40 Facts About Mel Lastman

Melvin Douglas Lastman was a Canadian businessman and politician, who served as the third mayor of North York from 1973 to 1997 and the 62nd Mayor of Toronto from 1998 to 2003.

Mel Lastman was the first person to serve as the mayor of Toronto following the amalgamation of Metro Toronto in 1998 and its six constituent municipalities.

Mel Lastman was born on March 9,1933, in Toronto, Canada to Jewish immigrants from Poland, Rose and Louis Mel Lastman.

Mel Lastman began his sales career as a child, hawking fruit and vegetables at his family's Kensington Market grocery store.

Mel Lastman met Marilyn Bornstein when he was 16 and she was 13, and they were married five years later.

Mel Lastman left school after Grade 12 and, with Marilyn's help, got a job at a College Street furniture store.

Mel Lastman switched to selling appliances and promoted himself as "Mr Laundry".

Mel Lastman opened a small frame building at Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue in Scarborough, Ontario, selling used appliances.

At age 22, in 1955, Mel Lastman bought out Heather Hill Appliances and established Bad Boy Furniture.

Mel Lastman entered politics in 1969, when he ran for and was elected to the North York Board of Control.

On December 4,1972, Mel Lastman was elected mayor of North York by defeating fellow North York controller Paul Hunt for the open mayoral seat.

Mel Lastman took office on January 1,1973, and was automatically a member of Metro Council.

Mel Lastman was supported by many in North York for operating that city efficiently and effectively, and for keeping property taxes low.

Mel Lastman 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.

In 1975, Mel Lastman ran for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Progressive Conservative candidate.

Mel Lastman joined the Ontario Liberal Party in 1987, although he subsequently claimed that it was the result of a misunderstanding.

Mel Lastman agreed to support Norman Gardner's bid for the Liberal nomination in Willowdale, and did not realize that he was purchasing a party membership card in the process.

Mel Lastman did not regret his accidental membership, but said he had no long-term loyalty to the party.

Mel Lastman was a critic of Metropolitan Toronto's Metro Hall, attacking Metro Council's decision to locate the $220 million building downtown.

Mel Lastman argued that it would be more equitable and would have been much cheaper to build the headquarters in the suburbs.

In 1997, Mel Lastman's position was abolished when the provincial government under Mike Harris amalgamated North York with Scarborough, York, East York, Etobicoke, and Old Toronto, creating a single-tier "megacity" forming the new City of Toronto.

Mel Lastman 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, although Mel 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.

Mel 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.

Ten years later, in 2009, Mel 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.

Mel Lastman succeeded in pushing the construction of the TTC Sheppard line, the first new subway line in decades.

Mel Lastman 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.

On January 14,2003, Mel Lastman announced that he would not run for re-election, citing deteriorating health.

Mel 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.

Mel Lastman sympathized that provincial downloading had burdened Toronto, but criticized Miller's service cuts as hurting the quality of life while not going far enough to solve the shortfall.

Mel 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.

In 1993, Mel Lastman saw Bill Clinton impersonator Tim Watters on television, and shortly afterwards contacted him and arranged for a commercial to be shot.

Mel Lastman refused to stop airing the commercials, and even produced several more, featuring both Watters and Hillary Clinton impersonator Elaine Kouba.

In January 2002, Mel Lastman was ridiculed for hugging and shaking hands with members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang when they held a convention in Toronto.

Mel Lastman later claimed that he did not know that the Hells Angels were involved in selling illegal drugs.

At the November 1988 municipal election, incumbent Mel Lastman ended up securing his eight mayoral term, while she lost to former school trustee Bob Bradley.

Mel Lastman was one of thousands of Canadians infected from tainted blood products provided by Canadian Red Cross in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Louie's lawsuit was dismissed in May 2001 by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice judge Mary Lou Benotto who, though not challenging claims by Todd and Kim Louie that Mel Lastman fathered them, ruled that it was too late to claim retroactive child support.

One year later, Mel Lastman died of heart failure on December 11,2021, at the age of 88.