John Sewell | |
|---|---|
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| 58thMayor of Toronto | |
| In office December 1, 1978 – November 30, 1980 | |
| Preceded by | Fred Beavis |
| Succeeded by | Art Eggleton |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 7 | |
| In office 1969 – November 30, 1978 | |
| Preceded by | new ward boundaries |
| Succeeded by | Gordon Cressy |
| Metro Toronto Councillor for Ward 7 | |
| In office 1974 – November 30, 1978 | |
| Preceded by | Karl Jaffary |
| Succeeded by | Gordon Cressy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1940-12-08)December 8, 1940 (age 84) Toronto,Ontario |
| Spouse | Liz Rykert |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto |
| Occupation |
|
John SewellCM (born December 8, 1940) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the 58thmayor of Toronto from 1978 to 1980.
Born and raised inthe Beach neighbourhood, in Toronto, Sewell attendedMalvern Collegiate Institute and theUniversity of Toronto, graduating with an English Literature degree in 1961.[1] He earned a law degree from theUniversity of Toronto Law School in 1964 and was called to the bar in 1966.[2]
Sewell became active in city politics in 1966 when he joined the residents of theTrefann Court Urban Renewal Area in the fight against the expropriation and levelling of the working-class and poor neighbourhood.[1] Sewell was also involved in opposing the building of theSpadina Expressway in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[3] He was first elected toToronto City Council in 1969 as alderman for Ward 7, a predominantly working-class area includingSt. Jamestown,Regent Park, Don Vale, andCabbagetown.[3] He also initiated the founding of a community-owned newspaper,Seven News, seen as an alternative to Toronto's corporate-owned daily papers.
Sewell became the leader of city council's reform wing, and was electedMayor of Toronto in 1978.[4]
In the1978 election, the right-wing vote was split between two mayoral candidates,David Paul Smith andTony O'Donohue.[5] Sewell won the election with less than 50 percent of the vote: Sewell won 71,305 votes, to O'Donohue's 62,173 and Smith's 45,071.[4]
Sewell was portrayed as a radical in the media, and was dubbed "Mayor Blue Jeans" by theToronto Sun because denim, which Sewell wore to city council meetings as an alderman, was still considered an identifier of thecounterculture.[6] As an environmentalist famous for riding his bicycle to council, he opposed the development of banking and convention centres in thecentral business district that would become the hallmark of the mayors who followed. Sewell also established himself as a leading critic of theToronto Police by demanding greater accountability to the public. He was a leading defender ofgay rights and endorsed the activistGeorge Hislop's 1980 candidacy for city council while it was rare for public figures to express support for gay rights.
In the1980 election, after two years of controversy, pro-development Conservatives and Liberals encouraged and united behind the candidacy ofArt Eggleton who was presented as the establishment candidate.[7] Although Sewell maintained the support of manyRed Tories, reform Liberals, andNew Democrats and won more votes and a larger share of the vote than in 1978, he lost the mayor's office to Eggleton.
Sewell subsequently returned to city council as analderman in aby-election, to replace Ward 6 aldermanDan Heap who had been elected to parliament, and won re-election in 1982. He retired from municipal politics in 1984 to accept a job as a columnist atThe Globe and Mail.[8] He subsequently moved toNow Magazine and then wrote a regular column in Toronto'seye weekly from 1999 to 2005. He has written a number of books and articles on Toronto urban issues.
Sewell served as chair of the Torontopublic housing authority from 1986 to 1988 and is an acknowledged urban affairs expert.[1] He has served as chair of theRoyal Commission on Planning and Development Reform in Ontario from 1991 to 1993. Sewell was an advisor to the city council ofEast London,South Africa from 1994 to 1999 and as advisor on the re-establishment of local government inMalawi in 2000. Sewell also taught law, politics, and social science atYork University from 1989 to 1991.
In the late 1990s, Sewell founded the group Citizens for Local Democracy to fight the plans of the provincialMike Harris government to abolishMetropolitan Toronto and amalgamate its constituent parts into a new City of Toronto "megacity."
In the1999 Ontario provincial election, Sewell ran as an independent candidate in the riding ofToronto Centre—Rosedale, challengingProgressive Conservativecabinet ministerAl Leach to protest the megacity. His entry into the race was controversial, with many activists accusing him of splitting the left-wing vote with theNew Democratic Party (NDP). Sewell was also criticized for remaining in the race after Leach, whom he had personally targeted as the minister responsible for amalgamation, had withdrawn from the contest. The riding was ultimately won by theLiberalGeorge Smitherman. Sewell finished third, behind the ConservativeDurhane Wong-Rieger.
In 2005, Sewell was made a member of the Order of Canada.[1]
On June 26, 2006, Sewell announced that he would seek election in Ward 21 and run againstJoe Mihevc in Toronto's2006 municipal election. Sewell said that he was motivated to run because of the construction of a streetcar right-of-way alongSt. Clair Avenue, which was supported by Mihevc. He also stated that he was disappointed at the record of MayorDavid Miller. Sewell said, "Living in a megacity demands more citizen participation and community consultation, not less." His candidacy received much publicity in the local media, but he was defeated by Mihevc, who received 8096 votes, compared to Sewell's 3326.[9]
Sewell, a former resident ofRiverdale, resides in Ward 21 and has his law office on Beverley Street. He is active in the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition. In November 2008, Sewell was diagnosed withnon-Hodgkin lymphoma. He receivedchemotherapy, and as of November 2009, the cancer is in remission.[1]
| 2006 Toronto election, Ward 21[10] | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Mihevc | 8,096 | 56.7 |
| John Sewell | 3,326 | 23.3 |
| John Adams | 2,713 | 19.0 |
| Tony Corpuz | 150 | 1.1 |
| 1999 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| Liberal | George Smitherman | 17756 | 38.9 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Durhane Wong-Rieger | 13640 | 29.88 | |||||
| Independent | John Sewell | 8822 | 19.33 | |||||
| New Democratic | Helen Breslauer | 4019 | 8.8 | |||||
| Green | Joseph Cohen | 392 | 0.86 | |||||
| Freedom | Paul McKeever | 344 | 0.75 | |||||
| Independent | Mike Ryner | 236 | 0.52 | |||||
| Family Coalition | Bill Whatcott | 232 | 0.51 | |||||
| Natural Law | Ron Parker | 205 | 0.45 | |||||
| 1982 Toronto election, Ward 6 (Two elected) | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| John Sewell | 13,419 | |
| Jack Layton | 9,892 | |
| Gordon Chong | 8,213 | |
| Oscar Wong | 2,479 | |
| Bill Beatty | 1,563 | |
| Martin Amber | 546 | |
| 1980 Toronto election, Mayoral | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Art Eggleton | 87,919 | |
| John Sewell | 86,152 | |
| Anne McBride | 3,429 | |
| Bob Bush | 2,479 | |
| Fred Dunn | 1,100 | |
| Armand Siksna | 867 | |
| Ronald Rodgers | 846 | |
| Chris Faiers | 590 | |
| Andrejs Murnieks | 571 | |
| 1978 Toronto election, Mayoral | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| John Sewell | 71,885 | |
| Tony O'Donohue | 62,173 | |
| David Smith | 45,071 | |
| Joe Martin | 1,658 | |
| Ron Morawski | 1,546 | |
| John Beattle | 1,239 | |
| Louis Thomas | 826 | |
| Richard Sanders | 778 | |
| Zoltan Szoboszloi | 439 | |
| Hardial Dhir | 379 | |
| Walter Lohaza | 336 | |
| Andries Murnieks | 323 | |
1976 Toronto municipal election - Ward 7 (Regent Park andRiverdale)
1974 Toronto municipal election - Ward 7 (Regent Park andRiverdale)
1972 Toronto municipal election - Ward 7 (Regent Park andRiverdale)
1969 Toronto municipal election - Ward 7 (Regent Park andRiverdale)
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