1985 Toronto municipal election


The 1985 Toronto municipal election was held to elect members of municipal councils, school boards, and hydro commissions in the six municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The election was held on November 12, 1985.

Toronto

Mayor

The mayoral election saw progressive North Toronto councillor Anne Johnston challenge incumbent Art Eggleton. Eggleton won reelection by a significant margin, with Johnston not even winning her former ward.
;Results

City and Metro council

The election system was changed in Toronto for the 1985 election. Previously two councillors had been elected from each ward, with the one who received the most votes also getting a spot on Metro Toronto council in addition to their city council seat. Under the new system, one person would be directly elected as a Metro councillor while the other would be elected as a city alderman. Although the Metro councillor would still sit on the city council, the change was accompanied with other structural changes to boost the power of the city aldermen, who had often seen their power and authority diminished by the perception that they were "junior" to the Metro councillors.
Most pairs of incumbent councillors reached tacit agreements with one running for city council and the other for Metro. The one battle between two incumbents was in Ward 5 where in a surprise upset junior councillor Ron Kanter defeated the long serving Ying Hope. Two other long serving councillors were defeated. Joe Piccininni who had represented the Corso d'Italia for 25 years lost to 28-year-old Betty Disero. In the east end NDPers Dorothy Thomas lost in a surprise upset to conservative Paul Christie.
;Ward 1
;Metro
;City
;Ward 2
;Metro
;City
;Ward 3
;Metro
;City
;Ward 4
;Metro
;City
;Ward 5
;Metro
;City
;Ward 6
;Metro
;City
;Ward 7
;Metro
;City
;Ward 8
;Metro
;City
;Ward 9
;Metro
;City
;Ward 10
;Metro
;City
;Ward 11
;Metro
;City
Results are taken from the November 13, 1985 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Changes

Ward 7 Metro Councillor Joanne Campbell resigned on September 8, 1987 to accept an appointment to chair the provincial Social Assistance Review Board. Ward 5 Metro Councillor Ron Kanter also resigned when he won a seat in the 1987 Provincial Election. By-elections were held in both wards on October 29, 1987.
;Ward 5 Metro:
;Ward 7 Metro
Ward 10 Metro Councillor June Rowlands resigned April 6, 1988 upon appointment as Chairman of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission; on April 18 Alexandra McCallum was appointed as replacement.

East York

Mayor Johnson commented that the election campaign was the quietest, least active he had ever run. He won handily, even though he spent several days in hospital with back pains. On Council, the incumbents in wards one and four were re-elected. Ward two elected newcomers Bill Buckingham and George Vasilopolous while ward three elected Bob Dale and Steve Mastoras.
† - denotes incumbent status from previous council

Mayor

  • †Dave Johnson - 17,996
  • Michael Wyatt - 3,070
  • David Quirk - 1,041

Councillor

Two councillors were elected to each ward.
;Ward 1
  • †Cy Reader - 3,312
  • †Bob Willis - 3,035
  • Marg Pilger - 1,511
;Ward 2
  • Bill Buckingham - 3,155
  • George Vasilopolous - 2,718
  • Alan Cobb - 2,569
  • Michael Prue - 2,187
;Ward 3
  • Bob Dale - 2,380
  • Steve Mastoras - 1,403
  • Carol Deschamps - 1,280
  • Susan Kopsas - 1,015
  • Les White - 726
  • Ian Gray - 502
  • John Papadakis - 426
  • Eric Padmore - 286
;Ward 4
  • †Peter Oyler - 4,419
  • †J. Edna Beange - 3,127
  • Jenner Jean-Marie - 3,066
  • Jeff Wyatt - 1,085

Trustee

;Ward 1
  • Ruth Goldhar - 2,596
  • Gail Nyberg - 2,333
  • Dennis Colby - 1,727
;Ward 2
  • Connie Culbertson - Acclaimed
  • Ken Maxted - Acclaimed
;Ward 3
  • Margaret Hazelton - 2,241
  • Len Self - 1,898
  • Lynda Bolognini - 1,576
;Ward 4
  • Robert J. Murray - 3,277
  • Elca Rennick - 3,266
  • Margaret Millar - 2,582

Hydro Commission

  • Stan Wadlow - 12,667
  • Frank Johnson - 10,732
  • April Medland - 6,023

Etobicoke

Mayor

  • Bruce Sinclair - 40,739
  • Winfield Stockwell - 23,060
  • Terry Howes - 1,724
  • Dave Gavel - 1,714
  • Roland Ollivier - 1,003
Sinclair was appointed mayor in August 1984 to replace Dennis Flynn when he was elected Metro Chairman.

Board of Control

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

Mel Lastman was re-elected mayor of the City and served until 1997. Maria Augimeri was elected to Ward 5, Peter Li Preti was elected to Ward 3 and Mario Gentile was re-elected as Ward 2 councillor. Esther Shiner was re-elected to Board of Control, but died in office in 1987. Norm Gardner lost his seat on the Board of Control.

Mayor

Board of Control

  • Cora Urbel was a well-known community activist in North York, serving as leader of the North York Concerned Citizens Committee in 1984. She called for an investigation into the approval of the city's Rampart Development Project, and criticized road reforms that she believed would cause increased traffic in residential areas. She was endorsed by John Sewell in 1985 as one of North York's most prominent reformers, and was expected to be a strong candidate. Her poor showing was a surprise to most observers. Urbel served as president of the Don Mills Residents' Association after the election, and promoted "open space" community development. She campaigned for North York City Council's tenth ward in 1988, and lost to Don Yuill in a fairly close contest. She was fifty-nine years old during this campaign, and strongly opposed the extension of Leslie St. past Eglinton Avenue and the decision to widen Don Mills Rd. and Victoria Park Ave. Urbel supported a series of austerity measures in the early 1990s. She called for education spending cuts in 1991, and spoke against a proposed 1% Metro Toronto tax hike in 1994. She died on March 28, 1999. A road in Toronto was named after her the following year.
  • Arthur Zins was a self-employed businessman and former public utility administrator, who argued that North York needed his public administration skills. He campaigned for a position on the North York Hydro Board in 1980, and finished last in a field of nineteen candidates.
  • Ayube Ally owned a manufacturing plant, and recommended improved facilities for senior citizens.

City Council

Ward 1
Ward 2
Ward 3
  • x-Peter Li Preti 5,123
  • Ben Bellantone 2,391
  • Stanley White 608
  • Stan Samuel 503
  • Sally Ann Kernan 448
  • Harry Dhir 330
Ward 4
  • x-Frank Di Giorgio 2,293
  • Barb Shiner 2,070
  • Maria Rizzo 1,924
  • Rob Rosenthal 663
  • Courtney Doldron 282
  • Joel Goldfarb 118
Ward 5
  • Maria Augimeri 3.033
  • Don Yuill 2,340
  • Norm Kelly 1,529
  • Joseph Gambano 1,481
  • Carlo Pascazi 647
  • Stanley Gordon 357
Ward 6
  • x-Milton Berger 5,529
  • Erwin Rosenberg 2,033
Ward 7
  • x-Irving W. Chapley 5,409
  • Eric Cohen 3,349
  • John Butcher 541
Ward 8
Ward 9
  • x-Ron Summers 6,663
  • Bob Hebdon 2,708
  • Paul Iafrate 633
Ward 10
  • Marie Labatte 5,185
  • Peter Weed 2,399
Ward 11
  • x-Jim McGuffin 5,974
  • Jason Pearson 1,376
  • Peter Clarke 668
  • Philip Hohl 393
Ward 12
  • x-Barry Burton 3,788
  • Colin Williams 1,825
  • Richard Kirkup 1,238
  • Peter Nastagamou 331
Ward 13
  • Joan King 5,290
  • Allan Ginsberg 1,323
  • Brian Patterson 1,211
  • Jeff Smith 563
Ward 14

Hydro Commission

  • x-Carl Anderson 30,678
  • Jack Bedder 23,414
  • Bob Dyer 21,866
  • Michael Armstrong 20,062
  • Dino D'Amico 17,590
  • Phyllis Weinberg 16,165
  • Mary Hicks 12,554
  • Alan Moses 9,660
  • Howard Fletcher 8,261

School Board Trustees

  • Ward 8 Gerri Gershon
  • Ward 9 Shelley Stillman
  • Ward 10 Rene Gordon
  • Ward 12 Kenneth Crowley

Scarborough

Mayor

Board of Control (4 elected)

Public Utilities

  • Cavanagh; 45,921
  • Beatty; 33,268
  • Stewart; 27,686
  • Speares; 10,960
  • Nurse; 9,445
  • Alix; 6,827

City Councillors

Ward 1 -
  • Harvey Barron; 3,100
  • Dan Danielson; NDP; 1,985
  • White; 1,761
Ward 2 -
Ward 3 -
  • John Wardrope; 3,034
  • Dave Robertson; 2,256
  • McDermott; 776
  • Catre; 769
  • Zaidi; 635
Ward 4 -
  • Kurt Christensen; 4,195
  • Carole Ligold; 2,362
Ward 5
Ward 6
  • Florence Cruickshank; acclamation
Ward 7
Ward 8
  • Shirley Eidt; 4,804
  • Murray; 1,912
  • Chadha; 717
Ward 9
  • John Mackie; 6,134
  • DeSouza; 2,218
Ward 10
Ward 11
  • Scott Cavalier; 3,828
  • Anderson; 1,398
Ward 12;
  • Doug Mahood; 2,232
  • Watson, Ron; 1,350
  • Dave Pearce; 1,171
  • Lam, A; 898
  • Bob Watson; 793
  • Manning; 433
Ward 13
  • Bob Sanders; 1,858
  • Nutter; 1,394
  • Kenton; 773
  • Chana; 767
  • Chicky Chappell; 462
  • Coyle; 340
Ward 14
  • Edith Montgomery; 3,076
  • McLennon; 621
  • Sharma; 481
  • Loughlin, B; 386
  • Russell; 338
  • Kukade; 158

York

In York, Alan Tonks was easily re-elected. Michael Colle who was alderman for ward 2 in the previous term tried unsuccessfully to obtain a seat on the Board of Control. New councillors Tony Mandarano in Ward 2 and Bob McLean in Ward 6 won their races. Bill Saundercook was the only winner to unseat a running incumbent in Ward 8.

Council

;Ward 1
;Ward 2
;Ward 3
;Ward 4
;Ward 5
;Ward 6
;Ward 7
;Ward 8

School Board Trustees

School Board Ward 1
  • K. Hen
School Board Ward 2
  • P. Karageorgos
School Board Ward 3
  • R. Russell
School Board Ward 4
  • N D'urzo
School Board Ward 5
  • P Hainer
School Board Ward 6
  • J Gribben
School Board Ward 7
  • S. Mould
School Board Ward 8
  • M McDowell

Metro Toronto Separate School Trustees