John Sewell (born December 8, 1940) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the 58th mayor of Toronto from 1978 to 1980.

Background

Born and raised in the Beach neighbourhood, in Toronto, Sewell attended

Malvern Collegiate Institute Malvern Collegiate Institute (Malvern CI, MCI or Malvern), previously known as East Toronto High School and Malvern High School is a high school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada part of the Toronto District School Board. Prior to 1998, it was ...

and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, graduating with an English Literature degree in 1961. He earned a law degree from the

University of Toronto Law School The University of Toronto Faculty of Law (U of T Law, UToronto Law) is the law school of the University of Toronto. The Faculty's admissions process is the most selective of law schools in Canada and is one of the most selective in North Americ ...

in 1964 and was called to the bar in 1966.

Early political career

Sewell became active in city politics in 1966 when he joined the residents of the

Trefann Court Trefann Court is a small neighbourhood in the eastern part of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north side of Queen Street between Parliament Street and River Street. It extends north only a short distance to Shuter St. His ...

Urban Renewal Area in the fight against the expropriation and levelling of the working-class and poor neighbourhood. Sewell was also involved in opposing the building of the

Spadina Expressway William R. Allen Road, also known as Allen Road, the Allen Expressway and colloquially as the Allen, is a short expressway and arterial road in Toronto. It starts as a controlled-access expressway at Eglinton Avenue West, heading north to just ...

in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1969 as alderman for Ward 7, a predominantly working-class area including

St. Jamestown St. James Town (sometimes misspelled St. Jamestown) is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It lies in the northeast corner of the Downtown Toronto, downtown area. The neighbourhood covers the area bounded by Jarvis Street to the west, Blo ...

Regent Park Regent Park is a neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, Ontario built in the late 1940s as a public housing project managed by Toronto Community Housing. It sits on what used to be a significant part of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood and i ...

, Don Vale, and Cabbagetown. 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 elected Mayor of Toronto in 1978.

Mayor of Toronto

Election

In the 1978 election, the right-wing vote was split between two mayoral candidates,

David Paul Smith David Paul Smith, (May 16, 1941 – February 26, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer, politician and Senator. Municipal politics Smith was an alderman on Toronto City Council in the 1970s. He served a period as deputy mayor and president of city counc ...

and Tony O'Donohue. 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.

Tenure

Sewell was portrayed as a radical in the media and was dubbed "Mayor Blue Jeans" by the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

'' while denim, which Sewell wore to city council meetings as an alderman, was still considered an identifier of the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

. As an environmentalist famous for riding his bicycle to council, he opposed the development of banking and convention centres in the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

that would become the hallmark of the mayors who followed. Sewell also established himself as a leading critic of the Toronto Police by demanding greater accountability to the public. He was a leading defender of

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

and endorsed the activist

George Hislop George Hislop (June 3, 1927 – October 8, 2005) was one of Canada's most influential gay activists. He was one of the earliest openly gay candidates for political office in Canada, and was a key figure in the early development of Toronto's gay ...

's 1980 candidacy for city council while it was rare for public figures to express support for gay rights. In the 1980 election, after two years of controversy, pro-development Conservatives and Liberals encouraged and united behind the candidacy of Art Eggleton who was presented as the establishment candidate. Although Sewell maintained the support of many Red Tories, reform Liberals, and New Democrats and won more votes and a larger share of the vote than in 1978, he lost the mayor's office to Eggleton.

Later life

Sewell subsequently returned to city council as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, to replace Ward 6 alderman

Dan Heap Daniel James Macdonnell Heap (September 24, 1925 – April 25, 2014) was a Canadian activist and politician. Heap served as a Member of Parliament with the New Democratic Party, a Toronto City Councillor, a political activist and an Anglican wo ...

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 at ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''. He subsequently moved to ''

Now Magazine ''Now'' (styled as ''NOW''), also known as ''NOW Magazine'' is an online publication based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Throughout most of its existence, ''Now'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper. Physical publication of ''Now'' was suspen ...

'' and then wrote a regular column in Toronto's ''

eye weekly ''Eye Weekly'' was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the ''Toronto Star'', and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following ...

'' from 1999 to 2005. He has written a number of books and articles on Toronto urban issues. Sewell served as chair of the Toronto

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

authority from 1986 to 1988 and is an acknowledged urban affairs expert. He has served as chair of the Royal Commission on Planning and Development Reform in Ontario from 1991 to 1993. Sewell was an advisor to the city council of

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

from 1994 to 1999 and as advisor on the re-establishment of local government in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

in 2000. Sewell also taught law, politics, and social science at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

from 1989 to 1991. In the late 1990s, Sewell founded the group Citizens for Local Democracy to fight the plans of the provincial Mike Harris government to abolish Metropolitan Toronto and amalgamate its constituent parts into a new City of Toronto "

megacity A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million people. Precise definitions vary: the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report counted urban ...

." In the 1999 Ontario provincial election, Sewell ran as an independent candidate in the riding of Toronto Centre--Rosedale, challenging Progressive Conservative

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

Al Leach Allan F. Leach (born December 9, 1935) is a former transportation executive and politician in Ontario, Canada. In the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, he was the head of GO Transit and later the Toronto Transit Commission. He was a Progressive Co ...

to protest the megacity. His entry into the race was controversial, with many activists accusing him of splitting the left-wing vote with the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

(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 the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

George Smitherman George Smitherman (born February 12, 1964) is a former Canadian politician and broadcaster. He represented the provincial riding of Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2010, when he resigned to contest the mayora ...

. Sewell finished third, behind the Conservative

Durhane Wong-Rieger Durhane Wong-Rieger is a Chinese-born, American-raised, Canadian with a Ph.D. in psychology. She is best known for her role as an advocate of patients who contracted diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C from tainted blood transfusions, in particula ...

. In 2005, Sewell was made a member of the Order of Canada. On June 26, 2006, Sewell announced that he would seek election in Ward 21 and run against

Joe Mihevc Joe Mihevc ( ; born February 24, 1954) is a Canadian politician who was appointed to represent Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York on Toronto City Council on June 1, 2022. He was previously elected to represent Ward 21 St. Paul's from 2000 to 2018, Ward ...

in Toronto's 2006 municipal election. Sewell said that he was motivated to run because of the construction of a streetcar right-of-way along

St. Clair Avenue St. Clair Avenue is a major east-west street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was laid out in the late 18th century by the British as a concession road (the Third Concession), north of Bloor Street and north of Queen Street. St. Clair Avenue ...

, which was supported by Mihevc. He also stated that he was disappointed at the record of Mayor David 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. Sewell, a former resident of Riverdale, 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 with

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness. ...

. He received

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

, and as of November 2009, the cancer is in remission.

Election results

1976 Toronto municipal election The Toronto municipal election of 1976 was held on December 6, 1976 in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mayors, city councillors and school board trustees were elected in the municipalities of Toronto, York, East York, North York, Etobicoke ...

- Ward 7 (

and Riverdale) :John Sewell (incumbent) - 8,786 :Janet Howard (incumbent) - 6,460 :Gary Stamm - 4,419 :Ronald Taylor - 770 :Charles Rolfe - 767

1974 Toronto municipal election The 1974 Toronto municipal election was held on December 2, 1974 in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mayors, controllers, city councillors and school board trustees were elected in the municipalities of Toronto, York, East York, North York, ...

- Ward 7 (

and Riverdale) :John Sewell (incumbent) - 6,233 :

Janet Howard Janet C. Howard was a member of the Ohio Senate from -1998, representing the 9th District, which encompasses much of Cincinnati, Ohio. She was succeeded by Mark Mallory Mark Mallory (born April 2, 1962) is an American politician who served a ...

- 4,248 :Gary Stamm - 3,813 :Andy Marinakis - 603 :Peggy Reinhardt - 454 :John Bizzell - 289 :Stanley Carrier - 388 :Kate Alderdice - 329 :Steve Necheff - 257 :Sandra Fox - 248 :Armand Siksna - 212

1972 Toronto municipal election The 1972 Toronto municipal election was held December 4, 1972, to elect the governments of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the five other boroughs, and the government of Metro Toronto as well. The election was overshadowed by the 1972 federal election ...

- Ward 7 (

and Riverdale) :

Karl Jaffary Karl Jaffary (born 1936) is a Canadian former municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario. Jaffary was born in New Orleans and moved to Toronto with his family in 1940. He went to school in Toronto and attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute and ...

(incumbent, reform) - 10,572 :John Sewell (incumbent, reform) - 9,952 :Richard Kirkup - 4,969 :Samuel Rotenberg - 3,212 :Karl Van Harten - 448 :Charles Rolfe - 422

1969 Toronto municipal election Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 1, 1969. Across Metro Toronto there were few surprising results, and city of Toronto incumbent mayor William Dennison was easily re-elected. The one dramatic exception to this ...

- Ward 7 (

and Riverdale) :

(NDP) - 5,433 :John Sewell - 5,054 :

Oscar Sigsworth Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

(incumbent) - 3,093 :Michael Doran - 2,554 :Sam Rotenburg - 2,515 :Douglas Loney (Liberal) - 1,379 :Richard Fidler (League for Socialist Action) - 418 :Charles Rolfe - 324 :Steve Necheff - 270

Works

* ''Inside City Hall: The year of the opposition'' (1971) A.M. Hakkert. * ''Up Against City Hall'' (1972) James Lorimer and Company. * ''Rowland Travel Guide to Toronto'' (with Charlotte Sykes) (1985) Rowland & Jacob. * ''Police: Urban Policing in Canada'' (1986) James Lorimer and Company. * ''The shape of the city: Toronto struggles with modern planning'' (1993) University of Toronto Press. * ''Houses and Homes: Housing for Canadians'' (1994) James Lorimer and Company. * ''Redeveloping public housing projects'' (1999)

Caledon Institute of Social Policy The Caledon Institute of Social Policy, also Caledon Institute, is a private Canadian think tank focused on social policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some p ...

. * ''Doors Open Toronto, Illuminating the City's Great Spaces'' (2002) Random House. * ''Mackenzie, a political biography of William Lyon Mackenzie'' (2002) James Lorimer and Company. * ''A New City Agenda'' (2004) Zephyr Press. * ''The Shape of the Suburbs: Understanding Toronto's Sprawl'' (2009) University of Toronto Press. * ''How We Changed Toronto'' (2015) Lorimer.

References

External links

John Sewell official websiteLocalGovernment.ca
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sewell, John 1940 births Living people Activists from Toronto Mayors of Toronto Toronto city councillors Canadian activists Canadian LGBT rights activists Members of the Order of Canada University of Toronto alumni Metropolitan Toronto councillors