Dale Martin is a former Canadian politician, who served on Toronto City Council from 1984 to 1988 and Metro Toronto Council from 1988 to 1991.[1]
Dale Martin | |
|---|---|
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 6 | |
| In office April 9, 1984 – November 14, 1988 Serving with Jack Layton (1984-1985) | |
| Preceded by | John Sewell |
| Succeeded by | Jack Layton |
| Metro Toronto Councillor for Ward 6 | |
| In office November 14, 1988 – November 12, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Jack Layton |
| Succeeded by | Olivia Chow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Metro New Democratic Party |
Background
editMartin grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the son of a railway worker.[1]
City council
editPreviously the president of the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations,[2] he was endorsed as the Metro New Democratic Party candidate in a 1984 by-election to city council following the resignation of John Sewell in Ward 6.[3] He won the by-election on April 9.[4] Although Sewell, as the ward's senior alderman, had also been its representative on Metro Toronto Council, his resignation made Jack Layton the senior alderman, with Martin serving as the junior alderman.
One of his first significant acts as a councillor was to speak out against the proposed extension of Leslie Street south from Eglinton Avenue to Bayview Avenue, as it would have disrupted residential neighbourhoods in the Thorncliffe Park area in defiance of the city's official plan.[5] He was also an opponent of the early proposals for the SkyDome, on the grounds that it would have displaced land that the city had already earmarked for new housing units.[6]
In November 1984, the city was embroiled in a controversy around a condominium development proposal, which would have seen three apartment buildings on Eglinton Avenue demolished, while the city was blocking the developer's application because it represented a significant loss to the city's supply of affordable housing. Although the developer sought and won an Ontario Superior Court decision ordering the city to issue the demolition permits, Martin was one of 11 councillors, alongside Layton, Richard Gilbert, Joe Pantalone, David Reville, Dorothy Thomas, June Rowlands, Anne Johnston, Ron Kanter and Chris Korwin-Kuczynski, who walked out of council chambers to prevent the meeting from attaining quorum.[7]
In 1985 Martin and Thomas made national headlines in 1985 when, while attending a Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Calgary, they got into a war of words with Calgary mayor Ralph Klein about how ugly and poorly planned they perceived the city to be;[8] Thomas was also quoted as calling Calgary City Hall an "abomination".[9] Both Thomas and Martin later apologized for the comments.[8]
He was reelected to a full term in the 1985 Toronto municipal election.[10] This election marked the first time, that instead of a division between "senior" and "junior" aldermen sharing the ward with the senior alderman also serving as Metro councillor, the voters directly elected both a city councillor and a Metro councillor; Layton was re-elected alongside Martin as the Metro councillor.[10]
In this term, he opposed plans that would have overdeveloped the city's Harbourfront at the expense of public space.[11] He regularly stated that he was not opposed in principle to development, but simply wanted to ensure that it was done in a balanced way that addressed the social and cultural needs of the city, and earned a reputation in this era as a pragmatic consensus-builder who was willing to seek out common ground with ideological opponents to achieve his political goals.[12] He was also an opponent of Network 2011, a Toronto Transit Commission expansion plan which he labelled as tilted too strongly toward the benefit of developers rather than the community.[13]
In 1988, Layton and Martin opposed mayor Art Eggleton's proposal to turn Yonge Street and Bay Street into one-way streets through the downtown core.[14]
Metro council
editIn the 1988 Toronto municipal election, Martin had been briefly speculated as a potential candidate for Mayor of Toronto against Eggleton,[15] but did not run. Instead Layton and Martin traded spots, with Layton running for the city council seat and Martin running for the Metro seat.[16] Both won re-election.[17]
In 1989, he was an active supporter of the early proposals for what would eventually become the Bay Adelaide Centre,[18] as well as collaborating with Mel Lastman on proposals to find alternate funding models that would facilitate construction of the Line 4 Sheppard subway line.[19]
He did not run for re-election in the 1991 Toronto municipal election.[20] Olivia Chow, at the time a trustee on the Toronto District School Board, won the NDP nomination for his seat over Lee Zaslofsky, and won the seat.
Post-political work
editMartin was subsequently appointed by the provincial government of Bob Rae to a position with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, tasked with helping to reduce bureaucratic red tape in development applications.[1]
In 1997, Martin and Fred Dominelli purchased land near the Canadian National Exhibition for $280,000, which later stood to gain them a significant profit when the land was proposed for acquisition by the city, at a potential price of $6.8 million, to facilitate the extension of Front Street from Bathurst to Dufferin.[21] The extension remained mired in bureaucratic issues at city hall,[22] and was officially abandoned by city council in 2009.[23]
References
edit- ^ a b c Susan Reid, "Dale Martin: Setting a socialist among the developers". Toronto Star, October 18, 1992.
- ^ Geoffrey York, "NDP may support leader of tenants to replace Sewell". The Globe and Mail, December 29, 1983.
- ^ "Ward 6 candidate picked". The Globe and Mail, January 31, 1984.
- ^ "Vote result alters little, mayor says". The Globe and Mail, April 11, 1984.
- ^ "Leslie St. extension opposed". The Globe and Mail, May 2, 1984.
- ^ "700 units threatened Dome on railway land would reduce housing". The Globe and Mail, May 25, 1984.
- ^ "Toronto fined $100,000 for contempt in demolition row". The Globe and Mail, November 10, 1984.
- ^ a b "Aldermen 'regret' calling Calgary ugly". Toronto Star, June 11, 1985.
- ^ "Calgary mayor denies he's courting Metro firms". Toronto Star, June 18, 1985.
- ^ a b "Layton proved right". The Globe and Mail, November 13, 1985.
- ^ Jock Ferguson, "Mayor cool to freeze on whole waterfront". The Globe and Mail, July 11, 1987.
- ^ Paul Taylor, "Leftist wins friends and influence". The Globe and Mail, July 6, 1987.
- ^ Mike Smith, "Network 2011: The battle over who gets what; Municipalities stake out claims for more transit". Toronto Star, February 8, 1986.
- ^ Paul Taylor, "Layton, Martin vow to prevent experiment of one-way streets". The Globe and Mail, May 18, 1988.
- ^ Jim Byers, "Will NDP enter mayor's race? Party split on issue of pursuing top job at Toronto City Hall". Toronto Star, January 22, 1991.
- ^ "She'll run against anybody". Toronto Star, October 20, 1988.
- ^ "Reform mood takes Toronto". Toronto Star, November 15, 1988.
- ^ Jim Byers, "Bay-Adelaide megaproject receives boost". Toronto Star, June 6, 1989.
- ^ "Sheppard subway: Light in the tunnel". Toronto Star, November 13, 1989.
- ^ Susan Reid, "Martin won't seek re-election". Toronto Star, May 1, 1991.
- ^ John Barber, "Astute councillor won't apologize for land purchases". The Globe and Mail, July 5, 2003.
- ^ John Barber, "How all the angles overlap at City Hall". The Globe and Mail, October 5, 2005.
- ^ Allison Hanes, "Front St. extension may yet live; Liberty Village Road". National Post, January 10, 2009.