Nathan Phillips
From Free net encyclopedia
Nathan Phillips (November 7 1892 – January 7 1976) was a Canadian politician and popular Mayor of Toronto.
Nathan Phillips was a lawyer by training and, unusually for the period, was a member of the Conservative Party having been involved in founding the Ontario Conservative Party's youth wing and then run as the Conservative candidate in Spadina in the 1935 federal election placing second.
Phillips was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1926 and was the first Toronto mayor of the Jewish faith. He served as mayor from 1955 until he retired in 1962 after thirty-six years in municipal politics. Phillips was dubbed "mayor of all the people". Until his election all mayors had been Protestant and every mayor in the twentieth century had been members of the Orange Order which dominated the city's political and business establishment. Phillips became mayor by defeating Mayor Leslie Howard Saunders, an Orangeman, who had stoked controversy with his sectarian comments about the importance of the Battle of the Boyne. Phillips' victory marked a turning point in Toronto history and its transformation from a Protestant, staunchly British and conservative city to a modern multicultural metropolis.
He is best remembered for being the driving force behind the construction of Toronto's New City Hall and the selection of a striking avant-garde design by Finnish architect Viljo Revell. Nathan Phillips Square which is part of the design and lies in front of the building was named in honour of the mayor.
In 2005 a proposal to sell the naming rights to Nathan Phillips Square unleashed a storm of opposition from many Torontonians, including Phillips' grandchildren. The proposal was withdrawn.