Toronto municipal election, 1954

Toronto mayor

Controller Leslie Saunders had been appointed mayor after the resignation of Allan Lamport, who left to work with the Toronto Transit Commission. He was challenged by Nathan Phillips, a longtime city councilor who had made a previous attempt to win the mayoralty. Phillips was Jewish, a sharp departure from the standard for Toronto mayors, who for decades had been Protestant Orange Order members.

Phillips' religion was an important issue in the election. Saunders publicly proclaimed he was running as "Leslie Saunders, Protestant". Saunders was a leader of the Orange Order and the publisher of the radical monthly newspaper Protestant Action. His anti-Catholicism and proclamations that Toronto was a "Protestant city" had caused controversy in the past. one of his first acts after ascending to the mayoralty was to issue an official proclamation commemorating The Twelfth, the anniversary of the victory of William of Orange over the Irish.

A second controversy arose during the election when Brown released accusation about room 1735 in the Fairmont Royal York hotel. He argued that the room was a secret entertainment suite paid for by the city for the use of the mayor. Saunders claims that it was rented by Mayor Lamport and that he was totally unaware of the suite. Nonetheless the scandal hurt his reelection bid.

Also running was former school board head Arthur Brown, who had previously come close to defeating Lamport for the job, and who had the support of the Globe and Mail newspaper. The Toronto Star and the Telegram both supported Phillips. Saunders in his memoirs accuses Brown of splitting the "Christian and Gentile vote" and getting Phillips elected.

Results

Nathan Phillips - 40,683 Leslie Saunders - 36,756 Arthur Brown - 36,613 Macleod - 4932

Board of Control

Saunders' appointment to the mayoralty led to the appointment of Alderman Ross Lipsett to the Board of Control. This controversially passed over former Alderman Joseph Cornish, who had finished fifth in the 1953 election. In the election, Cornish won more votes than Lipsett and got a seat on the board.

Results

Ford Brand (incumbent) - 69,540 Roy Belyea (incumbent) - 66,223 David Balfour (incumbent) - 62,871 Joseph Cornish - 55,277 Ross Lipsett (incumbent) - 45,385 Harry Bradley - 20,488 Harry Hunter - 14,114 Ben Nobleman - 9,413 George Rolland - 5,280

City council

Ward 1 (Riverdale)

William Allen (incumbent) - 8,855 Ken Waters (incumbent) - 8,042 George Phillips - 2,282 Stanley Hare - 1,381 Thornley - 932

Ward 2 (Regent Park and Rosedale)

William Dennison (incumbent) - 4,831 Edgar Roxborough (incumbent) - 4,479 Douglas Shaw - 2,268 C.M. Edwards - 1,551 Morrison - 669 Philip Rowley - 647

Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill)

Howard Phillips (incumbent) - acclaimed John MacVicar (incumbent) - acclaimed

Phillips was chosen to become Metro Councillor.

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

Allan Grossman (incumbent) - 6,455 Herbert Orliffe (incumbent) - 5,345 Robert Laxer - 1,368 Bernard Levitt - 1,307 Blainey - 756

Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)

Philip Givens (incumbent) - 7,470 Joseph Gould (incumbent) - 6,770 Stewart Smith - 2,678 Teslia - 2,105

Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale)

May Robinson (incumbent) - 11,349 Frank Clifton (incumbent) - 10,470 Grittani - 2,763 Hector MacArthur - 2,067 Tennant - 1,684 Muir - 1,561 Patrick McKeown - 1,039

Ward 7 (Bloor West Village)

William Davidson (incumbent) - 6,228 John Kucherepa (incumbent) - 4,989 John Duncan - 3,951 John Weir - 1,915

Ward 8 (The Beaches)

Donald Summerville - 10,002 Alex Hodgins (incumbent) - 8,327 Albert G. Cranham - 6,485 William Probert (incumbent) - 3,169 McNulty - 2,553 James Davis - 1,210 John Square - 384

Ward 9 (North Toronto)

Jean Newman - 14,873 Leonard Reilly (incumbent) - 11,261 David Burt (incumbent) - 9,819 Frederick Vacher - 1,394

Results are taken from the December 7, 1954 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

North York

Fred J. McMahon re-elected as reeve.

Scarborough

Robert E. Crockford re-elected as reeve.