Anne Johnston (1932 – June 26, 2019) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician and community activist. She was a longtime city councillor in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. She was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1972, and served until 1985 when she ran against incumbent

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Art Eggleton, but was defeated. In 1988 she was elected to Metro Toronto Council (in the first election where Metro Councillors were directly elected). She served until Toronto was amalgamated into the megacity in 1997. That year, she was elected to the new Toronto City Council and served until 2003, when she was defeated by

Karen Stintz Karen Stintz (born November 2, 1971) is a former Canadian politician who represented Ward 16 Eglinton—Lawrence on Toronto City Council from 2003 to 2014 and was the chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) from 2010 to 2014. Background Bor ...

. At the time of her defeat, she was the longest-serving and the oldest member of Toronto council. Johnston was also a candidate for Mayor of Toronto in 1978, when she lost to Fred Beavis in a deadlocked council vote for

David Crombie David Edward Crombie (born April 24, 1936) is a Canadian former academic and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. Crombie was elected to Parliament following his tenure as mayor. A member of the Progressive Conse ...

's interim replacement; that vote literally came down to Beavis' name being drawn out of a hat. She campaigned for the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

in the 1981 provincial election as a member of the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser (Ontario MPP), John Fraser since August 2022. The party esp ...

, and lost to Progressive Conservative incumbent Larry Grossman in

St. Andrew—St. Patrick St. Andrew—St. Patrick was a provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that returned Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario a ...

by 3,835 votes. Johnston attempted to unseat Art Eggleton as mayor in the 1985 municipal election but was defeated 92,994 votes to 59,817. She returned to elected office in the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

when she was acclaimed as Metro Councillor for North Toronto. In the late 1990s, Johnston's queries into the city's computer leasing deal led to the establishment of the

MFP Inquiry The Toronto Computer Leasing Inquiry was a judicial inquiry into allegations of conflict of interest, bribery and misappropriation of funds around computer leasing contracts entered into by the City of Toronto government in 1998 and 1999. It w ...

which unearthed corrupt practices in the deal and reforms in the city's public accountability framework. For most of her career, Johnston was known as a progressive voice on council. In her final term she supported a controversial

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

development at the corner of Yonge and Eglinton in 2002 adjacent to her ward. The North Toronto Tenants Network was so incensed by Johnston's move that they ran an advertisement in a local community paper, seeking applicants to contest Johnston's council seat. Stintz responded, and defeated Johnston in the 2003 municipal election by 2,321 votes. Johnston chaired the Toronto Seniors' Assembly and has been appointed as the group's Seniors' Advocate. The Anne Johnston Health Station in Toronto is named after her.

Personal

Johnston was born in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and immigrated to Canada landing first in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in the 1950s where she worked at a psychiatric hospital and then relocated to Toronto to work at the

Queen Street Mental Health Centre The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH, pronounced , french: Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale) is a psychiatric teaching hospital located in Toronto and ten community locations throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. It re ...

. Johnston died in Toronto and survived by her five children Heather Stauble, Keri Johnston, Robert Johnston, Jane Johnston and Tim Johnston as well as her eight grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Anne Toronto city councillors 1932 births 2019 deaths Women municipal councillors in Canada Women in Ontario politics Welsh emigrants to Canada Ontario Liberal Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections