1945 Toronto municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 1, 1945. Controller Robert Hood Saunders defeated incumbent Frederick J. Conboy to be elected mayor.

Toronto mayor

Conboy had served as mayor since 1940 and was seeking his fifth term of office, but he was decisively beaten by Saunders.

Results: Robert Hood Saunders - 68,757; Frederick J. Conboy - 36,299

Board of Control

The Board of Control had two vacant seats in the 1945 election. Robert Saunders had left his seat to run for mayor and Fred Hamilton had retired. Five current or past alderman ran for the positions, with Hiram E. McCallum and communist Stewart Smith winning seats.

Results: David Balfour (incumbent) - 47,931; William J. Wadsworth (incumbent) - 45,942; Stewart Smith - 41,691; Hiram E. McCallum - 41,201; Leslie Saunders - 34,587; Ernest Bogart - 34,258; Gordon Millen - 30,235; Harry Bradley - 9,589

City council

Ward 1 (Riverdale): William Murdoch - 5,180; Charles Walton - 4,306; William Simpson - 2,710; John McGuigan - 2,517; W.S.B. Armstrong - 1,582; Irene Humble - 1,357

Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale): Louis Shannon (incumbent) - 5,426; George A. Wilson (incumbent) - 3,925; May Birchard - 3,456

Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill): John S. Simmons (incumbent) - 3,132; Harold Fishleigh (incumbent) - 2,915; William Smith - 601; Francis Burns - 589; Karl Prager - 402

Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District): Norman Freed (incumbent) - acclaimed; Nathan Phillips (incumbent) - acclaimed

Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods: Charles Sims (incumbent) - 7,788; Arthur Frost - 6,497; Harold Menzies - 4,058; Maxwell Armstrong - 2,338

Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale): Kenneth Bert McKellar (incumbent) - 9,068; Harold Timmins (incumbent) - 8,263; William V. Muir - 4,745; Dewar Ferguson - 4,292; Patrick McKeown - 1,169; Charles Dymond - 661

Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction): E.C. Roelofson (incumbent) - acclaimed; Charles Rowntree (incumbent) - acclaimed

Ward 8 (The Beaches): Walter Howell (incumbent) - 7,478; William Collings (incumbent) - 7,104; Murray Cotterill - 5,132; James Davis - 2,687; Charles Wren - 2,505

Ward 9 (North Toronto): John Innes (incumbent) - 10,684; Melville Wilson - 7,605; Robert Ferguson - 3,329; Christine McCarty - 2,211; R.M. McLean - 1,568; Fred Vacher - 1,009; W.H. Harris - 877

Results taken from the January 2, 1945 Globe and Mail and might not exactly match final tallies.

References

Election Coverage. Globe and Mail. January 2, 1945
Election Coverage. Toronto Star. January 2, 1945