Frederick Charles Taylor

Frederick Charles Taylor (1907–1961) was reeve of York, Ontario in 1961. He was elected in the 1960 municipal election as a reformer, defeating incumbent reeve Christopher Alexander Tonks who had been enmeshed in a conflict of interest scandal. Taylor had been a prime mover in persuading the provincial government to order a royal commission to investigate alleged corruption in land dealings in York Township, a motion he had moved at township council in 1956 for an inquiry had been defeated. He called for an inquiry after his own investigation found that many building permits that had been issued had resulted in illegal triplexes being built.[1] As a township councillor, Taylor had opposed many of the land transactions that had been criticized by Judge David Sweet's royal commission into alleged corruption in York Township. Taylor was a semi-retired builder who had served four years as a school trustee and three as a township councillor and was endorsed for the reeveship by the York Township Citizens' Committee - a ratepayers' group that had obtained a court order unseating Tonks as reeve, only to have him overturn it on appeal.[2]

Taylor was born in Toronto and educated at Harbord Collegiate Institute and worked as a salesman and contractor before opening a building company.[3] He was elected to the school board in 1951 and then to York Township Council in 1955 after losing a bid to become a township councillor the year before. He was defeated in 1958 before challenging Tonks for the reeveship in 1960, defeating him by an almost 3 to 1 margin. After almost a year as reeve, Taylor died of a heart attack on December 15, 1961.[4][5][6]