Editing Mel Lastman (section)

===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>