Thomas Foster (Canadian politician)

Thomas Foster (July 24 1852 – December 10 1945) was the Mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1925 to 1927.

The son of John T. Foster and Frances Nicholson, Thomas Foster was born July 24, 1852, in Lambton Mills, ON. His family soon moved to Leaskdale, ON at his mothers passing.

He started his working life as a butcher's boy in Toronto, until he saved enough money to purchase his own butcher shop for $50. The earning from that business allowed him to purchase property which became the source of his eventual wealth.

He was first elected as an alderman for St. David Ward in 1891, then reelected in 1892 and 1894. In 1895 he lost the election. He would not return to council until 1900 as an alderman for Ward 2, a position which he would hold until 1909. He returned as alderman in 1910; however, he lost the 1911 election. In 1912 he returned to power and kept the seat until 1917.

He had served as a Member of Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1921. He was elected as a Union Government candidate in the 1917 federal election for East York. He lost in his party's nominations for candidates so he ran as an independent and lost his seat in the 1921 election.

Foster returned to City Council for the next three years, then was elected as mayor in 1925. He was a great supporter of Hydro expenditures and loved flowers. As an alderman he fought for the rebuilding of the pavilion (it had been destroyed by fire) at Allan Gardens. In his 25 years of civic service he would earn the informal title of "Honest Tom." As mayor of Toronto he was reported to have saved the city two million dollars by rigid economics.

Foster was known to collect the rents on his properties in person, even when he was mayor. If a tenant complained about a problem, or wanted a bit of work done, Foster would go out to his car, get his tools and fix the issue on the spot.

He was a great traveler and on one of his trips he was inspired by the Taj Mahal. In 1935 and 1936 he had a memorial temple constructed on a hill between Leaskdale and Uxbridge, Ontario, for his family at a cost of $200,000.

He died at the age of 93 and is buried in the massive memorial on a hill north of town on Durham Regional Road 1.

Among other things Foster left $500,000 for cancer research, $100,000 for an annual picnic to be held at Exhibition Park for school children, and funds to feed wild birds in Toronto. Inspired by the Great Stork Derby, Mayor Foster also sponsored a contest to reward mothers for their skills at procreation. The prizes were $1,250 for first, $800 for second, and $450 for third. Four ten-years periods began and ended on his death date, and ran from 1945-55, 1948-58, 1951-61, and 1954-64.

External links

* [http://www.uxbridge.com/people/tfoster.html Thomas Foster memorial]

References

"Toronto Star", Dec 11, 1945 and the "Toronto Globe and Mail", December 12, 1945

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before=William W. Hiltz
title=Mayor of Toronto
years=1925–1927
after=Samuel McBride