Editing Mel Lastman (section)

==Political career==

===North York municipal politics===
Lastman entered politics in 1969, when he ran for and was elected to the North York [[Toronto Board of Control#North York|Board of Control]]. It was there he met another young motivated rising political figure, [[Paul Godfrey]], who would later serve as [[Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto|Metro Chairman]].

====Mayoralty====
On December 4, 1972, Lastman was elected mayor of North York by defeating fellow North York controller Paul Hunt for the open mayoral seat.<ref name="Lastman sweeps North York 1972">
{{cite news
 | last      = Cabden
 | first     = Michael
 | title     = Lastman sweeps North York
 | newspaper = The Toronto Star
 | date      = December 5, 1972
 | pages     = 1, 11
}}
</ref>  Lastman took office on January 1, 1973, and was also automatically a member of Metro Council.<ref name="Lastman itemizes millions" /> Lastman was supported by many in North York for operating that city efficiently and effectively, and for keeping property taxes low. He successfully promoted the creation of [[North York City Centre]], which became unofficially known as the "new downtown" of Toronto. At the [[North York Civic Centre]], Mel Lastman Square is named after him.

While supporting development, he also supported the introduction of residential [[rent control]]s in the mid-1970s.<ref>Lastman urges Davis action on rent control
Toronto Star - October 10, 1975</ref>

In 1975, Lastman ran for the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] as a [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] candidate in the [[Armourdale (electoral district)|Armourdale]] [[Electoral district (Canada)|electoral district]]. He lost to former Toronto Mayor [[Philip Givens|Phil Givens]] who was running for the [[Ontario Liberal Party]].<ref name="1975 Prov. Loss">{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=James S.|title=Lastman says he lost because he is too popular|newspaper=The Toronto Star|date=September 19, 1975|page=A17}}</ref> That [[1975 Ontario general election|provincial election]] was his only election loss throughout his career.

Lastman joined the [[Ontario Liberal Party]] in 1987, although he subsequently claimed that it was the result of a misunderstanding. He agreed to support [[Norman Gardner]]'s bid for the Liberal nomination in [[Willowdale (federal electoral district)|Willowdale]], and did not realize that he was also purchasing a party membership card in the process. He did not regret his accidental membership, but said he had no long-term loyalty to the party (Globe and Mail, April 28, 1987).

Lastman was a critic of Metropolitan Toronto's [[Metro Hall]], attacking Metro Council's decision to locate the $220 million building downtown. He argued that it would be more equitable and would have been much cheaper to build the headquarters in the suburbs. Metro Hall was later passed over in favour of [[Toronto City Hall|City Hall]] for the future amalgamated city of Toronto. An attempt to put it up for sale only received a maximum bid of $125 million which was far below the construction cost.

Throughout Lastman's political career, he was generally supported by the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals, such as [[Norman Gardner]], [[Mike Colle]], [[Mike Feldman]], [[Joe Volpe]], and [[David Shiner (politician)|David Shiner]]. Though usually opposed by the [[New Democratic Party of Ontario|New Democratic Party]], he did cross party lines to work with left-leaning councillors [[Jack Layton]] and [[Olivia Chow]].<ref name="Jacke Layton and Mel">
{{cite news
 | last        = Honderich
 | first       = John
 | title       = Honderich: The evolution of Jack
 | url         = https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1043771--honderich-the-evolution-of-jack
 | newspaper   = The Toronto Star
 | date        = August 23, 2011
 | archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140308120006/http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/2011/08/23/honderich_the_evolution_of_jack.html
 | archive-date = March 8, 2014
 | url-status     = live
}}
</ref>

===Post-amalgamation Toronto mayor===
{{More citations needed|date=December 2021}}
In 1997, Lastman's position was abolished when the provincial government under [[Mike Harris]] amalgamated [[North York]] with [[Scarborough, Toronto|Scarborough]], [[York, Toronto|York]], [[East York]], [[Etobicoke]], and [[Old Toronto]], creating a [[List of Ontario census divisions|single-tier]] "megacity" forming the new City of Toronto. Lastman ran for the mayoralty of the "megacity" defeating incumbent Toronto Mayor [[Barbara Hall (politician)|Barbara Hall]]. Lastman's [[1997 Toronto municipal election|electoral victory]]<ref name="1997 results">{{cite web |url=http://www.toronto.ca/elections/results/results_1997.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021141358/http://www.toronto.ca/elections/results/results_1997.htm |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |title=1997 Toronto general election results |year=1997 |publisher=City of Toronto |access-date=July 12, 2013}}</ref> was credited to his very strong base of support in the suburban cities, namely North York as well as in Etobicoke and Scarborough. Hall had won the majority of the vote in old Toronto, York and East York.

Lastman gained national attention after multiple snowstorms, including the January [[North American blizzard of 1999|Blizzard of 1999]], dumped 118&nbsp;cm (46.5&nbsp;in) of snow and effectively immobilized the city.<ref name="Mel calls in the troops">{{cite news|last=Mansbridge|first=Peter|title=Toronto calls in troops to fight massive snowstorm|url=http://www.cbc.ca/player/Digital+Archives/Environment/Extreme+Weather/ID/1721169786|access-date=March 8, 2014|newspaper=CBC News|date=January 13, 1999|author2=Adrienne Arsenault|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240526234617/https://www.webcitation.org/6Nufp50P5?url=http://www.cbc.ca/player/Digital%20Archives/Environment/Extreme%20Weather/ID/1721169786/|archive-date=May 26, 2024|location=Toronto|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://nationalpost.com/feature/when-youre-a-soldier-you-do-what-youre-told-an-oral-history-of-the-time-toronto-called-in-the-army-to-deal-with-the-snow/wcm/1d1f1381-01cb-42d2-9022-3c33c1adbdb8/|title=An oral history of the time Toronto called in the army to deal with the snow|work=National Post|date=January 10, 2019|access-date=April 3, 2021|last1=Dawson|first1=Nick Faris|archive-date=May 1, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501173407/https://nationalpost.com/feature/when-youre-a-soldier-you-do-what-youre-told-an-oral-history-of-the-time-toronto-called-in-the-army-to-deal-with-the-snow|url-status=live}}</ref> He called in the [[Canadian Army]] to aid snow removal by use of their equipment to augment police and emergency services. The move was ridiculed by some in other parts of the country, fuelled in part by what was perceived as a frivolous use of resources,<ref>Barnes, Alan (January 16, 1999). 'World class wimps' receive little sympathy, ''The Toronto Star'', p. A22.</ref><ref name="Megacity Mel Snowstorm critique">
{{cite news|title=Mel Lastman: Selling himself to a city|url=http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/features/mel/megacity_mel.html|access-date=March 8, 2014|newspaper=CBC News|year=2008|author=CBC News Staff|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612130710/http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/features/mel/megacity_mel.html|archive-date=June 12, 2008|location=Toronto|url-status=dead}}</ref> although Lastman's defenders noted that at the time the army was called in, Toronto was already at a standstill, and that the [[Environment Canada]] weather forecast called for another severe storm to hit the city later that week.

Lastman paid back the soldiers by giving them each a free pass to a [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] hockey game in honour of their hard work. These tickets were obtained free of charge due to an agreement with the Toronto Maple Leafs' management claiming that if these soldiers had not come out to shovel the snow, then the Leafs game that day wouldn't have had as many people attending.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} Ten years later, in 2009, Lastman gave an interview to the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' newspaper, stating he was proud of his decision to bring in the army during the Blizzard of 1999.<ref name="10-years Later, Mel backs Calling in the Army">{{cite news|last=Tambar|first=Jaspreet|title=10 Years later, Mel Lastman proud he called in army|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2009/01/11/10_years_later_mel_lastman_proud_he_called_in_army.html|access-date=March 8, 2014|newspaper=The Toronto Star|date=January 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308091338/http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2009/01/11/10_years_later_mel_lastman_proud_he_called_in_army.html|archive-date=March 8, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some{{who|date=December 2021}} expected that Lastman would face Independent [[House of Commons of Canada|federal MP]] [[John Nunziata]] in the 2000 municipal election, but Nunziata dispelled the rumours when he found that he could not hold onto his seat in Parliament while campaigning for Mayor.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} Re-elected in November 2000, with an 80% majority, his closest opponent, civic activist [[Tooker Gomberg]], drew just a little more than 8% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|title=Toronto Megacity Election 2000|url=http://frightlibrary.org/megaelect/index2.htm|website=Fright Library|publisher=frightlibrary.org|access-date=June 9, 2016|archive-date=June 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630214158/http://frightlibrary.org/megaelect/index2.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lastman shared Gomberg's three main campaign planks; namely, committing Toronto to 100% [[recycling]] diversion by 2010 to replace the controversial [[Adams Mine]] plan, agreeing with Prime Minister [[Jean Chrétien]] to end [[homelessness]] in Toronto, and appointing [[Jane Jacobs]], the ethicist and [[urbanist]], to head the Toronto Charter Committee to explore the potential for [[Province of Toronto|more autonomy for Toronto]]. Jacobs had publicly endorsed Gomberg.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

Among his accomplishments as mayor of Toronto, Lastman brought [[World Youth Day 2002|World Youth Day]] to Toronto in 2002. He also succeeded in pushing the construction of the TTC [[Sheppard line]], the first new subway line in decades. He played a key role in developing the Yonge and Sheppard area, notably in the negotiations that had the [[Empress Walk]] condominium complex developed and two leading schools refurbished, all without using public funds.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mel Lastman|url=http://www.toronto-mayor.com/mayor-mel-lastman.html|website=toronto-mayor.com|publisher=toronto-mayor.com|access-date=June 9, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529141145/http://www.toronto-mayor.com/mayor-mel-lastman.html|archive-date=May 29, 2016}}</ref>

On January 14, 2003, Lastman announced that he would not run for re-election, citing deteriorating health. On November 10, 2003, [[David Miller (canadian politician)|David Miller]] was elected out of a field of five leading candidates to succeed Lastman as city mayor.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

Lastman sometimes commented publicly on Toronto affairs, such as in 2007 when the city faced a $575 million shortfall and struggled to make service cuts to immediately save $100 million.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} Lastman also sympathized that provincial downloading had burdened Toronto, but also criticized Miller's service cuts as hurting the quality of life while not going far enough to solve the shortfall. Lastman pointed out that spending had increased by $1.5 billion since he left office, and suggested that councillors had to consider measures such as contracting out services and cutting staff.<ref>Kerry Gillespie. City service cuts stupid, Lastman says. Toronto Star. August 14, 2007. {{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/246039 |title=City service cuts stupid, Lastman says |newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=August 14, 2007 |access-date=August 16, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929082908/http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/246039 |archive-date=September 29, 2012 }}</ref>