Former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman dead at age 88

Former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman has died at the age of 88.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

Lastman started out as a Toronto businessman, borrowing $2,000 and a truck to open his first appliance store at the age of 22. Using a unique brand of publicity and a catchy moniker (Noooooobody!), he turned Bad Boy Furniture into a successful chain of 40 stores.

He entered politics in 1969 and by December of 1972, was elected mayor of North York – a post he would hold for a quarter of a century.

Lastman then went on to defeat Barbara Hall in 1997 and become the first mayor of the newly created “megacity” which encompassed North York, Scarborough, East York, York, Etobicoke and Old Toronto following provincial amalgamation. He would easily win a second term in 2000 before announcing in 2003 that he would not seek re-election.

CityNews 680 political affairs specialist John Stall recalls the long-lasting legacy of Mel Lastman

Toronto mayor John Tory, who was co-chair of Lastman’s campaign when he ran for the top megacity job, called him a “kind, good-hearted man with a larger-than-life personality who always wanted to do the right thing for people.” Flags at City Hall and other city buildings will be lowered to half-mast in honour of Lastman, said Tory.

On behalf of all Toronto residents, I want to send my condolences to Mel Lastman's family and friends at this time.

My full statement on the passing of former Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman: pic.twitter.com/SRKrKZRbl4

— John Tory (@JohnTory) December 12, 2021

Premier Doug Ford tweeted his condolences, calling Lastman a “true leader and builder for the City of Toronto.”

I’m very sad to learn of the passing of Mel Lastman. Mel was a true leader and builder for @cityoftoronto. He was a great Mayor and he touched many lives. Mel, you will truly be missed. My thoughts are with the Lastman family at this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/b6owt1tcXj

— Doug Ford (@fordnation) December 12, 2021

According to the Benjamin’s Park Memorial Chapel website, a funeral for Lastman will be held Monday at 10 a.m.

Lastman’s shoot-from-the-lip style earned him a reputation as a lovable bumbler, one who summoned the army during a snowstorm, pleaded with the Spice Girls to stay together and even threatened to kill a journalist.

In June 1998, Lastman made headlines when he wrote a letter to Ginger Spice, a.k.a. Geri Halliwell, urging her to settle her spat with the rest of the Spice Girls.

“Please get over your differences and make your appearance in Toronto with the rest of the band members,” Lastman wrote on personal letterhead featuring a cartoon sketch of the curly-headed mayor tap dancing and singing above the maxim, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

“Many of your fans were devastated when you cancelled your appearance.”

During a string of massive snowstorms in January 1999, Lastman – fearing his city’s snow-removal equipment to be inadequate – summoned the Canadian Forces to help Toronto deal with more than 100 centimetres of snow.

There were no major problems that required the brute force of the 400 soldiers who answered the call, so armoured all-terrain vehicles were used to ferry blood supplies to hospitals and clear the way for emergency vehicles.

In 2001, with the eyes of the world on Toronto’s bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Lastman told a newspaper he was apprehensive about a diplomatic trip to Kenya because of his fear of snakes.

“What the hell would I want to go to a place like Mombasa?” he later said. “I just see myself in a pot of boiling water with all these natives dancing around me.”

Toronto lost the 2008 Games to Beijing.

There was no shortage of controversy in Lastman’s personal life. In 2000, he admitted to having had a 14-year affair with Grace Louie, a married employee of his furniture store, that ended in 1974.

Louie launched a civil action against Lastman seeking child support for her sons Kim and Todd, then in their 40s, whom she alleged were fathered by Lastman during their lengthy affair.

The court later dismissed the $4.5-million civil action because Louie waited 30 years to bring her claim forward. Lastman never confirmed or denied being the father, but did admit paying Louie $27,500 in 1974 to keep quiet about the affair.

Lastman’s wife Marilyn, his childhood sweetheart, stuck by him through the ordeal. She passed away in January 2020 following a brief illness.

Despite the pratfall-prone facade, Lastman was a salesman extraordinaire who never stopped shilling for Toronto, winning the overwhelming support of voters who gave him 80 per cent of the popular vote in the 2000 municipal election.

A staunch defender of Toronto’s interests, Lastman often revelled in his funding battles with the province and Ottawa, even musing publicly at one point about mounting a campaign to separate Toronto from Ontario.

And after becoming mayor of the newly amalgamated “supercity” of Toronto, he promptly got into a fight with then-Ontario premier Mike Harris, calling him a “liar” over the cost of downloading services.

But Mayor Mel got what he wanted: Harris eventually offered the city a $50-million grant and $200 million in interest-free loans.

“Nobody likes to cut programs and nobody likes to increase taxes. But the provincial and federal governments left us no choice,” Lastman said during a state-of-the-city address in 2001.

“Toronto doesn’t get a damn thing and it’s time that changed.”

He reminisced about his mayoral legacy in a 2013 interview with The Canadian Press and said he not only sold Toronto to the world, but to Torontonians themselves, instilling in them great pride in their city.

“I think that’s something that has been lacking before I became mayor and after I left,” Lastman said.

“They should be selling it over and over again and telling people how lucky they are in living in such a multicultural city as this. The diversity of Toronto is unbelievable to what it was. You think back, everybody spoke English wherever you went. Today you hear all different languages no matter where you go – on the subway, on the bus, on the street, a restaurant, no matter where you are – and it sounds great.”