High Park (provincial electoral district)

High Park was a provincial electoral district in the west-end of the old City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1926 to 1975. It was mostly redistributed into the High Park—Swansea electoral district for the 1975 Ontario general election.[1][2]

High Park
Ontario electoral district
High Park, in relation to the other Toronto ridings, after the 1926 redistribution.
Defunct provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Ontario
District created1925
District abolished1975
First contested1926
Last contested1971
Demographics
Census division(s)Toronto, Ontario
Census subdivision(s)Toronto, Ontario

The High Park provincial electoral district was notable for its electors defeating the incumbent Premier, and their Member of Provincial Parliament, George Drew, in the 1948 provincial election. He lost his seat over the issue of temperance; even though his Conservatives were returned with a majority government.[3] The old City of West Toronto Junction had been an alcohol-free area since even before it was annexed by Toronto back in 1909, and those "dry-laws" were still current at the time of the 1948 election. So when Drew's government passed a new law that allowed "cocktail bars" to open in the province, his local constituents were not pleased, allowing the aptly named temperance candidate, "Temperance Bill" Temple of the Ontario Co-operative Commonwealth Federation to win.[4]

The provincial riding had a number of colourful Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) including Drew, and his successor William Horace Temple as well as the district's final representative, Doctor Morton Shulman. The district was abolished during the 1975 redistribution, placing most of it in the new High Park—Swansea district. As of 2013, the territory it represented belongs in the current Parkdale—High Park, York South—Weston and Davenport districts.

Members of Provincial Parliament edit

High Park
Assembly Years Member Party
Prior to 1926 part of York West constituency[5]
17th  1926–1929     William Baird[nb 1][nb 2] Conservative
18th  1929–1934
19th  1934–1937
20th  1937–1943
21st  1943–1945     George Drew Conservative
22nd  1945–1948
23rd  1948–1951     William Temple Co-operative Commonwealth
24th  1951–1955     Alf Cowling Progressive Conservative
25th  1955–1959
26th  1959–1963
27th  1963–1967
28th  1967–1971     Morton Shulman New Democratic
29th  1971–1975
Sourced from the Ontario Legislative Assembly[6]
Merged into High Park—Swansea and Parkdale constituencies after 1975

Election results edit

1926 Boundaries edit

1926 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[7] Vote %
    Conservative William A. Baird 10,563 60.8
    Prohibitionist W.A. MacMaster 6,809 39.2
Total 17,372
1929 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[8] Vote %
    Conservative William A. Baird 8,448 64.5
    Prohibitionist Minerva Reid 4,653 35.5
Total 13,101

1934 Boundaries edit

 
Toronto riding boundaries after 1934 redistribution
1934 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[9] Vote %
    Conservative William A. Baird 8,742 41.8
    Liberal J.O. Culnan 7,908 37.8
    Co-operative Commonwealth D.M. LeBourdais 4,251 20.3
Total 20,901
1937 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[10] Vote %
    Conservative William A. Baird 9,442 47.2
    Liberal B.A. Ritchie 7,270 36.3
    Co-operative Commonwealth Carroll Coburn 3,305 16.5
Total 20,840

1943 Boundaries edit

1943 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[11] Vote %
    Conservative George A. Drew 7,729 41.9
    Co-operative Commonwealth W.H. Temple 7,210 39.1
    Liberal L.A. Leslie 3,366 18.2
Socialist Labour W.E Hendry 151 0.8
Total 18,456
1945 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[12][nb 3] Vote %
    Conservative George A. Drew 12,349 57.3
    Co-operative Commonwealth Lewis Duncan 9,212 42.7
Total 21,561
1948 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[13] Vote %
    Co-operative Commonwealth W.H. Temple 11,561 42.1
    Conservative George A. Drew 10,546 38.4
    Liberal H. Stephens 5,358 19.5
Total 27,465

1951 Boundaries edit

1951 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[14] Vote %
    Conservative Alfred Cowling 10,318 44.2
    Co-operative Commonwealth William H. Temple 7,947 34.1
    Liberal Earl Selkirk 5,056 21.7
Total 23,321

1955 Boundaries edit

1955 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[15] Vote %
    Conservative Alfred Cowling 7,743 42.6
    Co-operative Commonwealth William H. Temple 5,573 30.6
    Liberal Herbert W. Powell 4,438 24.4
Labor–Progressive Helen Weir 430 2.4
Total 18,184
1959 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[16] Vote %
    Conservative Alfred Cowling 6,587 40.4
    Liberal Paul Staniszewski 5,056 31.0
    Co-operative Commonwealth William H. Temple 4,257 26.1
Labor–Progressive John Weir 390 2.4
Total 16,290

1963 Boundaries edit

1963 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[17] Vote %
    Conservative Alfred Cowling 7,684 42.8
Liberal Paul Staniszewski 6,743 37.6
New Democratic Andy Mays 3,415 19.0
Social Credit R.A. Reesor 114 0.6
Total 17,956

1967 boundaries edit

1967 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[18] Vote %
    New Democrat Morton Shulman 12,888 49.6
    Liberal Paul Staniszewski 6,614 25.5
    Conservative Alfred Cowling 6,475 24.9
Total 25,977
1971 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes[19] Vote %
New Democratic Morton Shulman 16,509 54.6
Conservative (historical) Yuri Shymko 9,228 30.5
Liberal Laima Svegeda 4,284 14.2
Social Credit Geza Matrai 230 0.8
Total 30,251

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ In 1938, the title of Member of the Legislative Assembly was changed to Member of Provincial Parliament.
  2. ^ Baird died in 1940. The seat remained vacant until 1943.
  3. ^ 117 out of 130 polls reporting.

Citations edit

  1. ^ "Campaign spending restricted, Legislature to gain 8 seats". The Toronto Star. Toronto. 1975-05-02. p. A3.
  2. ^ Potter, Kent (1975-09-17). "Shadow of Sulman looms large in High Park". The Toronto Star. Toronto. p. A11.
  3. ^ "Premier Loses in High Park, CCF Wins 11 City Area Seats". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 1948-06-08. p. 1.
  4. ^ McMonagle, Duncan (1987-06-26). "Spirited fight against alcohol still heady work for Temple". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. A2.
  5. ^ "Toronto Ridings As They Are Now–How Ten Seats Are Distributed". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1914-06-12. p. 5.
  6. ^ For a listing of each MPP's Queen's Park curriculum vitae see below:
    • For William Baird's Legislative Assembly information see "William Alexander Baird, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
    • For George Drew's Legislative Assembly information see "George Alexander Drew, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
    • For William Temple's Legislative Assembly information see "William Horace Temple, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
    • For Alfred Cowling's Legislative Assembly information see "Alfred Hozack Cowling, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
    • For Morton Shulman's Legislative Assembly information see "Morton Shulman, MPP". Parliamentary History. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
  7. ^ "Result of ballot in the 112 Ontario constituencies". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. 1926-12-02. p. 15. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
  8. ^ "Vote Cast and Personnel of the New Ontario Legislature". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1929-10-31. p. 43.
  9. ^ "Detailed Election Results". The Globe. Toronto. 1934-06-21. p. 3.
  10. ^ "Ontario Voted By Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 1937-10-07. p. 5.
  11. ^ Canadian Press (1943-08-05). "Ontario Election Results". The Gazette. Montreal. p. 12.
  12. ^ Canadian Press (1945-06-05). "How Ontario Electors Voted in all 90 Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 5. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
  13. ^ Canadian Press (1948-06-08). "How Ontario Electors Voted in all 90 Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 24.
  14. ^ Canadian Press (1951-11-23). "How Ontario Electors Voted in all 90 Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 10.
  15. ^ Canadian Press (1955-06-10). "Latest Ontario Election Results". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. 2.
  16. ^ Canadian Press (1959-06-12). "Riding by Riding Results of Ontario Election". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. 8.
  17. ^ Canadian Press (1963-09-26). "Who Won Which Seats In P.C.s Ontario Sweep". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 20.
  18. ^ Canadian Press (1967-10-18). "Provincial election results in Metro ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 66.
  19. ^ Canadian Press (1971-10-22). "Here's who won on the Metro ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 12.