1956 Toronto municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 3, 1956. Incumbent mayor Nathan Phillips was easily reelected. Jean Newman became the first woman elected to the Board of Control, and topped the poll to become budget chief.

Toronto mayor[]

Nathan Phillips, elected two years earlier, faced only limited opposition from Trotskyist Ross Dowson and was easily reelected.

Results

Nathan Phillips - 80,352

Ross Dowson - 9,834

Board of Control[]

All four sitting Board of Control members chose to run for re-election. Controller and former mayor Leslie Saunders was pushed off the board by Jean Newman's victory. Newman is the first woman to be elected to the Board of Control or to win a city-wide election in Toronto. The most senior two Controllers in terms of votes also sat on Metro Toronto Council.

Results

Jean Newman - 54,785

Ford Brand (incumbent) - 54,178

William Allen (incumbent) - 54,038

Joseph Cornish (incumbent) - 49,385

Leslie Saunders (incumbent) - 47,048

Harry Bradley - 16,450

Charles Sims - 6961

George Rolland - 5,632

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)

(incumbent) - 6,318

Fred Beavis - 3,636

Jean Brown - 3,412

(incumbent) - 2,578

Dominic Di Stasi - 1,657

Basil Ingleby - 494

Ward 2 (Regent Park and Rosedale)

William Dennison (incumbent) - 4,962

May Birchard - 2,614

Sterling Campbell - 2,567

(incumbent) - 2,380

Andrew Kavanaugh - 569

Philip Rowley - 528

Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill)

Ross Parry (incumbent) - 4,149

- 1,980

Richard James - 2,537

Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District)

Herbert Orliffe (incumbent) - 4,437

Francis Chambers (incumbent) - 3,449

David Rotenberg - 2,692

Dorothy Cureatz - 628

Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)

Philip Givens (incumbent) - 6,226

(incumbent) - 5,177

Ben Nobleman - 1,500

Paul Pauk - 1,092

Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)

(incumbent) - 8,691

(incumbent) - 7,171

William Stevens - 3,884

Wallace Martin - 2,066

John Shedden - 1,795

George Jackson - 1,498

Ward 7 (Bloor West Village)

(incumbent) - 5,122

John Kucherepa (incumbent) - 5,069

- 1,548

Stewart - 1,077

William Repka - 579

Ward 8 (The Beaches)

Donald Summerville (incumbent) - 12,567

(incumbent) - 9,577

Chris Stavro - 2,488

John Square - 1,146

Ward 9 (North Toronto)

(incumbent) - 12,084

- 10,515

Alex Thompson - 8,064

Results are taken from the December 4, 1956 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Changes[]

Ward 7 Alderman John Kucherepa resigned January 6, 1958 having been elected in the 1957 Federal Election; was appointed replacement on January 20.

Suburbs[]

East York[]

Reeve

- 5,757

C. Howard Chandler - 4,510

Jack R. Allen defeated business executive C. Howard Chandler. Source: ^[1]

Etobicoke[]

Reeve

H.O. Waffle - 9,519

Jack Bennett - 5,014

Deputy Reeve Waffle defeated Bennett, a former Toronto alderman to replace retiring reeve Bev Lewis.

Deputy Reeve

Murray Johnston - 8,005

Charles Devlin - 6,429

Source: ^[1]

Forest Hill[]

Reeve

Laurie T. Simonsky (acclaimed)

Source: ^[1]

Leaside[]

Mayor

(x)Charles Hiscott (acclaimed)

Source: ^[1]

Long Branch[]

Reeve

(x)Marie Curtis - 1,522

William Cambera - 553

Sherman Anderson - 175

Deputy Reeve

Maurice Breen - 1,309

Stanley Purvis - 888

Source: ^[1]

Mimico[]

Mayor

(x)William Arthur (Gus) Edwards - 1,802

Owen Gertrude - 1,098

Source: ^[1]

New Toronto[]

Mayor

(x)Donald Russell - 1,783

David Post - 810

Source: ^[1]

North York[]

Reeve

Vernon Singer - 24,045

Maurice T. Hook - 5,302

Councillor Singer defeated former deputy reeve Hook to replace retiring reeve, . Source: ^[1]

Scarborough[]

Reeve

Albert Campbell - 13,470

(x)Gus Harris - 11,569

Deputy Reeve

George R. Mason - 13,270

John Algar - 11,361

Source: ^[1]

Swansea[]

Reeve

(x)Dorothy Hague (acclaimed)

Deputy Reeve

H.B. Squarebriggs - 1,233

K.C. Woodsworth - 740

Source: ^[1]

Weston[]

Mayor

• (x)Harry Clark (acclaimed)

Source: ^[1]

York[]

Reeve

- 8,742

Walter Saunders - 7,736

Charles McMaster - 1,993

Source: ^[1]

References[]

• Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 4, 1956