Alan Tonks (born April 2, 1943) is a former

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician. He was the Liberal MP for the federal riding of York South—Weston in Toronto from 2000 to 2011, and was the Metro Toronto Chairman from 1987 to 1997.

Background

Tonks is the son of the late Christopher Alexander Tonks (1917-2006), who was a reeve (1957-1960), deputy reeve, Board of Control member and

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

in what was first the Township and then the Borough of York (1969-1988) in Metropolitan Toronto. After graduating from York Memorial Collegiate Institute Tonks' father ran Tonks Hardware and Electric at 452 Rogers Road founded by his grandfather. Alan Tonks attended

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, where he earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in political economy, and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, where he received a master's degree in education. He spent time working for a Canadian aid agency in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

before becoming a junior high teacher for the Scarborough Board of Education for several years. Married to Cecile, Tonks has three adult children, Chris, Matthew, and Alison. His son Chris is a former trustee on the

Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...

Local/municipal politics

Tonks entered municipal politics in 1978 and served as a member of the Board of Control in York from 1978 to 1980. He lost his first bid for they mayoralty in 1980 before serving as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

from 1982 to 1988. Due to a change in the Act governing Metropolitan Toronto, the position of Metro Chairman, beginning in 1988, had to be elected from Metro Councillors who were themselves elected to represent specific

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

s. Mayors continued to sit on Metro Council on an ex-officio basis but were now ineligible to be candidates for Metro Chairman as were former or non-members of Metro Council. Accordingly, incumbent Metro Chairman Dennis Flynn, a former mayor of

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

, had to run for Metro Councillor in a specific ward if he wanted to remain Metro Chairman. Similarly, Tonks, who wished to become Metro Chairman, could not run for that position while being Mayor of York. Accordingly, in the 1988 municipal election, he did not run for re-election as Mayor of York and instead ran for the position of Metro Councillor representing one of York's two Metro wards. At the first Metro Council session following the municipal election, Tonks was elected

Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto The chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto or Metro Chairman was the regional chair of Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the most senior political figure in the municipality. The Metro Chairman was elected by the members ...

by the other members of Metro Toronto Council defeating incumbent Metro Chairman Dennis Flynn, the only time a sitting Metro Chairman would be defeated by a challenger. Tonks served as Metro Chairman until 1997 when the position was replaced with that of Mayor of Toronto. Tonks led the Transition Team responsible for administering the new City of Toronto. He did not run in the 1997 election for the position of mayor and retired from elected municipal politics. In 1999, he was appointed chair of the Greater Toronto Services Board and served until 2000 when he became a federal member of parliament.

Provincial politics

He first ran for the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

in the 1975 provincial election as a candidate of the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...

, and finished third in York South against former

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

leader

Donald C. MacDonald Donald Cameron MacDonald (December 7, 1913 – March 8, 2008) was a Canadians, Canadian politician. Referred to in the media as the "best Premier of Ontario, premier Ontario never had," he represented the provincial riding of York South ( ...

. He was also unsuccessful in the 1987 Ontario election, losing to NDP leader

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

by only 333 votes in York South.

Federal politics

He was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

in the 2000 election as the Liberal MP for York South—Weston defeating Independent MP (and former Liberal)

John Nunziata John Nunziata ( , ; born January 4, 1955) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician. He first served as an Alderman in the Borough of York from 1978 to 1982. He served three terms as a Liberal MP in the House of Commons of Canada from York Sout ...

by 1,497 votes. In 2003 he served as a parliamentary secretary to the Minister for the Environment. He was re-elected by a much greater margin in the federal elections held in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. He served as a member of the official opposition from

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, when he lost his seat by around 2500 votes to the NDP's Mike Sullivan.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonks, Alan 1943 births Ontario Liberal Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Mayors of York, Ontario Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Chairmen of Metropolitan Toronto Politicians from Toronto University of Toronto alumni Upper Canada College alumni York University alumni 20th-century mayors of places in Ontario 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada