December 1936 Toronto municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 7, 1936, after being moved up from the traditional New Year's Day vote. William D. Robbins was easily elected mayor to his first full term in office.

Toronto mayor

William D. Robbins had been appointed to the office of mayor earlier in the year after the death of incumbent Sam McBride. Challenging Robbins for the post was Alderman John Laidlaw and veteran Robert Harding. Robbins was easily reelected, winning a majority of the vote in every ward. One of his main campaign pledges was the construction of an airport for the city of Toronto. This was realized in 1939 with the creation of the Toronto Island Airport.

Results: William D. Robbins - 74,844; John Laidlaw - 22,018; Robert Harding - 4,045

Board of Control

The promotion of Robbins to the mayoralty and the decision of Controller J. George Ramsden to retire left to vacancies on the Board of Control. The two incumbents were reelected, and three aldermen and Communist leader Tim Buck competed for the two open seats. Frederick J. Conboy and Fred Hamilton were elected.

Results: Ralph Day (incumbent) - 56,847; Frederick J. Conboy - 48,976; William J. Wadsworth (incumbent) - 48,047; Fred Hamilton - 39,003; Douglas McNish - 32,265; Tim Buck - 31,342; Alfred Burgess - 3,983; Harry Bradley - 3,295

City council

The Communist Party of Canada managed to elect Stewart Smith to City Council from Ward 5. In future elections he would be joined by other Communists such as J.B. Salsberg in forming a far left faction on city council. The Communist Party, and its successor the Labor-Progressive Party would continue to elect members to council until the late 1940s.

Ward 1 (Riverdale): W.A. Summerville (incumbent) - 6,794; Frank M. Johnston (incumbent) - 6,717; Graham Spry - 3,440; Ernest Hewett - 2,727; Harry Bell - 1,161

Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale): Allan Lamport - 3,982; Adelaide Plumptre (incumbent) - 3,445; John R. Beamish (incumbent) - 3,194; William Dennison - 1,479; Winston George Harris - 808; Bob King - 320; William McFerran - 221

Ward 3 (Central Business District): John S. Simmons (incumbent) - 2,785; Percy Quinn - 1,784; Fred Bartrem - 1,419; Neil MacMillan - 961; Jean Laing - 692

Ward 4 (Kensington Market and Garment District): Nathan Phillips (incumbent) - 4,127; Robert Hood Saunders (incumbent) - 3,884; J.B. Salsberg - 3,633; Herbert Orliffe - 813; Albert Leslie - 673

Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods: Stewart Smith - 3,500; Ernest Bogart - 3,076; Albert Hacker - 3,041; Ward Markle - 2,862; Clifford McBride - 2,713; Harold Menzies - 2,618; Charles Ward - 1,773; Harold Kerr - 896; James Conner - 795; Alfons Stanewski - 616; Thomas Guy - 439; Valentine Burda - 273; Basil Ingelby - 165

Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale): D.C. MacGregor (incumbent) - 6,786; George Grannell - 5,044; William V. Muir - 4,182; William Miller - 3,439; John Reid - 2,658; Neil Cameron - 2,129; Harry Stephenson - 1,518; Jones - 1,031; Bertram Tipping - 746; William Logie - 742; Grace Farrow - 370

Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction): George H. Gardiner (incumbent) - 5,125; Frank Whetter (incumbent) - 3,603; Charles Rowntree - 3,206; McMurray - 895; Thompson - 533; Shaw - 296

Ward 8 (The Beaches): Walter Howell (incumbent) - 8,116; Ernest Bray (incumbent) - 8,001; Ernest Woollon - 4,725; Frederick Collins - 1,390; David Weir - 615

Ward 9 (North Toronto): William D. Ellis (incumbent) - 6,580; William Croft - 5,338; John Innes - 5,282

Results taken from the December 8, 1936 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

References

Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 8, 1936