Henry George (Harry) Simpson (1886-1967) was a municipal politician in
East York, Ontario, in
Metropolitan Toronto. A retired bank manager, he served as
Reeve
Reeve may refer to:
Titles
*Reeve (Canada), an elected chief executive of some counties, townships, and equivalents
*Reeve (England), an official elected annually by the serfs to supervise lands for a lord
*High-reeve, a title taken by some Englis ...
of East York for seven years, and was a founding member of
Metropolitan Toronto Council.
Simpson was first elected to East York township council in 1945 and served a year as deputy reeve. A supporter of the
Conservative Party, he was first elected reeve in 1950 and remained in office until 1956 when he chose to run as an ordinary township councillor rather than for re-election as reeve. He attempted to return to the reeveship in 1958, running on a
conservationist platform of protecting the township's parkland and
green belt from commercial development, and against pro-development incumbent reeve
Jack Allen's proposal for extending Cosburn Avenue through
Taylor-Massey Creek
Taylor-Massey Creek is a tributary of the Don River in Toronto, Ontario. It flows through Scarborough and East York, where it enters the Don River. Taylor-Massey Creek has also been called ''Silver Creek'' and ''Scarboro Creek''.
The creek is na ...
parkland in the
Don River valley. Simspon opposed Allen's proposal for the road extension, which was to be accompanied by apartment developments, saying "we're losing parkland at a terrific rate and we can't afford any more", adding that his "fear is that the apartment buildings will degenerate into
tenements within 10 years or so." Simpson was defeated by Allen in the election by 600 votes. In the 1960s, Simpson served as East York's
hydro commissioner.
Simpson died of cancer on July 31, 1967.
[Deaths, The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont. oronto, Ont 02 Aug 1967: 36]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Harry
1886 births
1967 deaths
Mayors of East York, Ontario
Metropolitan Toronto councillors