Philip Gerald Givens, QC (April 24, 1922 – November 30, 1995) was a Canadian politician and judge. He was the Mayor of Toronto, a Member of Parliament (MP) and Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP). He was born and raised in Toronto and attended high school at Harbord Collegiate Institute. He studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School and graduated in 1949. He became a judge after leaving politics in the late 1970s. He retired from the judiciary in 1988, and died in Toronto in 1995.
Philip Givens | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Provincial Parliament | |
| In office September 18, 1975 – June 8, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Gordon Carton |
| Succeeded by | Bruce McCaffrey |
| Constituency | Armourdale |
| In office October 21, 1971 – September 17, 1975 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Arunah Dunlop, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Riding abolished |
| Constituency | York-Forest Hill |
| Member of Parliament for York West | |
| In office June 25, 1968 – October 6, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Winters |
| Succeeded by | James Fleming |
| 54th Mayor of Toronto | |
| In office 1963–1966 | |
| Preceded by | Donald Dean Summerville |
| Succeeded by | William Dennison |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Philip Gewirtz April 22, 1922 Toronto, Ontario |
| Died | November 30, 1995 (aged 73) Toronto, Ontario |
| Resting place | Beth Tzedec Memorial Park |
| Political party | Ontario Liberal Party |
| Alma mater | Osgoode Law School |
| Occupation | Judge |
| Profession | Barrister |
Life and career
editGivens was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Mary and Hyman Gewirtz, and was Jewish.[1] A Liberal, Givens was a longtime member of Toronto's city council. As the senior controller on the city's Board of Control, he was appointed Toronto's acting mayor upon the sudden death of the incumbent, Donald Summerville, on November 19, 1963.[2] He served the remaining 13 months in Summerville's two-year term, and then was elected as mayor in the 1964 municipal election.
He led a public campaign to purchase a sculpture by artist Henry Moore, The Archer, for placement in Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square in front of the City Hall.[3] Although vigorously opposed at the time by traditionalists, Givens got his way and the sculpture has become a beloved piece of public art. The controversy had a political cost, however, and Givens was defeated when he ran for re-election as mayor in 1966.
Toward the end of his term in office, he appeared in the feature film The Offering as himself.[4]
Givens ran for the House of Commons of Canada in the 1957 and 1958 federal elections, but was defeated in his bid to become Member of Parliament for Spadina. He was finally elected to Parliament in the 1968 election from the York West electoral district in suburban Toronto.[3] In 1971 he resigned from the House of Commons before his term was completed. He then ran in the 1971 Ontario provincial election for the Ontario Liberal Party in the Ontario Legislative Assembly's York-Forest Hill constituency. He won the close three-way race by promising to support the completion of the Spadina Expressway (Allen Road) on the constituency's western border.[5] His constituency was abolished in the 1975 electoral district boundary redistribution. In the 1975 provincial election he was elected again as a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the Armourdale constituency.[6] He defeated future Toronto mayor (and then-Mayor of North York) Mel Lastman.[6] After retiring from politics in 1977, Givens was given a judicial appointment and was made chairman of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission.[3]
Legacy
editThe city of Toronto renamed Caribou Park as Phil Givens Park in 2016.[7]
Electoral record
edit| 1968 Canadian federal election: York West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Philip Givens | 20,416 | 44.8 | -2.9 | ||||
| New Democratic | Val Scott | 16,204 | 35.6 | +12.7 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Wes Boddington | 8,344 | 18.3 | -11.2 | ||||
| Independent | Norman Gunn | 442 | 1.0 | |||||
| Communist | William Kashtan | 155 | 0.3 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 45,561 | 100.0 | ||||||
Citations
edit- ^ "Phil Givens, Toronto's new mayor (1963) – Bill Gladstone Genealogy". 20 March 2012.
- ^ Star staff (1963), p. 1.
- ^ a b c Gladstone (2012).
- ^ "The Mayor? As a film star?" The Globe and Mail, July 11, 1966.
- ^ Star staff (1971), p. 11.
- ^ a b Denov (1975), p. A15.
- ^ "Parks, Forestry and Recreation : Phil Givens Park". Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
References
edit- Denov, Stef (19 September 1975). "'Big names' among the also-rans as 3 cabinet ministers beaten". The Toronto Star. p. A15.
- Gladstone, Bill (2012). "Phil Givens, Toronto's new mayor (1963)". Best of Bill Gladstone.ca. Toronto. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- Star staff (20 November 1963). "Givens becomes Toronto's acting mayor". The Toronto Daily Star. p. 1.
- Star staff (22 October 1971). "Givens: Island of joy amid Liberal's gloom". The Toronto Daily Star. p. 11.