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 represent 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
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;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
;Ward 1
- †Cy Reader - 3,312
- †Bob Willis - 3,035
- Marg Pilger - 1,511
- Bill Buckingham - 3,155
- George Vasilopolous - 2,718
- Alan Cobb - 2,569
- Michael Prue - 2,187
- 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
- †Peter Oyler - 4,419
- †J. Edna Beange - 3,127
- Jenner Jean-Marie - 3,066
- Jeff Wyatt - 1,085
Trustee
- Ruth Goldhar - 2,596
- Gail Nyberg - 2,333
- Dennis Colby - 1,727
- Connie Culbertson - Acclaimed
- Ken Maxted - Acclaimed
- Margaret Hazelton - 2,241
- Len Self - 1,898
- Lynda Bolognini - 1,576
- 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
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
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
- x-Mel Lastman 86,925
- Barbara Greene 29,240
- Nick Iamonaco 5,286
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
Council
Ward 1- x-Mario Sergio acclaimed
- Mario Gentile acclaimed
- x-Peter Li Preti 5,123
- Ben Bellantone 2,391
- Stanley White 608
- Stan Samuel 503
- Sally Ann Kernan 448
- Harry Dhir 330
- x-Frank Di Giorgio 2,293
- Barb Shiner 2,070
- Maria Rizzo 1,924
- Rob Rosenthal 663
- Courtney Doldron 282
- Joel Goldfarb 118
- Maria Augimeri 3.033
- Don Yuill 2,340
- Norm Kelly 1,529
- Joseph Gambano 1,481
- Carlo Pascazi 647
- Stanley Gordon 357
- x-Milton Berger 5,529
- Erwin Rosenberg 2,033
- x-Irving W. Chapley 5,409
- Eric Cohen 3,349
- John Butcher 541
- Bev Salmon 4,918
- Andy Borins 2,845
- Betty Reid 956
- x-Ron Summers 6,663
- Bob Hebdon 2,708
- Paul Iafrate 633
- Marie Labatte 5,185
- Peter Weed 2,399
- x-Jim McGuffin 5,974
- Jason Pearson 1,376
- Peter Clarke 668
- Philip Hohl 393
- x-Barry Burton 3,788
- Colin Williams 1,825
- Richard Kirkup 1,238
- Peter Nastagamou 331
- Joan King 5,290
- Allan Ginsberg 1,323
- Brian Patterson 1,211
- Jeff Smith 563
- Paul Sutherland 3,987
- Jack Hauseman 3,137
- Elwood Helmkay 480
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
- Gus Harris: 36,216
- Norm Kelly: 24,724
- Brian Harrison: 23,981
- Dekort: 9,228
- Anne McBride: 1,911
- Bordonaro: 1,836
- Abel Van Wyk: 382
Board of Control (4 elected)
- Ken Morrish ; 55,636
- Joyce Trimmer ; 53,844
- Frank Faubert ; 47,724
- Bill Belfontaine ; 39,657
- Borisko ; 35,495
- Brown ; 16,956
- Cotter ; 8,617
- Kazia ; 4,993
Public Utilities
- Cavanagh ; 45,921
- Beatty ; 33,268
- Stewart ; 27,686
- Speares ; 10,960
- Nurse ; 9,445
- Alix ; 6,827
City Councillors
- Harvey Barron ; 3,100
- Dan Danielson ; NDP ; 1,985
- White ; 1,761
- Gerry Altobello ; 2,304
- Boyle ; 1,662
- May McKenzie ; 1,375
- Judd ; 574
- Morton ; 476
- John Wardrope ; 3,034
- Dave Robertson ; 2,256
- McDermott ; 776
- Catre ; 769
- Zaidi ; 635
- Kurt Christensen ; 4,195
- Carole Ligold ; 2,362
- Marilyn Mushinski ; 4,662
- Knight ; 1,285
- Florence Cruickshank ; acclamation
- Brian Ashton ; 6,230
- Lyall ; 1,411
- Shirley Eidt ; 4,804
- Murray ; 1,912
- Chadha ; 717
- John Mackie ; 6,134
- DeSouza ; 2,218
- Maureen Prinsloo ; 4,045
- Edmonds ; 1,997
- Scott Cavalier; 3,828
- Anderson ; 1,398
- Doug Mahood ; 2,232
- Watson, Ron ; 1,350
- Dave Pearce ; 1,171
- Lam, A ; 898
- Bob Watson; 793
- Manning ; 433
- Bob Sanders ; 1,858
- Nutter ; 1,394
- Kenton ; 773
- Chana ; 767
- Chicky Chappell ; 462
- Coyle ; 340
- Edith Montgomery ; 3,076
- McLennon ; 621
- Sharma ; 481
- Loughlin, B ; 386
- Russell ; 338
- Kukade ; 158
York
Mayor
Board of Control (2 elected)
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
- P. Karageorgos
- R. Russell
- N D'urzo
- P Hainer
- J Gribben
- S. Mould
- M McDowell
Metro Toronto Separate School Trustees
- Antonio Nigro served on the Metro Toronto Separate School Board from 1974 to 1985. He was himself a teacher with the North York Board of Education. He tried to return to the Toronto Catholic School Board in the 2000 Toronto municipal election, but was unsuccessful.
- Ralph Paonessa was a first time candidate. He ran for Ward 15 again in 1988, and finished a closer second against Rick Morelli. A 1988 newspaper article indicates that he fifty-two years old, and was co-pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. He wanted students to receive "a truly Catholic education". Paonessa is now Friar at Saint Lawrence the Martyr Friary in Scarborough, and is active with the National Congress of Italian Canadians.
- A. Renato Lavalle was a forty-three-year-old school principal, who sought to maintain the religious orientation of the Catholic school system.
Footnotes