Toronto municipal election, 1991

The 1991 Toronto municipal election was held on November 12, 1991 to elect councillors in Metropolitan Toronto, Canada, and mayors, councillors and school trustees in Toronto, York, East York, North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke.

Under the 1989 Municipal Act changes, the title of alderman was changed to councillor across Metro.^[1]

Leadership

• Metro Toronto Regional Chairman - Alan Tonks
• Mayor of Toronto - June Rowlands
• Mayor of East York - David Johnson (1992–93), Michael Prue (1994)
• Mayor of Etobicoke - Bruce Sinclair
• Mayor of North York - Mel Lastman
• Mayor of Scarborough - Joyce Trimmer
• Mayor of York - Fergy Brown

Metro

Metro council was mostly unchanged from that elected in the 1988 election. The only incumbent defeated was Bob Sanders in Scarborough Malvern, who was ousted by Raymond Cho. New arrivals included school board trustee Olivia Chow elected downtown.

High Park

Derwyn Shea (incumbent) - 13,706

David Miller - 8,079

Yaqoob Khan - 1,544

Trinity Niagara

Joe Pantalone (incumbent) - 9,084

Michael Baillargeon - 3,610

Charlene Cottle - 1,364

Downtown

Olivia Chow - 10,024

Storm MacGregor - 4,913

Michael Lockey - 2,805

Larry Lee - 1,836

Zoltan Fekete - 1,327

Don River

Roger Hollander (incumbent) - 10,868

Paul Raina - 9,220

East Toronto

Paul Christie (incumbent) - acclaimed

Davenport

Dennis Fotinos - 7,452

Anne Ladouceur - 3,695

Peter Zahakos - 3,532

Dale Ritch - 1,697

Midtown

Ila Bossons (incumbent) - 14,776

Victor Knox - 6,996

North Toronto

Anne Johnston (incumbent) - 21,953

Paul Egli - 4,267

East York

Peter Oyler (incumbent) - 9,810

Steve Mastoras - 7,083

Mike Wyatt - 4,372

Lakeshore Queensway

Blake Kinahan - 9,055

Jeff Knoll - 6,624

Markland Centennial

Dick O'Brien (incumbent) - acclaimed

Kingsway Humber

Dennis Flynn - 13,097

Terry Howes - 5,825

Rexdale Thistletown

Lois Griffin - acclaimed

North York Humber

Mario Gentile (incumbent) - acclaimed

Black Creek

Maria Augimeri (incumbent) - 10,801

Frank Crudo - 3,298

Angela Natale

North York Spadina

Howard Moscoe (incumbent) - 11,129

Tibor Martinek - 2,589

Larry Wynne - 1,687

North York Centre South

Bev Salmon (incumbent) - acclaimed

North York Centre

Norman Gardner (incumbent) - 12,119

Jeffrey Smith - 3,028

Don Parkway

Marie Labette (incumbent) - 10,897

Louis Horvath - 3,544

Seneca Heights

Joan King (incumbent) - 11,624

Peter Lowry - 3,245

Scarborough Bluffs

Brian Ashton (incumbent) - 11,398

Frank Duckworth - 3,994

Scarborough Wexford

Maureen Prinsloo (incumbent) - 6,288

Hugh Canning - 4,820

Scarborough Centre

Brian Harrison (incumbent) - acclaimed

Scarborough Highland Creek

Ken Morrish (incumbent) - acclaimed

Scarborough Agincourt

Scott Cavalier (incumbent) - 7,171

Anne McBride - 4,236

Scarborough Malvern

Raymond Cho - 5,283

Bob Sanders(incumbent) - 3,977

Shan Rana - 1,321

York Eglinton

Mike Colle - 10,773

John Rocca - 2,223

York Humber

Alan Tonks - acclaimed

Toronto

Mayor

In Toronto, the mayoral race was the first open contest in more than a decade as Mayor Art Eggleton decided not to run for re-election after 11 years. Jack Layton, a long-time city councillor and leader of the council's left wing contested the Mayor's position as the first-ever official candidate of the Metro New Democratic Party (NDP).

The centre-right was initially divided amongst three candidates, former city councillor June Rowlands who had most recently been chair of the police commission, then-city councillor Betty Disero and former alderman, provincial cabinet minister and Red Tory Susan Fish. Fearing that the 1991 election would be a repeat of 1978 where a split on the right allowed left-winger John Sewell to win, the business and development community worked behind the scenes to consolidate its support behind Rowlands. Lacking funds, Disero and Fish were forced to drop out before the close of nominations resulting in a two-way race between Rowlands and Layton with Rowlands proving victorious. Fish's name remained on the ballot, as she withdrew after the deadline for nominations had passed.

Election for Mayor, City of Toronto, 1991 municipal election

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
June Rowlands	113,993	58.53
Jack Layton	64,044	32.88
Susan Fish	8,123	4.17
Don Andrews	1,968	1.01
Jim Harris	1,760	0.90
Ken Campbell	1,708	0.88
Joe Young	1,196	0.61
William McKeown	1,023	0.53
Ben Kerr	952	0.49
Total valid votes	194,767	100.00

Results taken from the Toronto Star newspaper, 14 November 1991, E8. The final official results were not significantly different.

City council

As with Metro, city council was mostly stable with all incumbents who ran being reelected. The new council had six NDP affiliated members eight members on the right and two moderates who varied between the groups. New members included Kyle Rae, who won Layton's vacated downtown seat, and became the first ever openly gay man to serve on council.

Ward 1 (Swansea and Bloor West Village)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
William Boytchuk (X)	5,662	41.25
David Hutcheon	3,913	28.51
Rosemary Martinuk	2,319	16.90
Bill Roberts	1,830	13.33
Total valid votes	13,724	100.00

• In Ward 1, incumbent Councillor William Boytchuk (who has served as councillor since 1969), had no problem keeping his seat, winning with a 13% margin over David Hutcheon. Hutcheon would later be elected to City Council in 1994 and serve as Budget Chief.

Ward 2 (Parkdale)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Chris Korwin-Kuczynski (X)	7,005	59.45
Susan Shaw	4,777	40.54
Total valid votes	11,782	100.00

• Councillor Korwin-Kuczynski, who has held the ward since 1982, defeated challenger Susan Shaw by nearly 20% in a head-to-head challenge.

Ward 3 (Brockton)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Tony O'Donohue (X)	4,348	64.01
Debbie Field	2,312	34.04
Jimmy Talpa	132	1.94
Total valid votes	6,792	100.00

• Serving on Council since 1966, O'Donohue easily won re-election in his ward.

Ward 4 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Martin Silva (X)	3,870	47.51
Nick Figliano	2,780	34.13
Ian Christie	1,496	18.36
Total valid votes	8,146	100.00

• Martin Silva has held the ward since winning for the first time in 1988, and won re-election over Nick Figliano and Ian Christie with almost half the vote.

Ward 5 (Financial District, Toronto - University of Toronto)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Liz Amer (X)	3,718	37.73
Benson Lau	3,304	33.53
Hilary Gait	1,948	19.79
Raymond Poon	884	8.97
Total valid votes	9,854	100.00

• One term Councillor Liz Amer won re-election by a narrow margin over Benson Lau.

Ward 6 Downtown East

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Kyle Rae	4,803	38.08
Simon de Groot	3,630	28.78
Peter Maloney	3,410	27.03
Hutch Andersan	771	6.11
Total valid votes	12,614	100.00

• Kyle Rae won the seat vacated by Jack Layton in his attempt to run for mayor, and became the first openly gay City Councillor in Toronto.

Ward 7 (Regent Park and Cabbagetown)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Barbara Hall (X)	5,853	70.13
Edward Fortune	2,493	29.87
Total valid votes	8,346	100.00

• Barbara Hall (who will later serve as mayor), soundly won her ward with 70% of the vote, in a one-on-one campaign against Edward Fortune.

Ward 8 (Riverdale)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Peter Tabuns (X)	5,974	46.63
John Roy	5,709	44.56
Michael Green	1,129	8.81
Total valid votes	12,812	100.00

• Future NDP MPP Peter Tabuns won his ward by a razor-thin margin. Tabuns defeated John Roy by just over 200 votes, the narrowest in the election campaign.

Ward 9 (East Danforth)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Steve Ellis	3,801	36.40
Avril Usha Velupillai	3,437	32.92
Terry Brackett	3,204	30.68
Total valid votes	10,442	100.00

• After the resignation of incumbent councillor Tom Clifford, the seat was won by Steve Ellis in a three way race over the area's School Trustee Avril Usha Velupillai and Terry Brackett.

Ward 10 (The Beaches)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Tom Jakobek (X)	10,211	72.43
Shelly Jean O'Neill	3,887	27.57
Total valid votes	14,098	100.00

• Tom Jakobek, who has served as the councillor for the area since 1980, won re-election in an almost 3 to 1 margin over challenger Shelly Jean O'Neill.

Ward 11 (The Junction)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Rob Maxwell (X)	3,780	51.53
Walter Melnyk	3,090	42.13
Eugene Zimmerebner	485	6.61
Total valid votes	7,355	100.00

• Incumbent Rob Maxwell won by a 700 vote margin over Walter Melnyk.

Ward 12 (Davenport and Corso Italia)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Betty Disero (X)	6,420	64.73
Nick Marchese	1,902	19.18
Fred Dominelli	1,596	16.09
Total valid votes	9,918	100.00

• After dropping out in her run for mayor, Betty Disero ran for City Council, soundly defeating her challengers with 65% of the vote.

Ward 13 (The Annex and Yorkville)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
John Adams	4,904	38.60
Ying Hope	4,157	32.72
Brian Mayes	3,645	28.69
Total valid votes	12,706	100.00

• John Adams won the ward of Yorkville. Ying Hope also attempted to make a political comeback, after serving as a Toronto alderman in the 1960s and 70s.

Ward 14 (Forest Hill)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Howard Levine (X)	5,201	42.90
John Gunning	4,015	33.12
Gerry Gordon	2,280	18.81
Anthony Burson	628	5.18
Total valid votes	12,124	100.00

• Incumbent Howard Levine wins the upper-class ward with 43% of the vote, 11% over his next closest challenger John Gunning.

Ward 15 (Western North Toronto)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Kay Gardner (X)	11,299	76.11
Nancy Griffin	3,546	23.88
Total valid votes	14,845	100.00

• The only ward where all candidates were female, incumbent Kay Gardner defeated her challenger Nnacy Griffin with 3 times the vote.

Ward 16 (Davisville and Lawrence Park)

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Michael Walker (X)	9,001	57.47
Malcolm Martini	3,688	23.55
Howard Brown	2,973	18.98
Total valid votes	15,662	100.00

• Michael Walker wins the riding with twice the amount of votes as his next closest challenger.

York

Mayor York - Fergy Brown

York City Council

Ward 1 R. Mendelson, defeated incumbent B. Nobleman

Ward 2 Joe Mihevc, defeated incumbent Tony Mandarano

Ward 3 Rob Davis

Ward 4 Joan Roberts, defeated incumbent Nicolo Fortunato

Ward 5 Barry D. Rowland, defeated incumbent Jim Fera

Ward 6 Mike McDonald, defeated incumbent B. McLean

Ward 7 Frances Nunziata, retained seat

Ward 8 Bill Saundercook, retained seat

School Board

Ward 1 Karen Hen

Ward 2 Pete Karageorgos (acclamation)

Ward 3 John Mills

Ward 4 Elizabeth Hill

Ward 5 Joe Morriello

Ward 6 Bonnie Taylor

Ward 7 Steven Mould

Ward 8 Madeline McDowell

North York

Mel Lastman was re-elected mayor of the North York for the seventh consecutive time which broke a record set 710 years ago in the 13th century. Only one incumbent councillor, Bob Bradley was defeated in Ward 13 by newcomer David Shiner. Two other newcomers joined him, John Filion and Maria Rizzo who replaced retiring councillors. All other councillors were re-elected.^[2]

Mayor

• Mel Lastman 91,449
• David K. Long 17,321

Council

Ward 1

• Mario Sergio 6,699
• Fred Craft 1,492

Ward 2

• Judy Sgro acclaimed

Ward 3

• Peter Li Preti 4,949
• Kathleen Walsh 1,174
• Lennox Farrell 1,072

Ward 4

• Frank Di Giorgio 5,150
• Marco DeVuono 1,484

Ward 5

• Mario Rizzo 5,908
• Linda Memmo 3,499
• Craig Deasley 832

Ward 6

• Milton Berger acclaimed

Ward 7

• Irving Chapley 4,867
• Shalom Schachter 2,649
• Michael Klein 518
• Sonnee Cohen 466
• Jessie Silver 354
• Mark Arshawsky 306
• Lothar Hille 124

Ward 8

• Joanne Flint acclaimed

Ward 9

• Ron Summers 5,346
• Freddy Trasmundi 3,341

Ward 10

• Don Yuill 3,770
• Anne Lelovic 3,193
• Tony West 683
• Rod Gerrard 457

Ward 11

• John Filion 4,553
• Mary Matrundola 2,680
• Jack Arshawsky 289

Ward 12

• Barry Burton 4,212
• Frank DiTomasso 2,418

Ward 13

• David Shiner 5,017
• Bob Bradley 3,591

Ward 14

• Paul Sutherland 5,470
• Gerry Scanlan 1,355

North York School Board

Ward 1 Emery

• Sheila Lambrinos (NDP)

Ward 2 Amesbury Park/Black Creek

• Bob Churchill

Ward 3 Jane/Finch

• Stephnie Payne (NDP)

Ward 4 Lawrence Heights

• Elsa Chandler

Ward 5 Downsview

• Errol Young

Ward 6 Avenue Rd.

1991 Toronto municipal election, North York Board of Education, Ward Six

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
David Young	4,222	63.15
(x)Cheryl Moscoe	2,464	36.85
Total valid votes	6,686	100.00

Results taken from the Toronto Star, 13 November 1991 (all polls reporting). The final official results were not significantly different.

Ward 7 Wilson Heights

• Mae Waese

Ward 8 Banbury-Windfields-St. Andrew's

• Gerri Gershon

Ward 9 Senlac

• Shelley Stillman

Ward 10 Don Mills-Flemingdon

• Darlene Scott

Ward 11 Willowdale

• Diane Meaghan

Ward 12 Victoria Village-Broadlands-Fenside

• Kim Scott Liberal

Ward 13 Hillcrest

• Dan Hicks

Ward 14 Oriole/Fairview/Pleasant View

• David Caplan Liberal

Footnotes

Elections in Toronto Municipal elections 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 Jan 1936 Dec 1936 1937 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Jan 1950 Dec 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1969 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 Post-amalgamation: 1997 2000 2003 2006 2010 Mayor 2014 Mayor