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Toronto municipal election, December 1950

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Toronto municipal election, December 1950

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 4, 1950. It was the second time the elections were held in December (the first was in 1936); traditionally elections occurred on New Year's Day. Incumbent mayor Hiram E. McCallum narrowly defeated Allan Lamport. The defeat of Norman Freed and the failure of Charles Sims to regain his seat would bring to a close the communist Labor-Progressive Party's presence on Toronto's City Council though the party, and its successor, the Communist Party of Canada would continue to elect members as school trustees for several decades.

Contents

Toronto mayor

McCallum, running for his fourth one-year term, was challenged by Controller Lamport. McCallum had faced only token opposition in his previous elections, but Lamport came surprisingly close to defeating him. For much of election night it looked as though Lamport would win, but it was swung by McCallum's ten thousand vote margin in the North Toronto Ward 9.

Results
Hiram E. McCallum - 86,491 Allan Lamport - 84,987

Board of Control

Lamport's decision to run for mayor left one vacancy on the Board of Control. This opening was won by Alderman Louis Shannon, with Ford Brand, secretary of the Toronto and District Labour Council finishing fifth and Alderman W.H. Collings in sixth. Former Controller and communist Stewart Smith made another attempt to return to the board, but finished seventh.

Results
John Innes (incumbent) - 93,656 David Balfour (incumbent) - 81,577 Leslie Saunders (incumbent) - 80,703 Louis Shannon - 74,859 Ford Brand - 66,235 W.H. Collings - 59,380 Stewart Smith - 28,309 Charles Henry Mahoney - 8,210 Frederick Vacher - 7,653

City council

Ward 1 (Riverdale)
John McMechan (incumbent) - 12,381 William Allen (incumbent) - 12,294 Titchener-Smith - 4,794
Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale)
Joseph Cornish (incumbent) - 8,310 Beverley Sparling (incumbent) - 8,061 Sylvester Perry - 3,710
Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill)
Harold Fishleigh (incumbent) - 6,294 Howard Phillips (incumbent) - 8,767 Massey Edwards - 1,938 Probert - 1,440
Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District)
Nathan Phillips (incumbent) - 8,767 Francis Chambers - 7,403 Norman Freed (incumbent) - 4,611 Friedman - 2,088 McConnell - 788 Francis Love - 437
Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods)
Arthur Frost (incumbent) - 12,479 Joseph Gould (incumbent) - 12,362 Charles Sims - 5,646 Midanik - 1,585 Haddrall - 784
Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)
Robert Colucci - 15,282 George Granell (incumbent) - 14,609 Lester Nelson (incumbent) - 14,129 Dewar Ferguson - 4,801
Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction)
Alfred Cowling (incumbent) - 8,971 William Davidson (incumbent) - 8,878 David Sanderson - 5,189
Ward 8 (The Beaches)
Ross Lipsett (incumbent) - 17,323 Alex Hodgins - 15,310 William Probert - 4,601 Maurice Punshon - 4,205 John Square - 1,443
Ward 9 (North Toronto)
Frank Nash (incumbent) - 19,493 Roy Belyea (incumbent) - 19,488 Lewis - 4,328

Results taken from the December 5, 1950 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Changes

Controller John Innes died July 16, 1951; Ward 7 Alderman Alfred Cowling was appointed Controller September 5 and David Sanderson was appointed Alderman September 17.

References

Toronto municipal election, December 1950 Wikipedia