1962 Toronto municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 3, 1962. Incumbent mayor Nathan Phillips, then the longest-serving mayor in Toronto history, lost to Controller Donald Summerville by a significant margin.

Two major referendums were also held in Metro Toronto. The most controversial was over water fluoridation, which passed by a slim margin of 166,960 to 163,240. The areas outside Toronto also voted to remove some of the last of the Blue Laws by allowing movies to be shown on Sundays, something that was already allowed in the city itself.

Toronto mayor
Phillips had first been elected to city council in 1926 and was elected mayor in 1954. He had won an unprecedented four elections to become the longest-serving mayor in Toronto history. Summerville was much younger and had first been elected to council in 1955, representing the eastern Beaches area. One of the central issues of the campaign was a desire for change and a more youthful mayor. Summerville won by large margin more than doubling Phillips' total. Summerville won every ward in the city, including Phillips' former area. Less than a year into his term Summerville died of a heart attack while playing hockey, and was replaced by Controller Philip Givens.


 * Results
 * Donald Summerville - 117,031
 * Nathan Phillips (incumbent) - 51,933
 * Frank Nasso - 4,966
 * Ross Dowson - 1,119
 * Harry Bradley - 815
 * Charles Henry Mahoney - 406

Board of Control
Summerville's decision to run for mayor opened one position on the Board of Control, the four-person executive committee elected at large across the city. This opening was won by former mayor Allan Lamport, who bested council members Margaret Campbell and Ken Waters. The two Controllers with the most votes also sit on Metropolitan Toronto Council.


 * Philip Givens (incumbent) - 88,629
 * Allan Lamport - 84,902
 * William Dennison (incumbent) - 76,504
 * Herbert Orliffe (incumbent) - 73,118
 * Margaret Campbell - 72,108
 * Ken Waters - 62,019
 * Phyllis Clarke - 16,151
 * Frederick Graham - 10,475
 * Dorothy Cureatz - 6,752

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)
 * Fred Beavis (incumbent) - 11,714
 * Oscar Sigsworth - 7,853
 * Thomas Clifford - 6,073
 * Peter Ward - 2,024


 * Ward 2 (Regent Park and Rosedale)
 * Michael Grayson (incumbent) - 4,809
 * May Birchard - 4,465
 * Stanley Price - 3,546
 * June Marks - 2,946
 * Thomas McAulay - 2,277
 * Ernest Stanton - 1,941
 * John MacVicar - 1,824
 * Arthur J. Brown - 1,745
 * Glen Dawson - 593
 * Axel Olson - 215


 * Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill)
 * William Archer (incumbent) - 9,076
 * Charles Tidy (incumbent) - 7,844
 * James Sanderson - 1,748


 * Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District)
 * David Rotenberg (incumbent) - 6,448
 * Horace Brown (incumbent) - 5,764
 * Francis Chambers - 5,525
 * Jack Frankel - 2,364
 * Sam Sherman - 1,788


 * Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)
 * George Ben - 7,045
 * Joseph Piccininni (incumbent) - 6,623
 * Harold Menzies (incumbent) - 6,237
 * Lloyd White - 2,524
 * John Jones - 1,289
 * Michael Kaschuk - 1,123
 * Stanley Linkovich - 1,051


 * Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)
 * May Robinson (incumbent) - 11,652
 * Frank Clifton (incumbent) - 8,790
 * Hugh Bruce - 7,346
 * George Jackson - 2,677
 * Pauline Miles - 2,460
 * Harry Branscombe - 2,298
 * William Varley - 1,310


 * Ward 7 (Bloor West Village)
 * Mary Temple (incumbent) - 7,467
 * William Davidson (incumbent) - 5,850
 * Thomas Wilson - 3,433
 * Ben Grys - 3,105
 * James Stephens - 2,187


 * Ward 8 (The Beaches)
 * Tom Wardle Sr. (incumbent) - 17,161
 * Alex Hodgins (incumbent) - 16,449
 * Chris Stavro - 7,750
 * John Square - 1,939


 * Ward 9 (North Toronto)
 * Richard Horkins - 13,741
 * Kenneth Ostrander (incumbent) - 12,234
 * Paul Pickett - 9,324
 * Frank Nash (incumbent) - 7,420
 * John Lawer - 6,945

Results are taken from the December 4, 1962 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Changes
Mayor Donald Summerville died on November 19, 1963. Controller Philip Givens became Acting Mayor and on November 25 was unanimously chosen Mayor. On November 28 Controller William Dennison was appointed a Metro Councillor; Ward 3 Alderman William Archer was chosen controller and Ward 3's remaining Alderman Charles Tidy was chosen Metro Councillor. On December 9 Helen Johnston was appointed Ward 3 Alderman.

East York

 * Reeve
 * (incumbent)True Davidson 11,609
 * C. Howard Chandler 4,997

Source:

Etobicoke

 * Reeve
 * John Palmer MacBeth (acclaimed)


 * Board of Control (2 elected)
 * Murray Johnson 20,384
 * John Carroll 17,218
 * Andrew Macdonald 14,362

This was the first Board of Control elected in Etobicoke.

Leonard Braithwaite became the first Black person to be elected to Etobicoke Town Council, as a councillor for Ward 4.
 * Town Council

(source: Toronto Daily Star, page 19, December 4, 1962)

Forest Hill

 * Reeve
 * Edwin Pivnick (acclaimed)

Leaside

 * Mayor
 * Beth Nealson -3,551(recount)
 * Lloyd Dickinson - 3,546 (recount)

Acting Mayor Lloyd M. Dickinson was initially declared the winner by 14 votes but Nealson won after a recount conducted on December 27, 1962.

Long Branch

 * Reeve
 * Leonard E. Ford 1,332
 * Thomas Berry 657
 * Cyril Lerbeton 223

Source:

Mimico

 * Mayor
 * (incumbent)Hugh Griggs 2,832
 * Gus Edwards 1,137

Source:

New Toronto

 * Mayor
 * (incumbent)Donald Russell 2,619
 * Clifford Johnson 730

Source:

North York

 * Reeve
 * (incumbent)Norman C. Goodhead 30,181
 * James Ditson Service 21,321

Source: The major campaign issue was the proposal to amalgamate Metropolitan Toronto's 13 municipalities into 6 boroughs. Goodhead opposed amalgamation while Service favoured it.

Scarborough

 * Reeve
 * (incumbent)Albert Campbell 29,084
 * Busby 13,286

Source:

Swansea

 * Reeve
 * Lucien Coe Kurata 1,086
 * Edward Berkeley Higgins 1,018
 * Charles Douglas Cameron 889

Source:

Weston

 * Mayor
 * (incumbent):George W. Bull 1,878
 * Wood 909

Source:

York

 * Reeve
 * Jack Mould - 7,031
 * Chris Tonks - 6,987
 * Albert Stollard - 5,360
 * Charles McMaster - 2,739
 * Pauline Shapero - 1,558

Mould defeated former reeve Christopher Tonks. He was declared the victor by 44 votes after a recount.