Toronto Board of Control

The Board of Control of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was a part of its municipal government until it was abolished in 1969. It served as the executive committee of the Toronto City Council. When it was initially created in 1896 by mandate of the provincial government, it consisted of three Controllers appointed from and by the aldermen, and presided over by the Mayor of Toronto. Beginning in 1904 [Toronto municipal election|1904], the Board of Control was directly elected by the city's electorate and consisted of four Controllers, presided over by the Mayor. Each voter could vote for up to four candidates, and the four with the most votes were elected. By tradition the controller who received the most votes was given the powerful budget chief position.

Functions

Under the Municipal Act, the Board of Control had the following duties and powers:

the preparation and certification of all estimates for expenditures
the preparation of specifications for tenders, and making awards thereon
the nomination to council of all heads of departments and related staff, and the recommendation of appropriate salaries
the inspection and reporting on all municipal works carried on or in progress
the submission of by-laws to the council
the authority to amalgamate departments and sub-departments
other powers as the council has delegated by-law or resolution

With respect to the first three items, the board's actions could only be overturned by a two-thirds vote of the council.

History

From 1896 until 1904, the Toronto Board of Control was an executive branch of Council, chaired by the Mayor. It handled all daily business of Council and reported to Council.
In the early 20th century, elected Boards of Control were introduced as a reform measure for all cities in Ontario. The board was designed to be the equivalent of a cabinet for municipal governments. It had certain specific duties such as issuing tenders and appointing department heads. In Toronto it often did not function as such. Since the controllers were elected separately from the mayor, there was no guarantee they would be allied. Moreover, since controllers contested citywide elections they were often seen as the natural contenders for the mayoralty and as challengers to the incumbent mayor. Many controllers thus had a self-interest in blocking the mayor from succeeding. Relations between the Board of Control and council were also sometimes difficult, with the Board often acting as an independent council at odds with the larger body.
In 1961 the provincial government allowed cities with more than 100,000 people to abolish the Board of Control. Toronto City Council voted to do so in December 1968 after a long debate. The move was opposed by Mayor William Dennison along with three of the sitting controllers, but it was passed by a significant majority of council. The Board of Control was replaced with a new executive committee that was composed of and elected by city council members. The size of city council was expanded by four to retain the same overall number of councillors.
William Peyton Hubbard, the son of American slaves who had escaped to Canada through the Underground Railroad, was elected to the first Board of Control in 1904 and served for four terms - he would be the only Black person or person of colour to sit on the body; Joseph Singer became the first Jewish candidate to win citywide office in 1923; Jean Newman was the first woman elected to the Board and served from 1957 to 1960.

City of Toronto Controllers

Names in boldface indicate Controllers that became Mayor of Toronto in other years. Names in italics are individuals who only sat on the Board of Control as mayor.

From 1896 to 1903

Municipal Boards of Control were created by the provincial government as a reform measure. From 1896 to 1903 the Toronto Board of Control was appointed by vote of Toronto City Council from among its own members and acted as an executive committee or municipal cabinet. Controllers were chosen at the first council meeting in January after the annual municipal election. Three Controllers sat on the Board, in addition to the Mayor, until 1901 when the number of Controllers was increased to four.

Controller	1896	1897	1898	1899	1900	1901	1902	1903
William Burns			A	A				A
James Crane							A
Robert [John Fleming (Canadian politician)\|Robert Fleming]*	M	M
James Frame					A	A
John James Graham	A	A					A
Oliver Aiken Howland						M	M
William Peyton Hubbard			A			A
Daniel Lamb	A	A				A
John Leslie		A	A
John Francis Loudon							A	A
Adam Lynd				A
Ernest A. Macdonald					M
George McMurrich	A						A
Joseph Oliver								A
Fred H. Richardson								A
John Shaw*		M	M	M
Oliver Barton Sheppard					A	A
Francis Stephens Spence					A
Thomas Urquhart								M
Francis H. Woods				A

*Fleming resigned as mayor on August 6, 1897. Council elected Shaw to complete his term.

From 1904 to 1929

Originally, the Board of Control was appointed by the city council. In 1903, the Ontario legislature passed a law requiring municipal boards of control to be chosen through direct election by the municipality's voters. This requirement became effective in Toronto with the 1904 municipal election.

Controller

Emerson Coatsworth

Tommy Church

Thomas Foster

George Reginald Geary

Joseph Gibbons

Albert Hacker

William Spence Harrison

Wesley Hiltz

Horatio Clarence Hocken

William Peyton Hubbard

S. Alfred Jones

John F. Loudon

Charles A. Maguire

Sam McBride

Joseph Oliver

William D. Robbins

John Shaw*

William Henry Shaw

James Simpson

Joseph Singer

Francis Stephens Spence

W.A. Summerville

Joseph Elijah Thompson

Thomas Urquhart

John J. Ward

Bert Wemp

* Richardson resigned after his election agent was charged with bribery. Shaw was elected to replace him in a by-election.

From 1950 to abolition

With the formation of Metropolitan Toronto in April 1953, the two most senior controllers, in terms of votes at the municipal election, also sat on Metropolitan Toronto Council along with the Mayor of Toronto, the senior alderman from each of Toronto's nine wards, and mayors and reeves elected from the suburbs.

Controller

William Dennison

Philip Givens*

X/M

John Innes

Allan Lamport***

Ross Lipsett ***

June Marks

Hiram E. McCallum

Jean Newman

Herbert Orliffe

Nathan Phillips

Leslie Saunders***

X/M

Louis Shannon**

Donald Summerville*

* Mayor Summerville died in office, Givens was appointed mayor in his place. Archer was appointed to the Board of Control to fill the vacancy.
** In 1954, Controller Shannon died and Ward 9 Alderman Roy E. Belyea was appointed in his place.
*** Mayor Lamport resigned as mayor to become vice-chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission, Saunders was appointed mayor in his place and Ward 8 Alderman Ross Lipsett was appointed to the Board of Control to fill the vacancy.

Election results

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Suburban Boards of Control

Several other municipalities in Metropolitan Toronto also created Boards of Control. Etobicoke created its Board of Control in the 1962 municipal election and North York first elected its Board of Control in the 1964 municipal election. Scarborough and York launched their boards at the 1966 election. North York, and Scarborough had 5 person boards consisting of their respective mayors and four controllers elected at large while York's board consisted of a mayor and two Controllers. East York never created a Board of Control. Etobicoke's board consisted of the reeve and two Controllers until the 1966 election when it expanded to four Controllers and the mayor.
The top two candidates from the Toronto Board of Control also sat on, Metro Toronto Council. Beginning with the 1966 municipal election, several members of suburban Boards of Control sat on Metro Council as well as their borough's council - the number depended on the number of seats on Metro Council that borough was allocated.
With the 1988 municipal election, the suburban Boards of Control were abolished and Metro Councillors were instead directly elected from special Metro Wards.

Etobicoke

Beginning in 1966, the top three candidates for Etobicoke's Board of Control also sat on Metro Council.
Names in boldface indicate Controllers that were or became Reeve or Mayor of Etobicoke in other years. Italics indicate those who only sat on the Board of Control as mayor.
X = elected as Controller

A = appointed Controller to fill a vacancy

M = sitting as Reeve or Mayor

Controller	1962	1964	1966	1969	1972	1974	1976	1978	1980	1982	1985
John Palmer MacBeth	M	M
Murray Johnson	X	X
John Carroll	X	X	X	X
Edward Austin Horton			M	M
Donald Russell			X	X
David Lacey			X	X					X
W. Kenneth Robinson			X
John Allen				X	X	X
Dennis Flynn*					M	M	M	M	M	M
Bruce Sinclair*					X	X	X	X	X	X/M	M
Winfield Stockwell					X	X	X	X	X
E. H. Farrow					X	X	X
Nora Pownall						X	X	X
Morley Kells								X			X
Dick O'Brien									X	X	X
Leonard Braithwaite										X	X
Christopher Stockwell										X
Lois Griffin*										A	X

*Dennis Flynn resigned as mayor as a result of his appointment as Metro Chairman in August 1984. On September 4, 1984, Etobicoke City Council appointed Controller Bruce Sinclair to replace Flynn as mayor and appointed Lois Griffin to fill the Controller position vacated by Sinclair.

North York

Names in boldface indicate Controllers that were or became Mayor of North York in other years. Italics indicate those who only sat on the Board of Control as mayor. Beginning in 1966, all of North York's Controllers also sat on Metro Council.
X = elected as Controller

A = appointed Controller to fill a vacancy

M = sitting as Reeve or Mayor

Controller	1964	1966	1969	1972	1974	1976	1978	1980	1982	1985
James Ditson Service	M	M
G. Gordon Hurlburt	X	X
Irving Paisley	X		X				X
Frank Watson	X	X
Basil H. Hall	X	X	M
Paul Hunt		X	X
Mel Lastman			X	M	M	M	M	M	M	M
John Booth*			X
Paul Godfrey*			A	X
John Williams				X
Alex McGivern				X	X
Barbara Greene				X	X	X	X		X
William Sutherland*				A	X			X	X
Joseph Markin					X
Esther Shiner**						X	X	X	X	X
Ron Summers						X
Robert Yuill						X	X	X	X	X
Norm Gardner								X		X
Howard Moscoe										X
Mario Gentile**										A

* Booth died in 1970 and was replaced by Paul Godfrey who served out the balance of his term. Godfrey was reelected in 1972, but resigned when he was elected Metro Chairman in 1973 following the death of Metro Chairman Albert Campbell. North York Council elected Alderman William Sutherland to replace Godfrey on the Board of Control on July 23, 1973.
**Shiner died on December 19, 1987. Councillor Mario Gentile was appointed to the Board of Control in February 1988 to fill Shiner's seat.

Scarborough

All of Scarborough's Controllers also sat on Metro Council.
X = elected as Controller

A = appointed Controller to fill a vacancy

M = sitting as Mayor

Controller	1966	1969	1972	1974	1976	1978	1980	1982	1985
Albert Campbell*	M
Robert W. White*	X/M	M
Gus Harris	X	X	X	X	X	M	M	M	M
Brian Harrison	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Karl Mallette	X	X	X
Ken Morrish* **	A	X	X	X	X/M		X		X
Paul Cosgrove**			M	M	M
Joyce Trimmer***				X	X	X	X	X	X
Frank Faubert *					A	X		X	X
Carol Ruddell						X	X	X
Bill Belfontaine									X

*Albert Campbell resigned as mayor after being elected Metro Chairman on October 1, 1969. Scarborough Council appointed Robert W. White to fill the vacancy as mayor and, on October 6, 1969, appointed Alderman Ken Morrish to the Board of Control to fill White's vacant position as Controller.
**Paul Cosgrove resigned as mayor after being elected to the House of Commons of Canada in an October 16, 1978 by-election. Ken Morrish was appointed acting mayor in Cosgrove's place and Frank Faubert was appointed to the Board of Control to fill Morrish's vacated Controller position. Morrish was defeated by Gus Harris in the mayoral election a month later.
***Trimmer served as mayor from 1988 to 1993; Faubert was mayor from 1994 to 1997

York

York's two Controllers also sat on Metro Council.
Names in boldface indicate Controllers that were or became Mayor of York in other years. Italics indicate those who only sat on the Board of Control as mayor.
X = elected as Controller

A = appointed Controller to fill a vacancy

M = sitting as Reeve or Mayor

Controller	1966	1969	1972	1974	1976	1978	1980	1982	1985
C. Wesley Boddington	X
Fergy Brown*						X	X	X	X
Gayle Christie						M	M
Jack Mould	M
Doug Saunders		X	X	X	X
Alan Tonks					X	X		M	M
James Trimbee		X	X	X
Philip White	X	M	M	M	M		X	X	X

*Brown served as mayor from 1988 to 1994