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John Sewell was the mayor of Toronto, Canada from 1978-1980. A lawyer by training, Sewell first became active in city politics in 1966 fighting against the levelling of working class and poor neighbourhoods. Sewell was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1969 and became leader of the reform wing. He was elected Mayor of Toronto in 1978.
Sewell was an environmentalist mayor, famous for riding his bicycle to council and his opposition to the banking/convention development which was to become the hallmark of the mayors who followed. He had benefited in the 1978 election by his right wing opposition being divided amongst several candidates. In 1980, his opposition coalesced its efforts behind the candidacy of Art Eggleton who was able to defeat Sewell in the election. Sewell subsequently returned to city council as an alderman via a by-election but retired from municipal politics in 1984 to accept a job as a columnist at the Globe and Mail. He subsequently moved to NOW Magazine and is currently a journalist with a regular column in Toronto's Eye weekly.
Sewell has also served as chair of the Toronto public housing authority from 1986 to 1988 and is an acknowledged urban affairs expert. He has served as chair of the Royal Commission on Planning and Development Reform in Ontario from 1991 to 1993, an advisor to East London, South Africa's city council from 1994 to 1999 and as advisor on the re-establishment of local government in Malawi in 2000. He has written a number of books and articles on urban issues.
He has been a leading critic of the police, demanding greater accountability to the public. As mayor Sewell was a leading defender of gay rights at a time when it was rare for public figures to express such sentiments.
In the 1999 Ontario election he ran in the riding of Toronto-Centre Rosedale against Tory incumbent Al Leach to protest the Tory government's forced amalgamation of Toronto into a megacity. Sewell's entry into the race was controversial, with many activists accusing him of splitting the left wing vote with the NDP. Neither he nor Leach won, with the seat going to George Smitherman of the Liberals.
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