1954 Toronto municipal election

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 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.[1]

The fourth candidate was Communist A. A. MacLeod, former Labor-Progressive Party M.P.P in the Ontario legislature for Bellwoods.[2]

Results

Nathan Phillips - 40,683

Leslie Saunders - 36,756

Arthur Brown - 36,613

A. A. MacLeod - 4,932

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 1954 election, Cornish displaced Lipsett to win the fourth and final seat on the Board. The most senior two Controllers in terms of votes also sat on Metro Toronto Council.

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

Ward boundaries used in the 1954 election

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)

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.

• Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 7, 1955
• Nathan Phillips. Mayor of All the People McClelland and Stewart, 1967
• Leslie Howard Saunders. An Orangeman in public life: the memoirs of Leslie Howard Saunders. Britannia Printers, 1980