMaster University in Hamilton, improvements to the city's waterworks, and new facilities for the Canadian National Railway. In their summary of the city's nominations, the Spectator noted that "no other hand but [Peebles'] could as successfully pilot the civic ship out of the shoals of depression."