Oliver Crockford

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Oliver E. Crockford
Born 1893
Parry Sound, Ontario
Died March 28, 1986 (aged 92)
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Political party Liberal
Oliver E. Crockford (1893 — March 28, 1986) was reeve of Scarborough, Ontario from 1948 to 1955 and is credited with spurring the post-war transformation of the community from a rural township into a suburban municipality of Metropolitan Toronto with the development of the Golden Mile, Canada's first industrial park; made possible by Crockford's decision to purchase former federal munitions properties that had been built during World War II.[1] As reeve, he was nicknamed "Mr. Scarborough".[2]

Early life

Crawford was born in Parry Sound, Ontario and worked as an agent for the Canadian National Railway before enrolling in McMaster University to study English and theology. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1921 and later did ecumenical work for the Christian and Missionary Alliance.[2]

He moved to the community of Highland Creek, in northeastern Scarborough, in 1934[2] where he went opened a general store.[3][4]

Crockford was active with the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation when he first ran for town council in Ward 1 in the 1943 and 1944 elections.[5] He blamed Reeve B.L, Clutterbuck for his 1943 defeat, accusing him of posting in a polling booth a letter about Crockford taken from a file in the local welfare office.[6]

He was first elected to Scarborough council in 1946, and was then elected deputy reeve in 1947, before being elected reeve the next year.[2]

Reeve of Scarborough

Golden Mile

Main article: Golden Mile, Toronto

When Crockford was first elected reeve in 1948, Scarbrough was growing as a result of a housing boom caused by veterans returning from the war, but was also on the brink of bankruptcy having only collected $11 million in property taxes.[2] Crockford determined that residential taxes alone were insufficient to fund the needs of the growing township and he persuaded the Scarborough Town Council to purchase from the federal government 225 acres of land along Eglinton Avenue, including 125 buildings, that had been formerly occupied by the General Engineering Company for its wartime munitions plant, and undertake a vigorous program to attract new business to Scarborough.[7] Worth an estimated $7 million, Crawford was able to convince the federal government to sell the property to the municipality for $350,000.[8][2] While 14 of the former GECO buildings were repurposed as municipal officers, other parts of the property were sold for use as factories for General Motors, appliance manufacturers Fridgidaire and Inglis as well as SKF and other manufacturers ranging from pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paper products, typewriters and toys.[9]

In 1948, when Crockford took office, only 7.5% of the value of building permits issued in Scarborough was for industrial or commercial construction.[7] “Industrial construction permits leapt up to 26.3 per cent of the total [of all building permits in Scarborough] for the year 1950, and to 46 per cent in 1951.”[10] By the time he left office, municipal tax assessment had grown from $11 million in 1946 to more than $275 million in 1955.[2] In 1955 alone, building permits valued at $84 million were issued.[2]

The creation of the Golden Mile also led to mass construction of homes to house workers. Crockford boasted in January 1953 that 10,000 homes would be built in Scarborough that year, most of them in proximity to the Golden Mile. Commercial development followed, with the Eglinton Square Shopping Centre being built that year as well and Golden Mile Plaza the next year.[9]

Other activities as reeve

As reeve, Crockford also sat on York County Council, and then Metro Council after the creation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953 and served on Metro's Executive Committee. He was elected president of the Association of Ontario Mayors and Reeves in 1953.[11]

In 1952, he convinced the Sisters of Misericorde, a Roman Catholic nursing order, who had run and just closed St. Mary's Hospital and St. Mary's maternity home in Toronto, to move to Scarborough where they founded Scarborough General Hospital in 1956, the township's first hospital; its Oliver Crockford Wing is named after him.[2] Crawford went on to serve as chairman of the hospital's board of governors until 1972.[12] Judge Robert Forsyth, who was appointed by the province to conduct an inquiry into bribery in Scarborough, referred to Crockford as having acted in "a most imprudent and irregular manner", in a report released weeks before the election.[13]

Crockford was defeated in the 1955 municipal election by Gus Harris after he was accused of taking bribes after accepting the gift of a free Cadillac from a satisfied property developer.[14][15] He was also accused of spending more money than he earned on his income as reeve.[16]

Later life

After leaving politics, Crawford worked as a municipal consulting and property administration. He returned to Scarborough Council in the 1960s.[2]

Crawford sought to be nominated as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1953 Canadian federal election in York—Scarborough,[3] but was unsuccessful, and would declare in 1955 that he could no longer support the Conservatives.[17][18]

He twice attempted to win a seat in the Ontario Legislative Assembly as a Liberal candidate in York—Scarborough. The first time, in the 1955 Ontario general election while he was still reeve and also in the 1959 Ontario general election, after defeating then-Scarborough reeve Albert Campbell for the Liberal nomination. On both occasions, he lost in the general election to Ontario Progressive Conservative Dick Sutton.[2][19]

Crawford returned to politics in the 1964 municipal election, and was elected councillor for Scarborough's Ward 6, for a two-year term.[4][20] In the next election he ran for Scarborough's new Board of Control but was defeated.[21][22]

Crawford died in Scarborough General Hospital on March 28, 1986 at the age of 92.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Revitalization project aims to put the glitter back in the Golden Mile", by Laurie Monsebraaten, Toronto Star, (5 November 2019)
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 "'Mr. Scarborough' Oliver Crockford reeve for 8 years", 31 March 1986, The Toronto Star
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Crockford Seeks PC Nomination In New Riding", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]20 Dec 1952:
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Candidates in the Suburbs", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]03 Dec 1964: 12
  5. ↑ "See acclamation for Clutterbuck", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]24 Nov 1943: 4
  6. ↑ "Defeated Candidate, Attacks Reeve, Relief Administrator", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]12 Jan 1943: 5
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bonis, Robert (1968). A History of Scarborough. Scarborough Public Library. p. 206. https://static.torontopubliclibrary.ca/da/pdfs/281086.pdf. Retrieved October 1, 2020. 
  8. ↑ "The heyday of '50s and '60s gone, the huge Scarborough tract is resurging under residential and retail redevelopment", by Tony Wong, Toronto Star, 12 July 1999
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Not much remains of Scarborough's Golden Mile; Eglinton Avenue from Birchmount Road to Pharmacy Avenue experienced an industrial and residential boom in the 1950s, but you'd never know it today", by Dave LeBlanc, 28 July 2006 The Globe and Mail, page G8
  10. ↑ Bonis, Robert (1968). A History of Scarborough. Scarborough Public Library. p. 226. https://static.torontopubliclibrary.ca/da/pdfs/281086.pdf. Retrieved October 1, 2020. 
  11. ↑ "Scarboro Reeve New President Of Association", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]23 May 1953: 9.
  12. ↑ "Last Sister of Misericorde leaves Scarborough hospital", by Jo Carson, The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]22 June 1972: W4.
  13. ↑ "Crockford Imprudent, Says Judge in Report", by Clark Davey, The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]25 Nov 1955: 1.
  14. ↑ "Golden dream soon to vanish", by John Sewell, The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]14 Apr 1986: A8
  15. ↑ "A Crockford Error: Metropolitan Toronto", by Lex Schrag, The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]01 Sep 1955: 3.
  16. ↑ "Charges Crockford Overspends Income", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]09 Nov 1955: 1.
  17. ↑ "Crockford Seeks Provincial Seat As a Liberal", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]09 Mar 1955: 1.
  18. ↑ "York-Scarboro: Reeve, Old Foe, CCFer in Contest", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]16 May 1955: 5
  19. ↑ "Folksy former Chairman wanted more authority for Metro, less provincial interference: Albert McTaggart Campbell, The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]31 Aug 1973: 1.
  20. ↑ "5 new faces on Scarboro council", Toronto Daily Star, 08 Dec 1964: 9
  21. ↑ "Candidates for Controller", The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]02 Dec 1966: 11.
  22. ↑ "DENNISON THE WINNER: Four boroughs pick incumbents", by Terrance Wills, The Globe and Mail (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1966: 1.
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