Mel Lastman
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| Rank: | 62nd Mayor |
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| Term of Office: | January 1, 1998–November 30, 2003 |
| Predecessor: | Barbara Hall |
| Successor: | David Miller |
| Date of Birth: | March 9, 1933 |
| Place of Birth: | Toronto |
| Spouse: | Marilyn Bornstein |
| Profession: | Salesman |
| Political affiliations: | PC Party of Ontario |
Melvin Douglas (Mel) Lastman (born March 9, 1933) was the mayor of the former city of North York, Ontario, Canada from 1972 until 1997. In 1997, North York, along with four other municipalities, amalgamated with the city of Toronto. Lastman ran for and won the mayoral race for the new city, beating incumbent Toronto mayor Barbara Hall. Re-elected in November 2000, he served his full final term. Lastman did not run in the subsequent 2003 municipal election.
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[edit] The early years
Mel Lastman was born in Toronto in 1933, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland. He began his sales career as a child, hawking fruit and vegetables at his family's Kensington Market grocery store.
He met Marilyn Bornstein when he was 16 and she was 13, and they were married five years later. He left school after Grade 12 and, with Marilyn's help, got a job at a College Street furniture store. He quickly established himself as a successful salesman and, at age 22, bought an appliance store on Weston Road where he established Bad Boy Furniture in 1955.
He adopted the nickname "the Bad Boy" for himself and developed Bad Boy Furniture into a chain of stores around the Toronto area. "Bad Boy" Lastman was associated with many publicity stunts, including travelling to the Arctic in the 1960s to "sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo."
Lastman sold the chain in 1975 to run for provincial office as Progressive Conservative candidate. That provincial election would turn out to be his only election loss throughout his career. The Bad Boy trademark was ultimately acquired by the large furniture chain The Brick but the new owners allowed it to lapse through lack of use until it expired.
In 1991, Lastman's son Blayne and several friends re-launched the chain, over the objections of his father, who felt the economic climate was unsatisfactory. The store was soon memorable to most Southern Ontario television viewers who saw its commercials. The ads featured Lastman in a cameo appearance, Blayne in a prison suit, and always ended with the line: "Who's better than Bad Boy?...Nooooooobody!"
[edit] North York Mayor
Lastman entered politics in 1969 when he ran for and was elected to the North York Board of Control. It was there he met another young motivated rising political figure, Paul Godfrey, who would later serve as Metro Chairman.
In 1972, he was elected mayor of North York. As duties in public life mounted, Lastman eventually transferred control of his Bad Boy Furniture chain to others, and began devoting all of his efforts to governing.
Lastman was a critic of Metropolitan Toronto's Metro Hall, attacking Metro Council's decision to locate the $220 million building downtown. He argued that it would be more equitable and would have been much cheaper to build the headquarters in the suburbs.
Lastman was supported by many in North York for operating that city efficiently and effectively, and for keeping property taxes low. As a result of his efforts to promote development around Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue, the area unofficially became known as the "new downtown" with many office towers and condos springing up in a formerly suburban area. Mel Lastman Square at the North York Civic Centre is named after him.
Lastman joined the Ontario Liberal Party in 1987, although he subsequently claimed that it was the result of a misunderstanding. He agreed to support Norman Gardner's bid for the Liberal nomination in Willowdale, and did not realize that he was also purchasing a party membership card in the process. He did not regret his accidental membership, but claimed he had no long-term loyalty to the party (Globe and Mail, 28 April 1987).
Throughout Lastman's political career, he was generally opposed by the New Democratic Party and supported by the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals, such as Norman Gardner, Mike Colle, Mike Feldman, Joe Volpe, and David Shiner.
[edit] Megacity Mayor
In 1997, Lastman's position was abolished when the provincial government under Mike Harris amalgamated North York with Scarborough, York, East York, Etobicoke, and the existing City of Toronto, creating a single-tier "megacity" which was also called the City of Toronto.
Lastman ran for the mayoralty of the new "megacity" against outgoing (old) Toronto Mayor Barbara Hall. Lastman's electoral victory was credited to his very strong base of support in North York as well as in Etobicoke and Scarborough. Hall won the majority of the vote in old Toronto, York and East York.
The mayor gained national attention after multiple snowstorms, including the Blizzard of 1999, dumped 118 cm of snow and effectively closed the city[1]. Mel Lastman proceeded to have the Canadian Forces (Army) aid in helping to shovel snow, and use their equipment to augment police and emergency services. This resulted in national ridicule from the rest of Canada towards the city, many Canadians felt it was absurd to need the military to help with the snow.
Some expected that Lastman would face right-wing Independent federal MP John Nunziata in the 2000 municipal election, but Nunziata nixed the rumours when he was found that he could not hold onto his seat in Parliament while campaigning for Mayor.
Re-elected in November 2000, with an 80% majority, his closest opponent, civic activist Tooker Gomberg, drew just a little more than 8% of the vote.
Lastman shared Gomberg's three main campaign planks: committing Toronto to 100% recycling diversion by 2010 to replace the controversial Adams Mine plan, agreeing with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to end homelessness in Toronto, and appointing Jane Jacobs, the ethicist and urbanist to head the Toronto Charter Committee to explore the potential for more autonomy for Toronto. Jacobs had publicly endorsed Gomberg.
Among his accomplishments as mayor of Toronto, Lastman brought World Youth Day to Toronto in 2002. He also succeeded in pushing the construction of the Sheppard TTC line, the first new subway line in decades.
Lastman was criticized for not being able to control city council, and for being too close to lobbyists. When SARS hit in 2003 and Toronto was in the world spotlight, Lastman went on CNN and was subsequently criticized as being ill-informed; at one point in the interview, when asked about the World Health Organization's response to the crisis he asked "Who is the WHO?"
[edit] Retirement from Public Life
On Jan 14th 2003, Lastman announced that he would not run for re-election, citing deteriorating health.
On November 10, 2003, David Miller was elected out of a field of five leading candidates to succeed Lastman as city mayor.
Mel Lastman continues to live in Toronto with his wife and returned to leading the Lastman's Bad Boy Furniture chain in May 2006.
[edit] Controversies
- For his earliest television commercials, Lastman was a charismatic, in-your-face media presence. He was also an outspoken politician, a trait that was sometimes problematic and gaffe-prone, but that also endeared him to many Toronto residents.
- After his wife Marilyn was caught shoplifting from an Eaton's store in Toronto, he threatened to kill CITY-TV reporter Adam Vaughan unless he stopped reporting on his family.
- In June 2001, shortly before leaving for Mombasa, Kenya to support Toronto's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, he jokingly said to a reporter "What the hell do I want to go to a place like Mombasa?... I'm sort of scared about going out there, but the wife is really nervous. I just see myself in a pot of boiling water with all these natives dancing around me." The remarks sparked a firestorm of controversy, with much speculation that they would offend African IOC members and endanger Toronto's bid. Lastman apologized profusely for those remarks. IOC Vice-President Dick Pound later stated that the comments did not affect the outcome of the bid.
- Lastman was also ridiculed for greeting and shaking hands with members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang when they held a convention in Toronto.
- He was also hurt by the announcement that he had an extramarital affair with a former Bad Boy employee which resulted in two illegitimate children, although he successfully fought them off when they tried to claim a share of his estate.
| Preceded by Basil H. Hall 1970–1972 |
Mayor of North York 1972–1997 |
Succeeded by Amalgamated with Toronto |
| Preceded by Barbara Hall 1994–1997 |
Mayor of Toronto 1998–2003 |
Succeeded by David Miller Incumbent |
[edit] References
- ^ CBC Toronto calls in troops to fight massive snowstorm Accessed 2006-11-20
[edit] External links
