Robert Yuill
Robert Frederick Murray (Bob) Yuill (1924—May 17, 2006) was a municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He served on the North York city council for twenty-four years, at first as a ward councillor and later as a city controller. He was also a member of the Metro Toronto council.
Yuill was born in Toronto, and served in the Canadian reserve forces during World War II. He received a Commerce degree from the University of Toronto in 1948, and later operated a business forms company for twenty-five years.
Yuill was first elected to the North York Council in 1964, following a failed bid in 1962. He remained a ward councillor until 1976, when he campaigned successfully for a seat on the North York Board of Control. He served as a controller until 1988, when the position was eliminated. Yuill's controller position also gave him a seat on the Metro council. He served on the powerful Metro budget committee in the late 1970s.[1] He also served as parks committee chair, and was a member of the Canadian National Exhibition Association Board.[2] He considered running for Metro Council Chair in 1984, but eventually declined.[3]
Yuill was a fiscal conservative. He opposed plans for Metro Toronto to provide financial aid to university students, and once described a proposed 34% raise for Metro managers as "baloney".[4] He also supported an extension of the Spadina Expressway to downtown Toronto, arguing "Suburbs were designed for cars".[5]
He also held socially conservative views on some issues. During the 1970s, he recommended that North York Mayor Mel Lastman give a Mayor's Medallion to anti-gay rights advocate Anita Bryant during her visit to the city. Lastman declined.[6] Yuill also supported an early workfare scheme in 1979, which was rejected by the Metro Council.[7] In 1988, he supported a ban on Now Magazine from parts of city hall as a response to the journal's adult-themed personal ads.[8] He also argued that Toronto's police should be allowed to use "strong-arm tactics" to combat the city's drug problem.[9]
He opposed the extension of Sunday shopping laws in the late 1980s.[10]
Toronto's municipal government system was significantly changed in 1988, with the elimination of city controller positions and the introduction of direct elections to the Metro Council. Yuill was expected to campaign for a Metro seat, but instead chose to campaign for a ward seat in North York. He was quoted as saying, "I don't want to go down to Metro. I don't like it anymore. They're reckless spenders."[11] He was defeated by Joanne Flint, a political newcomer. Yuill was subsequently appointed as chair of the North York Parking Authority, a new body established to oversee the city's parking lots.[12]
Yuill was known both for his frugality and his love of practical jokes. He once wore a sailor's cap to a Metro Toronto budget debate, to argue that council was spending money like drunken sailors.
He died of heart failure in May 2006, at age 82. He was buried in Elmville, in south Georgian Bay.
His son, Donald Yuill, is also a municipal politician in Toronto.
Sources
- John Goddard, "Bob Yuill frugal, with a fun side", Toronto Star, 23 May 2006, B03.
Footnotes
- ^ Alden Baker, "Ruling Metro: private deals, outer serenity", Globe and Mail, 3 January 1978, P1.
- ^ Jacquie McNish, "Metro politicians sniping at each other over 171,500 drop in CNE attendance", Globe and Mail, 26 August 1980.
- ^ "New look at 'police state' bylaw", Globe and Mail, 7 June 1978, P5; Beverly Bowen, "Plenty of time, councillor says", Globe and Mail, 28 May 1984, P16.
- ^ Michael Smith, "Aid to students is province's job Metro decides", Toronto Star, 28 May 1986, A8; Jim Byers, "Committee urges 34 per cent hikes for Metro managers", Toronto Star, 8 November 1986, A6.
- ^ Marina Strauss, "Hopefuls want end to chaos in North York", Globe and Mail, 30 October 1980, P4.
- ^ Dick Beddoes, "Love? Ha! 'Twas all lies", Globe and Mail, 5 January 1978, P8.
- ^ Dick Beddoes, "Job maker? Could be", Globe and Mail, 31 January 1979, P8.
- ^ David Lewis Stein, "Flap over Now ban has turned quite nasty", Toronto Star, 24 March 1988, A29.
- ^ Michael Smith, "'Get tough' in the war on drugs Metro told", Toronto Star, 15 June 1988, A6.
- ^ Michael Best, "North York council divided on Sunday shopping plebiscite", 3 February 1988, A7.
- ^ Bruce DeMara, "Status quo important in posh North York ward", Toronto Star, 21 October 1988, A7.
- ^ Gail Swainson, "North York's parking authority a patronage haven: councillor", 1 March 1990, N5. Councillor Anthony Perruzza described this as a patronage appointment.