An interest of mine has been to re-examine past local elections from the perspective of hindsight and analyze the results, the issues and how that particular election effected the town, for better or worse.
I have chosen to examine two municipal elections, in 1997 and 2000. Why? I am intrigued by the high number of candidates who put their names into the ring and the change in the election landscape with the introduction of new technology and election structure. The candidates who were part of the choice offered to us intrigued me as well.
A municipal election was scheduled to be held in 1997 with nominations for mayor, town council, regional councillor, as well as public and separate school trustees. We will not focus on the trustees in this article.
We were to see incumbent regional councillor Tom Taylor and councillor Pam MacDonald, along with citizens Agnes Pretty and Vel Evans, register to contest the office of mayor. Back then, we had actual contest for positions of power and the idea of an incumbent being acclaimed was unthinkable.
Our mayor for the preceding period, 1995-97, had been John Cole, a local optometrist and Newmarket resident since 1966. He declined to run for a second term as mayor. Cole served as MP for York-Simcoe from 1988-1993 as a Conservative member under prime minister Brian Mulroney. He was a candidate for MP for York North in 1997 but was defeated in a June election by Liberal incumbent Karen Kraft Sloan.
The race for Newmarket's regional councillor position consisted of councillor Diane Humeniuk and local school board trustee Rodney Dunn.
There were 15 candidates registered for council in 1997, including Gail Parks, Peter Hall, Diane Springstein, Dean Burton, Ray Snow, Douglas Brown, John Dowson, Gary A. Gatti, Peter J. Hanink, Dave Kerwin, Carl Kuhne, Deborah McAndrews, Raymond Potter, Bob Scott and Jack Zangari.
While there were no hotly contested issues on the table, the candidates did express their opinions on a variety of concerns such as the effect of population growth on local services, provincial downsizing, and the impact of Greater Toronto restructuring, the possibility of amalgamation with the neighbouring communities, and control of town expenditures affecting taxation.
In March 1997, the town had purchased 10 optical scanners for $90,000 to tabulate election ballots. With this new automated system only about 75 election clerks were needed instead of the approximately 300 previously used and the election results were obtained immediately. Many hailed this new protocol a success, while others expressed their desire to see a more human election and less of a dependence on technology.
The election was spread over a six-day period from Nov. 4 to 10, 1997. There were eight polling stations instead of the previous 40, which was a major change indeed. Only 33 per cent of the 40,263 eligible voters cast 13,287 ballots (reported).
On Dec. 1, the new council was sworn in:
- Mayor - Tom Taylor
- Regional councillor: - Dianne Humeniuk
- Town councillors: Dean Burton, Peter Hall, Dave Kerwin, Gail Parks, Robert (Bob) Scott, Diane Springstein and Ray Snow
Let us now move ahead to the year 2000 and the municipal elections that we faced that year for a three-year term running from Dec. 1, 2000 to Nov. 30, 2003.
During 1999, the whisper of amalgamation had haunted all the municipalities of York Region. This would leave the various councils with the dilemma of how they would cope with an uncertain future for our local corporate structure. As the millennium approached, the issue would remain unresolved, leaving our council with no option but to proceed with holding a municipal election in the normal way.
On Jan. 24, 2000, councillor Dean Burton introduced a resolution to reduce the size of council from nine to seven members. Under the Municipal Act, this resolution should have been passed before Jan. 1 to take effect in the election of new council in November. The resolution was thus tabled and ultimately deferred primarily due to lack of members to support it.
Council was also approached by a group of local citizens pushing for the introduction of a ward system. Finally, council agreed to hold a referendum to ask if the citizens were in favour of wards. A public meeting was held July 31 with a very low turnout. Essentially, 40 attendees voted in favour of the passing of a bylaw implementing a ward system, thus having it placed on the ballot of the Nov. 13 election.
At a September council meeting, Burton, Hall and Parks announced their decision not to stand for re-election.
There were 21 candidates registered by Oct. 13 deadline and, on Oct. 30, a candidates meeting was held in the community centre for them to state their qualifications and reasons for standing for election.
Running for council we had Scott, Springstein, Kerwin, Bryan Cousineau, Harvey Street, Howard Taylor, Edward Smith, Tom Vegh, Louise Paterson, Larry Blight, Jack Zangari, Victor Andrade, Victor Woodhouse, Snow, Vel Evans, Joe Sponga, Mary McCormack-Badinski, Corey Shoebridge, Mark Staffieri, Tony Van Bynen, and John Moorhead. I do not think I have ever seen an election with so many citizens interested in serving their community.
The race for regional councillor was between Humeniuk and Bill Andrews.
We again experienced a low voter turnout, with 35 per cent of 44,459 eligible voters casting just 15,990 ballots at 12 polling stations.
Once the dust settled, our new council looked like this:
- Mayor: Tom Taylor by acclamation
- Regional councillor: Diane Humeniuk
- Town councillors: Diane Springstein, Dave Kerwin, Bob Scott, Ray Snow, Tom Vegh, Tony Van Bynen, Victor Woodhouse.
The results of the ward system referendum were 8,685 in favour, opposed 5,012. Inauguration of the new council was held Dec. 4, 2000 at the new municipal offices at 395 Mulock Dr.
Some of the highlights of this council’s tenure include:
- The relocation of the municipal offices from The Tannery on Davis Drive to Mulock Drive
- The devastation of the natural environment and population explosion by developers at a seemingly unrestrained rate.
- The resignation of director of recreation and culture Bill Andrews.
I hope that you have enjoyed my look back at these two elections from the past. Hopefully my account will stimulate your own memories surrounding those elections. Election time in Newmarket has always been an exciting time, although we tend to show up in small numbers to vote. That, however, does not mean that everyone does not express an opinion on everything afterward and, of course, complain.
Sources: The Newmarket Era-Banner/Tribune; The Town of Newmarket Archives – Clerks Department; The Town Crier Newspaper; Essay on Newmarket Politics by George Luesby; Toronto Star Election Supplement; Oral History Interviews Conducted by Richard MacLeod
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town's history in partnership with Newmarket Today, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
