Toronto municipal election, 1966

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Canada, on December 5, 1966. The elections were the first for Toronto after its merger with several smaller suburban communities on January 1, 1967. Forest Hill and Swansea were annexed by the City of Toronto, Leaside was merged with the Township of East York to become the Borough of East York. Weston was combined with the Township of York to form the Borough of York. The Village of Long Branch and the towns of Mimico and New Toronto were merged with the Township of Etobicoke to form the Borough of Etobicoke.

Rules were also changed to have municipal elections scheduled every three years, rather than every two as had been done previously.

Toronto mayoral race

Incumbent mayor Philip Givens was challenged by two strong opponents. Givens was associated with the Liberal Party while Controller William Archer was a Progressive Conservative. The winner was William Dennison, a former Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member of Provincial Parliament who was a longtime member of the New Democratic Party. Dennison, despite his labour roots was considered the most conservative of the three candidates. His slogan was "Respect for the Taypayer's Dollar". Archer was the more centrist candidate, and had the endorsement of city councillors Charles Caccia, Kenneth Dear, and Hugh Bruce.

Central issues during the election was the extension of the Yonge subway line north of Eglinton and whether it should run on a cheaper above-ground route or should built underground so as not to demolish homes. Perhaps the most important issue was Givens' advocacy for Henry Moore's controversial sculpture The Archer for Nathan Phillips Square also remained an issue. Originally the city had agreed to pay $100,000 for the modernist sculpture, but city council rejected the idea. Instead Givens succeeded in raising the $100,000 from private donors and had the sculpture placed in the square in front of city hall. Dennison strongly objected to having the piece of art in such a prominent venue.

In the final vote, the city was divided along ethnic and class lines. Givens dominated the downtown core winning the votes of the young and the cultured. He also won the heavily Jewish neighbourhood of Forest Hill. Archer carried the wealthy Anglo-Saxon areas of Rosedale and North Toronto. Dennison was victorious by winning the working class districts in both the east and west end of the city, including strong votes from Italian and Polish areas.

Results
William Dennison - 59,363
Philip Givens (incumbent) - 54,525
William Archer 40,946
John Sara - 1,239

City council and Board of Control

Ward boundaries used in the 1966 election

The 1966 election was the last in Toronto for the Board of Control. It consisted of four members elected at large from across the city who then formed the executive on city council. The Board candidate with the most votes became council president and budget chief. Two sitting controllers, Dennison and Archer, opted to run for mayor. This resulted in a competitive race of six major candidates for the four spots. Those in the running were three city councillors: June Marks, Joseph Piccininni, and Herbert Orliffe; sitting controller Margaret Campbell; former mayor Allan Lamport; and Liberal MPP George Ben.

Results

Board of Control
Margaret Campbell (incumbent) - 88,036
June Marks - 77,655
Herbert Orliffe (incumbent) - 76,412
Allan Lamport - 67,677
George Ben - 63,206
Joseph Piccininni - 58,122
Phyllis Clarke - 10,162
Arthur Young - 9,550
John Charles Ewing - 6,071
Dorothy Cureatz - 4,262
Shaba Musa - 2,399
Ward 1 (Riverdale)
Fred Beavis (incumbent) - 10,038
Oscar Sigsworth (incumbent) - 7,129
Vern Burnett - 2,305
Edward Cox - 1,708
Ward 2 (East Downtown and Rosedale)
Michael Grayson (incumbent) - 6,426
Helen Johnston (incumbent) - 6,289
Harry Pope - 4,168
Donald Weir - 3,827
Keith Martin - 3,819
John Conforzi - 3,122
Gerald Quirke - 383
Ward 3 (West Downtown and Forest Hill)
David Rotenberg (incumbent) - 13,683
Charles Caccia - 11,720
Peter Stollery - 4,007
Isador Milton - 3,382
Sidney Banks - 3,154
James Sanderson - 1,064
Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District)
Horace Brown (incumbent) - 4,913
Monte Harris - 4,021
John Polowko - 1,601
Elizabeth Catty - 1,565
William Clarke - 1,472
Sam Komenar - 928
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods)
Tony O'Donohue - 5,920
Harold Menzies (incumbent) - 4,969
Elio Madonia - 3,675
Herry Wilk - 2,892
Pauline Miles - 1,361
Charles Weir - 931
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)
Hugh Bruce (incumbent) - 6,692
Kenneth Dear (incumbent) - 5,827
Archie Chishom - 4,993
Robert Grossi - 3,168
John O'Brien - 2,332
Anne Fritz - 1,046
Ward 7 (High Park and Swansea)
Mary Temple (incumbent) - 13,512
Ben Grys (incumbent) - 10,241
William Boytchuk - 5,876
John McRae - 1,891
Ward 8 (The Beaches)
Tom Wardle Sr. (incumbent) - 13,512
Alice Summerville (incumbent) - 12,212
Alex Hodgins - 7,370
Edward Gillen - 874
John Square - 613
Ward 9 (North Toronto)
Paul Pickett (incumbent) - 19,035
Richard Horkins - 16,241
Jules Pelletier - 6,513
Michael Comar - 1,771

Results taken form the December 6, 1966 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Outside Toronto

Robert Yuill was re-elected as ward alderman.

North York Board of Control

Paul Godfrey is re-elected to the Board of Control.

References