Mel Lastman

Melvin Douglas Lastman (March 9, 1933 – December 11, 2021) was a Canadian businessman and politician who served as the third mayor of North York from 1973 to 1997 and 62nd mayor of Toronto from 1998 to 2003.

Lastman was born in Toronto in 1933, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland, Rose and Louis Lastman.

He began his sales career as a child, hawking fruit and vegetables at his family's Kensington Market grocery store.

He met Marilyn Bornstein when he was 16 and she was 13, and they were married five years later.

He left school after Grade 12 and, with Marilyn's help, got a job at a College Street furniture store.

He quickly established himself as a successful salesman.

He switched to selling appliances and promoted himself as "Mr. Laundry" (alias the "Bad Boy").

He opened a small frame building at Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue in Scarborough, Ontario, selling used appliances, and then, at age 22, bought out Heather Hill Appliances and established Bad Boy Furniture in 1955.

Having adopted the nickname "the Bad Boy" for himself, he developed Bad Boy Furniture into a chain of stores around the Toronto area.

"Bad Boy" Lastman was associated with many publicity stunts, including travelling to the Arctic in the 1960s to "sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo."

Lastman entered politics in 1969, when he ran for and was elected to the North York Board of Control.

It was there he met another young motivated rising political figure, Paul Godfrey, who would later serve as Metro Chairman.

While supporting development, he also supported the introduction of residential rent controls in the mid-1970s.

On December 4, 1972, Lastman was elected mayor of North York by defeating fellow North York controller Paul Hunt for the open mayoral seat.

Lastman took office on January 1, 1973, and was also automatically a member of Metro Council.

Lastman was supported by many in North York for operating that city efficiently and effectively, and for keeping property taxes low.

He successfully promoted the creation of North York City Centre, which became unofficially known as the "new downtown" of Toronto.

At the North York Civic Centre, Mel Lastman Square is named after him.

Lastman sold the chain in 1975 to run in the Ontario general election.

The Bad Boy trademark was ultimately acquired by the large furniture chain The Brick but the new owners allowed it to lapse through lack of use until it expired.

In 1975, Lastman ran for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Progressive Conservative candidate.

He lost to former Toronto Mayor, Phil Givens, who was running for the Ontario Liberal Party in the Armourdale electoral district.

That provincial election was his only election loss throughout his career.

Lastman joined the Ontario Liberal Party in 1987, although he subsequently claimed that it was the result of a misunderstanding.

He agreed to support Norman Gardner's bid for the Liberal nomination in Willowdale, and did not realize that he was also purchasing a party membership card in the process.

He did not regret his accidental membership, but said he had no long-term loyalty to the party (Globe and Mail, April 28, 1987).

Lastman was a critic of Metropolitan Toronto's Metro Hall, attacking Metro Council's decision to locate the $220 million building downtown.

He argued that it would be more equitable and would have been much cheaper to build the headquarters in the suburbs.

Metro Hall was later passed over in favour of City Hall for the future amalgamated city of Toronto.

An attempt to put it up for sale only received a maximum bid of $125 million which was far below the construction cost.

Throughout Lastman's political career, he was generally supported by the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals, such as Norman Gardner, Mike Colle, Mike Feldman, Joe Volpe, and David Shiner.

Though usually opposed by the New Democratic Party, he did cross party lines to work with left-leaning councillors Jack Layton and Olivia Chow.

In 1991, Lastman's son Blayne and business partner Marvin Kirsh re-launched the chain under the name Bad Boy Furniture Warehouse Ltd, over the objections of the senior Lastman, who felt the economic climate was unsatisfactory.

The store was soon memorable to most Ontario television viewers who saw its commercials.

The advertisements featured Lastman in a cameo appearance, Blayne in a striped prison uniform, and always ended with the line: "Who's better than Bad Boy? Nooobody!"

He was the first person to serve as mayor of Toronto following the 1998 amalgamation of Metro Toronto and its six constituent municipalities.

Lastman is also known for having founded the Bad Boy Furniture chain.

In 2006 it was formally renamed as Lastman's Bad Boy and since as Lastman Bad Boy Superstore.

Bad Boy Furniture Warehouse Ltd. filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2023 to deal with $13.7m in debts.

After failing to file a proposal to creditors, Bad Boy became officially bankrupt in January 2024; any remaining assets would be sold off to pay creditors.