Anne Johnston

Who is Anne Johnston?

Anne Johnston was a longtime city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1972, and served until 1985 when she ran against incumbent Mayor Art Eggleton, but was defeated. In 1988 she was elected to Metro Toronto Council. She served until Toronto was amalgamated into the megacity in 1997. That year, she was elected to the new Toronto City Council and served until 2003, when she was defeated by Karen Stintz. At the time of her defeat, she was the longest-serving and the oldest member of Toronto council.

Johnston was also a candidate for Mayor of Toronto in 1978, when she lost to Fred Beavis in a deadlocked council vote for David Crombie's interim replacement; that vote literally came down to Beavis' name being drawn out of a hat.

She campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1981 provincial election as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party, and lost to Progressive Conservative incumbent Larry Grossman in St. Andrew—St. Patrick by 3,835 votes.

Johnston attempted to unseat Art Eggleton as mayor in the 1985 municipal election but was defeated 92,994 votes to 59,817. She returned to elected office in the 1988 when she was acclaimed as Metro Councillor for North Toronto.