Toronto municipal election, 1980

Mayoral race

In the 1978 election reform candidate John Sewell had won against two more conservative candidates. In 1980 election the right united around Art Eggleton, and he narrowly defeated Sewell.

Eggleton carried eight of the city's eleven wards, dominating in the west end, and prevailing in North Toronto and the east end by narrower margins. While Sewell increased his vote in every ward, he only carried three wards in the heart of the city: midtown's ward 5 (which included the city's Annex district), the downtown core (ward 6) and ward 7, which he had previously represented as an alderman.

Results

Art Eggleton - 87,919 John Sewell - 86,152 Anne McBride - 3,429 Bob Bush - 2,141 Fred Dunn - 1,100 Armand Siksna - 867 Ronald Rodgers - 846 Chris Faiers - 590 Andrejs Murnieks - 571

City council

City council saw a handful of major upsets and was considered to have been moved to the right by the election as in addition to losing the mayoralty reformers lost their majority on council. The most notable upset was in the downtown Ward 6. Incumbent Allan Sparrow had stepped aside to allow George Hislop to run, in the belief that the large gay community in the ward deserved a representative on council. Hislop was one of the leading gay rights activists in the city, and his campaign was vigorously opposed by figures such as evangelist Ken Campbell. In a surprise upset Hislop lost to little known local dentist Gordon Chong.

Elsewhere the left won important victories. Tom Wardle Jr., who had been involved in several controversies including an assault conviction, was defeated by former councillor Dorothy Thomas. After four failed attempts Joe Pantalone won a seat on council by capturing the one vacated by Eggleton.

Top two from each ward elected to Toronto City Council. Top one from each ward also wins a seat on Metro Toronto council.

Ward 1 (Swansea and Bloor West Village)

William Boytchuk (incumbent) - 9,415 David White (incumbent) - 8,345 Bill Roberts - 5,785 Brynne Teal - 4,267 Nick Gulycz - 1,143 Yvette Tessier - 742 Michael Horner - 636

Ward 2 (Parkdale and Brockton)

Tony Ruprecht (incumbent) - 9,447 Ben Grys - 4,923 Susan Atkinson - 4,907 Elaine Ziemba - 4,137 Elaine Taylor - 684 John Lauter - 620

Ward 3 (Davenport and Corso Italia)

Joseph Piccininni (incumbent) - 7,509 Richard Gilbert (incumbent) - 7,363 Edward Gardner - 1,246 Mark Llewellyn - 689

Ward 4 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)

Tony O'Donohue - 5,005 Joe Pantalone - 3,898 Tony Ianno - 3,362 Bill Moniz - 2,898 Barbara Hurd - 2,279 Nick Figliano - 704 Anthony Russo - 206

Ward 5 (The Annex and Yorkville)

146 out of 148 polls reporting.

Ward 6 (Financial District, Toronto - University of Toronto)

Gordon Chong - 9,522 Dan Heap (incumbent) - 9,341 George Hislop - 7,348 Rose Smith - 2,959 Fred Chappell - 1,339 Darryl Randall - 659 Gary Weagle - 505

Ward 7 (Regent Park and Riverdale)

Gordon Cressy (incumbent) - 12,579 David Reville - 9,066 Frank Dwyer - 3,748 Thelma Forsyth - 2,632

Ward 8 (Riverdale)

Fred Beavis (incumbent) - 9,172 Thomas Clifford (incumbent) - 7,941 Jeanne McGuire - 1,433 James McMillan - 1,264 John Coutts - 550

Ward 9 (The Beaches)

Pat Sheppard (incumbent) - 10,236 Dorothy Thomas - 7,886 John Oliver - 6,102 Bob Yaccato - 5,321 Tom Wardle Jr. (incumbent) - 3,206 Winona Gallop - 915

Ward 10 (Rosedale and North Toronto)

June Rowlands (incumbent) - 17,551 Andrew Paton (incumbent) - 15,201 Patricia Bolton - 2,678 Craig Roberts - 2,367

Ward 11 (Forest Hill and North Toronto)

Anne Johnston (incumbent) - 15,168 Michael Gee (incumbent) - 13,410 Kay Gardner - 6,700 Susan Diamond - 1,447

Results are taken from the November 11, 1980 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

By-elections

Ward 2 Alderman Tony Ruprecht resigned to contest the 1981 provincial election. Ben Grys then became Senior Alderman and Metro Councillor. A by-election was held on May 25, 1981:

Chris Korwin-Kuczynski - 4,074 Irene Atkinson - 3,496 Susan Atkinson - 3,425 Bill McGinnis Timmy Talpa Henry Orgasinksi Martin Amber

Ward 6 Alderman Dan Heap resigned having won a Federal by-election for Spadina on 17 August 1981. A by-election was held on October 19, 1981:

John Sewell - 7,278 Gus Young - 1,741 John Curtin - 628 Stanley Anderson - 599 Jay Saint - 181 Jaroslawa Baczkowska - 166 Martin Amber - 130 Jimmy Talpa - 34 Gary Weagle - 45

East York

Alan Redway won his third term in office as mayor. All the incumbent councillors were re-elected. The only newcomer to council was Mike Wyatt in ward two.

† denotes incumbent from previous council

Mayor

†Alan Redway - 19,971

James Smith - 2,290

Council

Two to be elected from each ward

Ward 1

†Dave Johnson - 5,530

†Cy Reader - 4,994

Edward Shaw - 1,403

Ward 2

†Norm Crone - 3,703

Mike Wyatt - 2,230

George Vasilopoulos - 2,079

Joe Tropiano - 1,674

Ward 3

†Gordon Crann - Acclaimed

†Ken Paige - Acclaimed

Ward 4

†Peter Oyler - 3,947

†Herbert McGroarty - 3,001

Edna Beange - 2,752

Board of Education

Two to be elected from each ward

Ward 1

†Gord Brown - 4,453

†Ruth Goldhar - 3,135

Bruce Porter - 1,856

Ward 2

†James Palmer - 2,901

†Kenneth Maxted - 2,441

Fred Jackson - 1,088

Chad Dakin - 900

Ward 3

†Margaret Hazelton - 2,645

†William Phillips - 2,603

Len Self - 1,929

Ward 4

Michael Globe - Acclaimed

Steven Overgard - Acclaimed

Hydro Commission

Two to be elected

†Jack Christie - 13,780

Frank Johnson - 10,036

†Al Morgan - 7,569

Mayor

Mel Lastman was re-elected mayor of the City and served until 1997.

Board of Control

Esther Shiner and Robert Yuill were re-elected to the Board of Control.

Lastman was the head of the Board of Control as Mayor. Councillor Norm Gardner was elected to the Board of Control.

City Council

75 out of 78 polls reporting.

Norm Gardner was re-elected as councillor for Ward 9.

Mario Gentile was re-elected as Ward 2 councillor.

Cary Fox was an insurance agent, who called for a crackdown on vandalism and accused Howard Moscoe of seeking the media spotlight too often.

Gus Cusimano was a perennial candidate for municipal office in North York. He sought election to the North York City Council in the 1974, 1976, 1978 and 1980 elections, losing each time. Cusimano was eighteen years old during his first campaign. He is an insurance agent, and accused Moscoe of seeking the media spotlight too often in the 1980. A 1987 newspaper article identifies him as president of City-Wide Insurance Ltd., Willowdale. As of 2006, he is president of Petek Insurance.

Scarborough

In Scarborough, Gus Harris retained his role as Mayor Scarborough. All Board of Control members were re-elected except Frank Faubert. All incumbent aldermen were returned to office. Faubert was returned to office in a by-election as alderman for Ward 5 when Alan Robinson was elected to provincial office in the 1981 Ontario election.

Mayor

Gus Harris

Board of Control

Brian Harrison Ken Morrish Carol Ruddell Joyce Trimmer

Borough Aldermen

Ward 1

Bill Belfontaine (incumbent)

Ward 2

Barry Christensen

Ward 3

David Dinkworth

Ward 4

Jack Goodlad (acclaimed)

Ward 5

Alan Robinson (incumbent), Frank Faubert after May 25, 1981

Ward 6

Florence Cruikshank

Ward 7

Ed Fulton (incumbent)

Ward 8

Shirley Eidt (incumbent)

Ward 9

Doug Colling (incumbent)

Ward 10

Maureen Prinsloo (incumbent)

Ward 11

Ron Watson

Ward 12

Joe Dekort (incumbent)

York

In the borough of York, Gayle Christie was re-elected for a second term as Mayor defeating Alan Tonks by a wide margin.

The five aldermen who ran again were re-elected. Tony Mandarano and James Trimbee were the only new members of York Council.

Mayor

Gayle Christie 21,470 Alan Tonks 13,674

Board of Control (2 elected)

Fergy Brown 19,489 Philip White 17,165 Harriet Wolman 12,834

Ward 1

Ben Nobleman 1,870 Michael Colle 1,108 Jay Bell 529 Dan Goldberg 329 A.E. Stollard 213

Ward 2

Tony Mandarano 2,199 Gord Garland 1,045

Ward 3

Ron Bradd 2,108 Tony Rizzo 1,448

Ward 4

Patrick Canavan 1,426 Gary D'Onofrio 1,074

Ward 5

Chris Tonks (acclaimed)

Ward 6

James Trimbee 3,506 Robert MacPherson 2,014

Ward 7

John Nunziata 4,547 Marvin Gordon 743 Frank Ruffolo 621 Vince DeNardo 158