David Crombie | |
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.jpg) David Crombie, 2016 | |
| 56thMayor of Toronto | |
| In office December 1, 1972 – August 31, 1978[1] | |
| Preceded by | William Dennison |
| Succeeded by | Fred Beavis (Interim) |
| Member of Parliament forRosedale | |
| In office August 31, 1978 – October 1, 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Donald Stovel Macdonald |
| Succeeded by | David MacDonald |
| Minister ofNational Health and Welfare | |
| In office June 4, 1979 – March 2, 1980 | |
| Prime Minister | Joe Clark |
| Preceded by | Monique Bégin |
| Succeeded by | Monique Bégin |
| Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development | |
| In office September 17, 1984 – June 29, 1986 | |
| Prime Minister | Brian Mulroney |
| Preceded by | Doug Frith |
| Succeeded by | Bill McKnight |
| Secretary of State for Canada and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism | |
| In office June 30, 1986 – March 30, 1988 | |
| Prime Minister | Brian Mulroney |
| Preceded by | Benoît Bouchard |
| Succeeded by | Lucien Bouchard |
| Other offices | |
| 1969–1972 | Toronto Alderman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Edward Crombie (1936-04-24)April 24, 1936 (age 89) |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Spouse | Shirley Ann (Bowden) Crombie[2] |
| Children | Jonathan, Robin, Carrie |
| Occupation |
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David Edward CrombiePC OC OOnt (born April 24, 1936) is a former Canadian academic and politician who served as the 56thmayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. Crombie was elected toParliament following his tenure as mayor. A member of theProgressive Conservative (PC) Party, he served asminister of national health and welfare from 1979 to 1980,minister of Indian affairs and northern development from 1984 to 1986, andsecretary of state for Canada from 1986 to 1988.
Crombie was born inSwansea, then a village west of Toronto, the son of Vera Edith (Beamish) and Norman Davis Crombie.[3] He was a lecturer in politics and urban affairs atRyerson in the 1960s when he became involved inToronto's urban reform movement.[4][5] At the time, the city had a very pro-developmentcity council that allowed a great deal of demolition of older buildings, including houses, to make way for the construction of apartment blocks, office towers, and highways (seeSpadina Expressway). Crombie, along withJohn Sewell and other urban reformers, became a leader in a grassroots movement that favoured curtailing development in favour of improving social services and prioritizing community interests.
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Crombie was elected to Toronto's city council in 1970, and becameMayor of Toronto in 1972, ushering in an era of socially responsible urban development inspired by thinkers such asJane Jacobs. Crombie was the first mayor who represented the reform movement of Toronto politics, and his policies differed sharply from those of the Old Guard who preceded him.
Much of Crombie's time as mayor was spent trying to rein in the development industry. He initially imposed a 45-foot (13.7 m) limit on all new constructions, but this was overturned by theOntario Municipal Board. Crombie then put forward a new official plan that imposed varying height restrictions across the city, and this was upheld by the board.
TheSpadina Expressway had been halted by premierBill Davis in 1971, but Davis continued to support the construction of theAllen Expressway in the north. Crombie attempted but failed to have it halted. He was more successful in countering plans for the Scarborough Expressway; all work was halted during Crombie's term, leading to its eventual cancellation.
Crombie also opposed the traditional pattern of demolishing poorer neighbourhoods and replacing them withhousing projects. The plans to redevelop areas such asTrefann Court,Kensington Market, andCabbagetown ended under Crombie. Instead, he oversaw the creation of theSt. Lawrence neighbourhood, an area of mid-rise, mixed-use, mixed-income buildings that followed Jane Jacobs's vision of urban planning.
Crombie was re-elected in 1974 and 1976 with large majorities. Because of his great public appeal and his height of only 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m),[6] he was repeatedly described in the media as the city's "tiny, perfect mayor".
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He left City Hall in 1978 to move to federal politics, contesting aby-election held for theRosedale electoral district as aProgressive Conservative candidate. The seat was vacated by liberal finance ministerDonald Macdonald. Crombie won the by-election by a large margin against Liberal star candidateJohn Evans, then president of University of Toronto. Evans' candidacy was weighted down by the Liberals' unpopularity at the time[a] and damaged by the unexpectedly competitive nomination challenge launch byAnne Cools.[b] Crombie defeated Cools in the general elections held in 1979 and 1980, and future foreign ministerBill Graham in 1984.
Crombie served asMinister of Health and Welfare in the short-livedminority government ofPrime MinisterJoe Clark which was elected in 1979 but lost power the next year.
In September 1979, Crombie, a liberal-minded reformer, as Minister of Health and Welfare under the Conservative government Prime Minister Joe Clark, issued a statement representing "current Federal Government practice and policy in the field of Indian health." Crombie declared that the "Federal Government is committed to joining with Indian representatives in a fundamental review of issues involved in Indian health when Indian representatives have developed their position, and the policy emerging from that review could supersede this policy".[7] In the previous year, Indian bands and organizations such as the Union of B.C. Chiefs, the Native Brotherhood, and the United Native Nations engaged in intense lobbying for Indians to control delivery of health services in their own communities and for the repeal of restrictive service "guidelines introduced in September 1978, to correct abuses in health delivery, and to deal with the environmental health hazards of mercury and fluoride pollution affecting particular communities."[7] Crombie appointed Gary Goldthorpe, as commissioner of the federal inquiry (known as the Goldthorpe Inquiry) into "alleged abuses in medical care delivery at Alert Bay, British Columbia."[7][8] In 1979Justice Thomas Berger, who headed the royal commission dealing with Indian and Inuit healthcare, recommended to Crombie that there be greater consultation with Indians and Inuit regarding the delivery of healthcare programs and that an "annual sum of $950,000 was allocated for distribution by theNational Indian Brotherhood to develop health consultation structures within the national Indian community."[7] Crombie's successor as Liberal Minister of Health and Welfare, Monique Begin, adopted Berger's recommendations, ushering in the beginning of a change in health delivery.[9]
Crombie stood as a candidate at the1983 Progressive Conservative leadership convention. He was the only candidate campaigned as a "Red Tory", drawing support mainly from moderates who opposed Clark's leadership. He finished fifth, out of eight candidates, on first ballot with only 3.9% of the delegate votes, and would have been eliminated after first ballot if not for the withdrawal of fellow Toronto candidateMichael Wilson, who was in fourth place with 4.8%. He was eliminated on second ballot, having came in last with only 2.3%. Despite being ideologically in tune with Clark, Crombie endorsed third place candidateJohn Crosbie.
After Mulroney led Conservatives to power in the1984 election, Crombie becameMinister of Indian and Northern Affairs, and laterSecretary of State for Canada andMinister of Multiculturalism.
Frustrated in Ottawa, as aRed Tory in an increasingly conservative government, Crombie decided not to run in the1988 election and returned to urban affairs as head of theroyal commission on the Future of Toronto's waterfront (1988–92). He authored ground-breaking reports includingWatershed' andRegeneration, which described new integrated approaches to sustainable planning. The Provincial Government appointed Crombie as head of a provincial agency, the Waterfront Regeneration Trust Agency (1992-1999) to implement the 83 recommendations made in the final report, Regeneration. Among these recommendations was the creation of a waterfront trail. Today the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail extends from Quebec to Sault Ste Marie along Canada's Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. In 1999, Crombie founded the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, as a charity, to continue the work of the provincial agency, and serves on the Board. In addition to leading work on the creation of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, the charity manages a fund for the protection and restoration of the Rouge Valley, now part of the Rouge National Urban Park. Crombie tried to find an alternative toRed Hill Creek Expressway but theHamilton city council dismissed his compromise proposal out of hand as being insufficient.
Crombie was appointed Ryerson's firstchancellor in 1994 when the polytechnic was granteduniversity status. He served in that role until 1999.
Throughout the 1990s, he served in various advisory capacities to city and provincial governments relating to urban issues in the Toronto area. In 2007 he retired as CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute. In April 2008, theToronto District School Board selected Crombie to negotiate a solution to keep unfunded school swimming pools open to the public. In 2014 he publicly opposed plans by the federally runToronto Port Authority to lengthen runways atBilly Bishop Airport on theToronto Islands to enablePorter Airlines to expand with jet planes.[10]
On May 13, 2004, Crombie was appointed an Officer of theOrder of Canada. In 2012, he was made a member of theOrder of Ontario.[11] In 2013, he was inducted into theCanadian Disability Hall of Fame.[12] Crombie serves on the Governors' Council of the Toronto Public Library Foundation, the Honorary Council for theLoran Scholars Foundation, and the boards of CivicAction and the Planet in Focus Foundation. In addition, Crombie is a member of the Patron's Council at Dying with Dignity Canada.[13] He also serves on the advisory boards of the Ryerson Image Centre and CARP Canada.
Crombie continues to be a visible participant of public discourse. In recent years, with his Red Tory views increasingly out of sync with conservatives politics, Crombie on numerous occasions joined ex-mayoral peers further to his left (Art Eggleton,Barbara Hall,David Miller andJohn Sewell) in issuing open letters on various issues being debated.[14][15][16]
Apark named after Crombie runs fromJarvis Street to Berkeley Street, in a formerly industrial area, that was converted to housing.
Crombie is the father of two daughters, Robin and Carrie, and actorJonathan Crombie, who starred in threeAnne of Green Gables TV series. Jonathan died in New York on April 15, 2015, of a brain hemorrhage at age 48. His organs were donated, he was cremated and his ashes returned to Canada.[17]
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| New office | Chancellor of theRyerson University 1994–1999 | Succeeded by |
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