1985 Toronto municipal election

1985 Toronto mayoral election

← 1982 November 12, 1985 1988 →
Turnout	36.6%[1]
AJ Candidate Art Eggleton Anne Johnston Popular vote 92,994 59,817 Percentage 58.1% 37.4%
Mayor of Toronto before election Art Eggleton Elected Mayor of Toronto Art Eggleton

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.

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

Art Eggleton - 92,994

Anne Johnston - 59,817

Ann Ladas - 1,473

Gaston Schwab - 1,228

Aaron Abraham - 1,077

John J. Benz - 583

Skip Evans - 557

Fred Dunn - 513

Gary Watson - 433

Ben Kerr - 422

Ronald Rodgers - 341

Andrejs Murnieks - 266

Warren J. Van Evera - 223

Gary Weagle - 202

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.^[2] Under the new system, one person would be directly elected as a Metro councillor while the other would be elected as a city alderman.^[2] 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.^[2]

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 (Swansea and Bloor West Village)

Metro

Derwyn Shea (incumbent) - 10,429

Diana Fancher - 2,675

Robert Szajkowski - 1,270

City

William Boytchuk (incumbent) - 8,491

David White - 6,049

Len Bugeja - 1,030

Ward 2 (Parkdale and Brockton)

Metro

Ben Grys (incumbent) - 7,189

Susan Shaw - 4,223

City

Chris Korwin-Kuczynski (incumbent) - 8,617

Owen Leach - 1,638

Hubert P. Antoic - 777

Jimmy Talpa - 353

Ward 3 (Davenport and Corso Italia)

Metro

Richard Gilbert (incumbent) - 6,745

John Martin - 2,722

City

Betty Disero - 5,096

Joseph Piccininni (incumbent) - 3,835

Judy De Sousa - 1,871

Nick Attarano - 282

Ward 4 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy)

Metro

Joe Pantalone (incumbent) - 6,519

Joe Pimentel - 2,429

Antonio Nunziata - 666

Hiwon Pak - 336

City

Tony O'Donohue (incumbent) - 5,617

David English - 2,755

Vince Nigro - 2,637

Ward 5 (The Annex and Yorkville)

Metro

Ron Kanter (incumbent) - 9,788

Ying Hope (incumbent) - 5,849

City

Nadine Nowlan - 7,018

David Scott - 4,387

Lawson Oates - 2,509

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

Metro

Jack Layton (incumbent) - 9,037

Pearl Loo - 1,972

Edward Jackson - 1,824

Lex Dunkelman - 1,183

Citizen Amber - 414

City

Dale Martin (incumbent) - 6,791

Peter Maloney - 4,923

Jerry Borins - 1,902

Steve BFG Johnson - 1,059

Ward 7 (Regent Park and Riverdale)

Metro

Joanne Campbell (incumbent) - 9,293

James P. Atkins - 1,490

Jack McLeavey - 775

City

Barbara Hall - 6,379

Bill Mole - 2,807

Mike Armstrong - 2,232

Christopher Goulios - 613

Ward 8 (Riverdale)

Metro

Fred Beavis (incumbent) - 7,637

Richard Tyssen - 3,604

Sam Baichoo - 494

City

Thomas Clifford (incumbent) - 7,068

Sheila Cram - 4,035

Michael Tegtmeyer - 339

Ward 9 (The Beaches)

Metro

Tom Jakobek (incumbent) - 12,827

Patterson Higgins - 2,775

Jeremy Agar - 747

City

Paul Christie - 8,985

Dorothy Thomas (incumbent) - 7,042

Ward 10 (Rosedale and North Toronto)

Metro

June Rowlands (incumbent) - acclaimed

City

Michael Walker (incumbent) - acclaimed

Ward 11 (Forest Hill and North Toronto)

Metro

Kay Gardner - 8,369

Belinda Morin - 7,905

March Tigh - 2,614

City

Michael Gee (incumbent) - 15,345

Christopher Nelson - 2,810

Results are taken from the November 13, 1985 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

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

Ying Hope - 3,506

Meg Griffiths - 2,948

Ila Bossons - 1,390

Ben Kerr - 91

Ward 7 Metro

Roger Hollander - 3,701

Jeff Evenson - 3,479

Bill Mole - 392

Christina Fenluk - 256

Ian McIntyre - 220

Geoff Pimbett - 189

Don Andrews - 104

Martin Amber - 46

Trudy Remmes - 21

Ward 10 Metro Councillor June Rowlands resigned April 6, 1988 upon appointment as Chairman of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission;^[3] on April 18 Alexandra McCallum was appointed as replacement.^[4]

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.^[5][6]

† - denotes incumbent status from previous council

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

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

Ward 1 (2 to be elected)

• Ruth Goldhar - 2,596
• Gail Nyberg - 2,333
• Dennis Colby - 1,727

Ward 2 (2 to be elected)

• Connie Culbertson - Acclaimed
• Ken Maxted - Acclaimed

Ward 3 (2 to be elected)

• Margaret Hazelton - 2,241
• Len Self - 1,898
• Lynda Bolognini - 1,576

Ward 4 (3 to be elected)

• Robert J. Murray - 3,277
• Elca Rennick - 3,266
• Margaret Millar - 2,582

(2 to be elected)

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

• (incumbent)Bruce Sinclair - 40,739
• Winfield (Bill) 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.^[7]

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.^[7]

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.^[6]

• x-Mel Lastman 86,925
• Barbara Greene 29,240
• Nick Iamonaco 5,286

• Cora Urbel (born Cora Kevany) 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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12] She died on March 28, 1999. A road in Toronto was named after her the following year.^[13]
• Arthur Zins was a self-employed businessman and former public utility administrator, who argued that North York needed his public administration skills.^[14] 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.^[15]

Ward 1

• x-Mario Sergio acclaimed

Ward 2

• Mario Gentile acclaimed

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

• Bev Salmon 4,918
• Andy Borins 2,845
• Betty Reid 956

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

• Paul Sutherland 3,987
• Jack Hauseman 3,137
• Elwood Helmkay 480

(2 elected)

• 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

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

• (incumbent)Gus Harris: 36,216
• Norm Kelly: 24,724
• Brian Harrison: 23,981
• Dekort: 9,228
• Anne C. McBride: 1,911
• Bordonaro: 1,836
• Abel Van Wyk: 382

• Ken Morrish; 55,636
• (incumbent)Joyce Trimmer; 53,844
• (incumbent)Frank Faubert; 47,724
• Bill Belfontaine; 39,657
• Borisko; 35,495
• Brown; 16,956
• Cotter; 8,617
• Kazia; 4,993

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

Ward 1 -

• Harvey Barron; 3,100
• Dan Danielson; NDP; 1,985
• White; 1,761

Ward 2 -

• Gerry Altobello; 2,304
• Boyle; 1,662
• May McKenzie; 1,375
• Judd; 574
• Morton; 476

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

• Marilyn Mushinski; 4,662
• Knight; 1,285

Ward 6

• Florence Cruickshank; acclamation

Ward 7

• Brian Ashton; 6,230
• Lyall; 1,411

Ward 8

• Shirley Eidt; 4,804
• Murray; 1,912
• Chadha; 717

Ward 9

• John Mackie; 6,134
• DeSouza; 2,218

Ward 10

• Maureen Prinsloo; 4,045
• Edmonds; 1,997

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

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.^[16]

(incumbent)Alan Tonks

Guy D'Onofrio

(incumbent)Fergy Brown

(incumbent)Philip White

Michael Colle

Ward 1

Bill Nobleman (Acclaimed)

Ward 2

Tony Mandarano

Maria de Pasquale

Ward 3

Tony Rizzo (incumbent) won by 570 votes

Ron Bradd

Ward 4

Nicolo Fortunato (incumbent) won by 220 votes

Patrick Canavan

Ward 5

Chris Tonks (incumbent)

Jim Fera

Ward 6

Bob McLean won by 712 votes

Lindsay Cott

Ward 7

Gary Bloor (incumbent) won by 287 votes

Richard Taverner

Ward 8

Bill Saundercook 2,317

Michael Waclawski (incumbent) 2,082

School Board Ward 1

• K. Hen (Acclamation)

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

• Antonio (Tony) 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.^[17] 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".^[18] Paonessa is now Friar at Saint Lawrence the Martyr Friary in Scarborough, and is active with the National Congress of Italian Canadians.^[19]
• A. Renato Lavalle was a forty-three-year-old school principal, who sought to maintain the religious orientation of the Catholic school system.^[20]