John Sewell
| John Sewell | |
|---|---|
| 58th Mayor of Toronto | |
|
In office December 1, 1978 – November 30, 1980 |
|
| Preceded by | Fred Beavis |
| Succeeded by | Art Eggleton |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 7 | |
|
In office 1969 – November 30, 1978 Serving with Karl Jaffary (1969-1974), Janet Howard (1974-1978) |
|
| Preceded by | new ward boundaries |
| Succeeded by | Gordon Cressy |
| Metro Toronto Councillor for Ward 7 | |
|
In office 1974 – November 30, 1978 |
|
| Preceded by | Karl Jaffary |
| Succeeded by | Gordon Cressy |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 8, 1940 Toronto, Ontario |
| Spouse(s) | Liz Rykert |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto |
| Occupation | political activist, former mayor and councillor |
| Profession | Lawyer |
John Sewell, CM (born December 8, 1940) is a Canadian political activist and writer on municipal affairs; he was the mayor of Toronto, Ontario from 1978 to 1980.
Raised in the Beaches neighbourhood, in Toronto, Sewell attended Malvern Collegiate Institute and the University of Toronto from which he graduated with an English Literature degree in 1961. He earned a law degree from the University of Toronto Law School in 1964 and was called to the bar in 1966.
Sewell became active in city politics in 1966 when he joined the residents of the Trefann Court Urban Renewal Area in the fight against the expropriation and levelling of the working-class and poor neighbourhood. Sewell was also involved in opposing to the building of the Spadina Expressway 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, Regent Park, 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. In the 1978 election, the right-wing vote was split between two mayoral candidates, David Paul Smith 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.
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