Allan Sparrow (1944 – April 30, 2008) 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 ...

political activist and long standing city councillor in

Toronto 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 anch ...

. He was instrumental in stopping the

Spadina Expressway William R. Allen Road, also known as Allen Road, the Allen Expressway and colloquially as the Allen, is a short Controlled-access highway, expressway and arterial road in Toronto. It starts as a controlled-access expressway at Eglinton Avenue, Eg ...

, setting up civilian oversight of the

Toronto Police The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...

, promoting

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

in Toronto and gay rights. He was also instrumental in the cancellation of a proposed bridge to the

Toronto Island Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as ''Port George VI Island Airport'' and ''Toronto ...

Political career

Born in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, Allan Sparrow moved to Toronto in 1967 with his wife Sue Sparrow. He became an activist, joining the movement to stop the

, a controversial expressway that would have been built through residential neighborhoods of central Toronto. Sparrow served on the

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The c ...

for three terms, from 1974 until 1980 under the mayoralty of

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 Cons ...

. While at Council, he formed the Toronto Cycling Committee. He opposed the old guard of councillors whose support he believed could be bought by developers for block-busting development of

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

neighborhoods. He also formed the Citizens Independent Review of Police Activities, which sought to open up investigations into police misconduct. At the time, there was no civilian oversight of the police force. He gave up his council seat in an attempt to give the seat to an openly gay candidate in the 1980 election. After his term on Council, he became an information-technology (IT) consultant. He also promoted IT investment in Canada for the federal government. Sparrow became a key player in the formation of Reform Toronto in 1988 (no connection to the national conservative Reform Party), a municipal watchdog group that published a newspaper, "The Badger", which was distributed door-to-door to target neighbourhoods. The group endorsed seven reform-minded candidates in the 1988 municipal election of which five were elected, helping to create the first majority of reform candidates in Toronto history,.

Whitney Smith Whitney Smith Jr. (February 26, 1940 – November 17, 2016) was a professional vexillologist and scholar of flags. He originated the term ''vexillology'', which refers to the scholarly analysis of all aspects of flags. He was a founder of s ...

, another key member of the group, said that "Reform Toronto's success was strongly influenced by Allan's strategic thinking and encouragement of his colleagues." In 1997 he retired as a consultant to the

Toronto Islands The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...

, and in 2001 he returned to politics as the founder of Community Air, a volunteer association opposed to expansion of the

. The group was successful in stopping a planned bridge to the airport and Sparrow stepped down as leader of Community Air. Despite the bridge cancellation, expansion of the island airport caused him, his wife and their partner Marc Brien to move in 2007 to Stratford, Ontario to move away from the airport. He died on April 30, 2008 from colorectal cancer at the London Health Sciences Centre of colorectal cancer in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. Federal NDP leader

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

praised Sparrow as "a good friend, mentor and leader" who "inspired a generation of reform-minded progressives with ahead-of-his-time thinking on environment issues".

Legacy

Sparrow is considered a saint by the God's Gardeners, a fictional religious sect that is the focus of Margaret Atwood's 2009 novel '' The Year of the Flood''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparrow, Allan 1944 births 2008 deaths Deaths from colorectal cancer Politicians from Vancouver Toronto city councillors