1997 Toronto Municipal Election

The 1997 Toronto municipal election was the first election held for offices in the amalgamated "megacity" of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The elections were administered by the old City of Toronto and its five suburbs within Metropolitan Toronto. The vote was held November 10, 1997, electing the mayor and 56 councillors in 28 wards who took office on January 1, 1998, the day of the amalgamation.

The election resulted in a showdown between Barbara Hall, the one-term mayor of the old city of Toronto, and Mel Lastman, who had been mayor of the former Toronto suburb of North York for 25 years.

Mayor

The mayoral race saw incumbents from the two largest former cities run to be mayor, the left-leaning Barbara Hall and the right-leaning Mel Lastman. Lastman won the election by a narrow margin, around 40,000 votes.

Council

The election followed a plurality-at-large voting system where electors could vote for two candidates. Each of the 28 wards elected two councillors.

;Ward 1 – East York
:Michael Prue – 22440
:Case Ootes – 8608
:Jane Pitfield – 6926
:Michael Tziretas – 6349
:Elizabeth Rowley – 5707
:Bob Dale – 4709
:George Vasilopoulos – 4275
:Paul Fernandes – 3156
:Paul Robinson – 2885
:Hortencia Fotopoulos – 663
:Edward Wigglesworth – 368

;Ward 2 – Lakeshore Queensway
: Irene Jones – 9387
:Blake Kinahan – 7788
:Peter Milczyn – 7127
:Jeff Knoll – 6877
:Connie Micallef – 5179
:Diethar Lein – 4396
:David Smith – 2286
:Joe Connell – 713
:George Kash – 409

;Ward 3 – Kingsway Humber
:Gloria Lindsay Luby – 13123
:Mario Giansante – 12767
:Dennis Flynn – 10092
:Rob Ford – 9366
:Adam Slobodian – 797
:Ben Cachola – 753

;Ward 4 – Markland Centennial
:Doug Holyday – 15430
:Dick O'Brien – 10410
:Agnes Ugolini Potts – 9650
:Brian Flynn – 6809
:Steve Deighton – 3974
:Helen Bodanis – 799
:Mark Stanisz – 507
:Daphne Gabriel – 413
:Alexander P. Masur – 279

;Ward 5 – Rexdale Thistletown
: Elizabeth Brown – 6546
: Bruce Sinclair – 6482
:Vincent Crisanti – 3540
:John Kiru – 3203
:Marco Luciani – 2847
:Carmela Sasso – 2244
:Brian Ineson – 2135
:Nicolo Fortunato – 1925
:Peter Kell – 1240
:Anthony Caputo – 1133
:Patrick McCool – 1045
:Rosemarie Mulhall – 413

;Ward 6 – North York Humber
:Judy Sgro – 14334
: George Mammoliti – 10226
:Gina Serverino – 6875
:Tony Marzilli – 5205
:Bob Churchhill – 5012
:Michael Marson – 722

;Ward 7 – Black Creek

*Anna Stella is a longtime community activist in the Black Creek area of Toronto. She applied to replace Anthony Perruzza as North York's fifth ward councillor in 1990, after Perruzza was elected to the provincial legislature and council decided to nominate an interim replacement rather than hold a by-election. She was turned down in favour of Claudio Polsinelli. Stella was later elected to the Metro Toronto Separate School Board in the 1994 municipal election, easily defeating four other candidates in Ward Twelve. She supported greater parental involvement in school affairs and a zero-tolerance policy toward violence, although she opposed Scarborough's policy of expulsion. In the 1997 election, she was endorsed by Art Eggleton and Annamarie Castrilli.
*Jeanelle Julien was a first-time candidate.

;Ward 8 – North York Spadina

*Henry Braverman was a first-time candidate.
*Nickeisha Hudson was a student trustee in 1997, and was awarded a Harry Jerome Award for leadership. She was a first-time candidate. In 1999, she was a youth events coordinator in Hamilton.
*Dzeko is a businessman in Toronto. He was a first-time candidate.

;Ward 9 – North York Centre South
: Joanne Flint – 16447
: Milton Berger – 12370
:Dick Chapman – 8484
:Stuart Ian Weinstein – 3740

;Ward 10 – North York Centre
: John Filion – 17533
:Norman Gardner – 15135
:Ron Summers – 11212

;Ward 11 – Don Parkway
: Gordon Chong – 11961
:Denzil Minnan-Wong – 11001
:Don Yuill – 10450
:Kim Scott – 4742
:Allen Scott – 4369
:Janaki Bala-Krishan – 2901
:Neil Milson – 684
:Christopher M. Beale – 653
:Dixon Rhamadeen – 380

;Ward 12 – Seneca Heights
: Joan King – 18471
: David Shiner – 18319
:Raffi Assadourian – 5151
:Joel Ginsberg – 3345
:Bernadette Michael – 2938

;Ward 13 – Scarborough Bluffs
: Brian Ashton – 15528
: Gerry Altobello – 12605
:Fred Johnston – 11265
:Gaye Dale – 6491
:Karin Eaton – 4670
:Ed Green – 931

;Ward 14 – Scarborough Wexford
:Norm Kelly – 13740
: Mike Tzekas – 12318
:Aris Babikian – 3644
:Gerry Leonard – 2366
:George Pornaras – 2024

;Ward 15 – Scarborough City Centre
:Brad Duguid – 15686
:Lorenzo Berardinetti – 14179
:Paul Mushinski – 9141
:Betty Hackett – 4579
:Russell Worrick – 3882
:Ron Hartung – 743

;Ward 16 – Scarborough Highland Creek
:Frank Faubert – 15062
: Ron Moeser – 13955
: David Soknacki – 12183
:Chris Braney – 7142

; Ward 17 – Scarborough Agincourt
: Sherene Shaw – 10634
: Doug Mahood – 9861
:Wayne Cook – 5631
:Jeff Mark – 4909
:Doug Hum – 4645

;Ward 18 – Scarborough Malvern
: Raymond Cho – 11190
:Bas Balkissoon – 10745
:Edith Montgomery – 10659
:Jim Mackey – 2621
:Terry Singh – 1812
:Sinna Chelliah – 1165
:Jasmine Singh – 871
:Arlanna Lewis – 666
:George B. Singh – 339

;Ward 19 – High Park

*Connie Dejak is a longtime administrator at Runnymede Chronic Care Hospital. As of 2006, she is the hospital's president and chief executive officer. When a reviewing committee appointed by the Mike Harris provincial government decided to close Runnymede in 1997, she organized the hospital's successful challenge against the decision. Dejak is also a community activist, and has served on a police liaison committee for her neighbourhood. She and David Miller were endorsed by the ''Toronto Star'' newspaper in the 1997 campaign. She later sought an appointment to the Toronto Police Serves Board in 1999, but was passed over in favour of Alan Heisey. In the 2003 mayoral contest, she supported John Nunziata. Dejak is a member of the Liberal Party, and there are reports that she considered running for the party in a 2006 provincial by-election in Parkdale—High Park.
*Ed Hooven has a PhD in Sociology, and is currently an assistant professor at York University. His formal biographical sketch indicates that his past works have focused on European integration, the post-war Japanese economy and North American free trade agreements. His current work focused on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and "judicial activism". He has contributed a chapter to "Canada and the New Economic Order", entitled "The New World Order: In a New Millennium". Hooven has called for governments to distinguish between the "deserving" and "undeserving" when determining policies on social assistance. He has written against multiculturalism and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as leading to "creeping moral relativism", and has also criticized the powers of the Canadian judiciary. He has accused feminists of seeking to destroy the nuclear family. Hooven has been active with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and was research director for the Republican candidate for governor in the 1998 New Hampshire state elections. He is a member of Republicans Abroad Canada. He also plays guitar in the Mississauga Big Band Ensemble. He is considered by many to be a fascist.
*Walter Melnyk was a teacher in Peel, and later worked in sales."The candidates", ''Toronto Star'', November 11, 1988, A14. He was a member of the Metro Toronto Separate School Board from 1980 to 1988. He was first elected in the 1980 municipal election, defeating incumbent trustee Edward Boehler in the city's first ward. During this campaign, he called for better services for graduating elementary students entering the public school system. In 1984, he brought forward a motion to provide medical services for students afflicted by poor environmental conditions in Toronto's Junction Triangle. Melnyk also promoted mandatory physical education programs. In January 1988, he brought forward a motion criticizing existing practices on the Separate School Board, suggesting that the board consider breaking itself up into regional bodies. He argued that the board was dominated by a secretive "old guard", who often reduced other trustees to the role of passive spectators. The board rejected his motion. Melnyk also called for non-Catholics to be allowed into Catholic schools. He was defeated by Barbara Poplowski in the 1988 municipal election; a newspaper article from the campaign lists him as thirty-nine years old. After the election, he was appointed as a school representative on the Toronto Board of Health. He campaigned for a seat on the Toronto City Council in 1991, promising to introduce a taxpayers' bill of rights. He narrowly lost to New Democratic Party incumbent Rob Maxwell in the eleventh ward. Melnyk was later banned from running in the 1994 municipal election, after failing to file a financial statement for his 1991 campaign. He worked as the campaign manager for city council candidate Alex Chumak, but was forced to leave this campaign amid controversy. Chumak informed the media that Melnyk had offered a rival candidate a position on the Toronto Board of Health in return for leaving the race; Melnyk said that he did nothing wrong."Trustee candidate charged with fraud", ''Toronto Star'', November 12, 1994, A4. Melnyk ran for a position on the new city council in 1997, and was defeated. He tried to return to the Separate School Board (now renamed as the Toronto Catholic District School Board) in 2000, but lost to Barbara Poplowski for a second time.

;Ward 20 – Trinity Niagara
:Joe Pantalone – 11031
: Mario Silva – 10252
: Martin Silva – 8329
:Joe Magalhaes – 4035

;Ward 21 – Davenport
:Betty Disero – 10747
: Dennis Fotinos – 7587
: Rob Maxwell – 6858
:John Doherty – 5096
:Tony Letra – 4788
:Dale Ritch – 1111
:Jennifer Bauer – 1049

;Ward 22 – North Toronto
:Anne Johnston – 17123
: Michael Walker – 16449
:Kay Gardner – 15275
:Linda Sparling – 8235
:David N. Coleman – 1525
:John Ringer – 665

;Ward 23 – Midtown
:John Adams – 12010
: Ila Bossons – 11553
: Howard Joy – 10651
:Brian Mayes – 8659
:Howard Levine – 6167
:David Vallance – 2112
:Blair Gray – 622
:Philip Charles – 427

;Ward 24 – Downtown
:Olivia Chow – 20453
:Kyle Rae – 16149
:Al Carbone – 5186
:Paul Hogan – 2319
:Rosie Schwartz – 2001
:Doug Lowry – 1615
:Charlene Cottle – 864
:Roberto Verdecchia – 787
:Carmin Priolo – 398

;Ward 25 – Don River
:Jack Layton – 15045
:Pam McConnell – 8359
:Peter Tabuns – 8141
:Soo Wong – 7212
:Spiros Papathanasakis – 6590
:Terry Brackett – 1546
:Mike Armstrong – 1429
:Wendy Forrest – 947
:Larry Tabin – 939

;Ward 26 – East Toronto
:Tom Jakobek – 14945
:Sandra Bussin – 13323
: Paul Christie – 12883
:Steve Ellis – 11649
:Bruce Bryce – 643

;Ward 27 – York Humber
:Frances Nunziata – 14354
:Bill Saundercook – 6295
:Michael McDonald – 5245
:Randy Leach – 4837
:Carl Miller – 4684
:Stan Kumorek – 1535
:Natalie Wall – 661
:Arthur Saverino – 540
:Paul Jewett – 268

;Ward 28 – York Eglinton
:Joe Mihevc – 7548
: Rob Davis – 6660
: Caroline DiGiovanni – 5989
:Tony Rizzo – 5538
:Joan Roberts – 4077
:Chai Kalevar – 912

References

{{Toronto elections

1997
1997 Ontario municipal elections
1997 in Toronto