Ford Brand
Ford Brand (1904/1905 — July 29, 1986) was a municipal politician in Toronto who served on the city's powerful Board of Control from 1951 to 1958 as well as on Metropolitan Toronto Council from its creation in 1953 until 1958, when he ran in the mayoral election, losing to incumbent Nathan Phillips. He was called a "staunch defender of Metro's poor and one of Toronto's toughest politicians" by the Toronto Star.[1]
When a Metropolitan Toronto report recommended building 2,000 low-rental housing units in the suburbs, Ford persuaded Metro Council to build them in the Old City of Toronto where the need was greatest.[1]
Brant was the son of a machinist and one of eight children.[1]
A printer by trade, Ford had been a president of the Toronto Labour Council and was its secretary when he was first elected to the Board of Control in the 1951 Toronto municipal election after an unsuccessful bid the previous year. However, one of the reasons he lost the mayoral race for working curb the right of civic workers to strike by having them declared essential services under the Ontario Labor Relations Act, which earned him the ire of the labour movement.[1]
Brand joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in the 1930s and was involved in the labour movement, often acting as a labour spokesperson on city council.[1] He organized the CCF riding association in Parkdale in the 1940s.[2]
He ran against Nathan Phillips in an attempt to unset him due to the mayor delaying and playing "contant politics" with the housing proposal.[1]
Following his defeat, he was appointed to the Toronto Transit Commission in 1959, serving as a commissioner until 1970. Afterwards, he went into the insurance business.[1]
