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Robert YuillRobert Frederick Murray Yuill (1924 — May 17, 2006), known as Bob Yuill, was a municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He served on the North York council for twenty-four years, at first as a ward councillor and later as a member of the North York Board of Control. He was also a member of the Metro Toronto council. Background
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. His son Donald Yuill was a North York City councillor for Ward 10 for the years 1988-1996. Political careerYuill was first elected to the North York Council in the 1964 Toronto election, following a failed bid in the 1962 Toronto election. He remained a ward councillor until 1976, when he was elected as a controller on the North York Board of Control in the 1976 Toronto election. 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, where he was a close ally of Paul Godfrey. He served on the powerful Metro budget committee in the late 1970s,[1] and was also parks committee chair a member of the Canadian National Exhibition Association Board.[2] Yuill was also chair of the North York Papal Visit Committee in 1984, during John Paul II's visit to the city.[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] In 1985, he tried to convince Metro Council to cancel its grant to the Toronto Counselling Centre for Lesbians and Gays.[7] Yuill also supported an early workfare scheme in 1979, which was rejected by the Metro Council.[8] 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.[9] He also argued that Toronto's police should be allowed to use "strong-arm tactics" to combat the city's drug problem.[10] He opposed the extension of Sunday shopping, and was skeptical of affirmative action.[11] In 1986, he was one of seven Metro Councillors to oppose a boycott of goods from South Africa.[12] Yuill opposed the construction of the Skydome in downtown Toronto, arguing that its location would lead to increased traffic jams.[13] Toronto's municipal government system was significantly changed in 1988, with the introduction of direct elections to the Metro Council and the elimination of control boards. Yuill ran for North York Ward 8 councillor in the 1988 Toronto election, saying "I don't want to go down to Metro. I don't like it anymore. They're reckless spenders."[14] He was defeated by Joanne Flint, a political newcomer, and was subsequently appointed as chair of the newly created North York Parking Authority.[15] Death
Yuill died of heart failure in May 2006, at the age of 82. He was buried in Elmvale, in south Georgian Bay. References
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