James Ditson Service, QC (1926 – August 1, 2014) was a lawyer, co-founder of CHIN Radio, property developer and the first mayor of

North York, Ontario North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

as well as its last reeve. Service was born in Toronto, where he attended North Toronto Collegiate and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. He then attended

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall L ...

and was called to the bar in 1954. He was a practicing lawyer for 44 years and was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1983. He entered politics in 1958, was elected to North York township council in 1958 as councillor for Ward 7, and was re-elected in 1960. In 1962, he ran for reeve of North York but was defeated by incumbent reeve Norman C. Goodhead. He ran in the 1963 Ontario general election as an

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 since August 2022. The party espouses the principles of li ...

candidate in

York Mills York Mills is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred around Yonge Street and York Mills Road located in the district of North York. In 2010, it encompassed the fourth and seventh most affluent postal codes in Canada. It is re ...

but came in second. He ran for reeve again in 1964 and this time was successful in unseating Goodhead on a platform of slowing down the municipality's rapid development in order to allow for greater planning. Service also campaigned against Goodhead's support for amalgamating North York and the rest of Metro Toronto into a unitary city and alleged Goodhead was in a conflict of interest by owning a garbage disposal company that did business with the borough. Service campaigned on building the North York Civic Centre on Yonge Street and developing the area as a downtown with high-density office buildings. As reeve, he led the second-largest municipality in

Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

after the

Old City of Toronto Old Toronto is that part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that corresponds to the original City of Toronto which existed from 1834 to 1998. It was first incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and being part of York ...

. North York was also the fourth largest municipality in Canada at the time."MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS: James Service: a mandate for change in North York", Godfrey, Scott. ''The Globe and Mail'', 23 Jan 1965, page 9 (via ProQuest) As well as being reeve, Service was also a member of

Metropolitan Toronto Council The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

as well as Metro's executive committee. When Metro was reorganized effective January 1, 1967, with its 13 municipalities being consolidated into six, North York's status changed from a township to a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

, with the position of reeve being changed to

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 ...

. Service thus was North York's last reeve and won the December 5, 1966 municipal election to become its first mayor. Service advocated that North York ultimately become a city in its own right, along with

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

and

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

, and the Metropolitan Toronto be dissolved. In June 1969, he proposed building a domed stadium on surplus land belonging to Downsview Airport. Though he had the support of North York's council, he was unable to secure the land from the federal government or funding for the project from the federal and provincial governments. Service did not run for re-election in the December 1969 election. As a property developer, Service and his partner built townhouses 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 ...

and an apartment building in St. Catharines, Ontario, as well as a townhouses in

Don Mills Don Mills is a mixed-use neighbourhood in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed to be a self-supporting "new town" and was at the time located outside Toronto proper. In 1998, North York, including the Don Mills com ...

and a subdivision in

Aurora, Ontario Aurora ( 2021 population: 62,057) is a town in central York Region in the Greater Toronto Area, within the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the City of Richmond Hill and is partially situated on the Oak Ridg ...

. His involvement in property development led critics to accuse him of being in a conflict of interest as reeve, and then mayor, but he was cleared of impropriety by the courts in 1967. Service partnered with Johnny Lombardi to buy Radio 1540 Ltd from Ted Rogers in order to found radio station CHIN-AM. In his capacity as a lawyer, he drafted CHIN's successful application to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for CHIN-FM. By 1970s, relations between Service and Lombardi had broken down and Service asked the CRTC to strip award him and another minority shareholder the station's license, without Lombardi. The CRTC declined to intervene in the dispute. Later that year, Lombardi bought Service and the other partner out."He-e-e-erza Johnny" by Helen Kohl, ''The City'' (The Toronto Star Sunday Magazine), November 12, 1978, page 13"Lombardi buys out Service", ''The Globe and Mail'' (1936–2016), 18 June 1970, pg 10(via ProQuest) Service and several partners bought land in Etobicoke to create the Highland Curling Club in 1961, with Service having the responsibility for construction of the building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Service, James Ditson Canadian radio company founders 1926 births 2014 deaths Mayors of North York Metropolitan Toronto councillors Canadian King's Counsel