Henry Oscar "Ozzie" Waffle - a twentieth century Etobicoke visionary
Reeve Ozzie Waffle at entrance to Etobicoke Township Hall in 1957.
(Source: EHS Image Library)
There was a time when Highway 427 was surrounded by farmland, and the population of Etobicoke was a mere few thousand. As Etobicoke began to change and grow, there was one man who envisioned it becoming something far greater than what it was. His name was Ozzie Waffle, and he saw the future of Etobicoke.
“He knew what Etobicoke was going to become,” recalls Waffle’s son, Alan. “It was a sleeping giant.”
Henry Oscar “Ozzie” Waffle was deputy reeve of Etobicoke from 1954 to 1956, and reeve from 1957 to 1962. He was born in Sydenham, a small town north of Kingston, in 1918, just as World War I drew to a close. When WWII began, Waffle became a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, and served as a flight instructor and engineer. Stationed in western Canada, he did his part for the war by training other flyers to become flight engineers. When the war ended, his technical aptitude led him to a new career: fixing and selling cars. After returning home, Waffle opened Thorncrest Motors, a new and used car dealership on the northwest corner of Burnhamthorpe Crescent and Dundas Street West in Etobicoke.
His business helped him become a fixture of the community, but his commitment to civic service made him a public figure. He was involved in his church, St. George’s-on-the-Hill, and his local Kiwanis Club, where he would serve as president. But the event that would kick him into top gear was yet to come.
In 1954, Hurricane Hazel descended onto Toronto. On the night of October 15, Ozzie was sitting at home listening to the radio when the weather reports began to take a turn for the worse. He charged out into the rain to check the level of the river. Waffle sprang into action, setting up a shortwave radio communication centre, directing his neighbours to collect warm clothing, helping to provide emergency heating to a local hospital, and — with the help of his dealership connections — establishing a truck convoy system for supplies. Waffle’s heroism during this time of crisis would not soon be forgotten by the community.
It was in December 1954 that Ozzie would begin his political career as deputy reeve. After serving a two-year term, he was elected as reeve in 1956 and began serving in 1957. This was a time of significant change in Etobicoke. In the two decades after the war, the population of Etobicoke more than tripled from 40,000 to 200,000. The transformation was stark and quick.
The farmland that abutted the 427 (then Highway 27) was bought for development. Enrolment at the local schools soared. Through it all, Waffle looked to the horizon, attempting to build what the community would need decades down the line.
One of his major projects was a plan to build a monorail connecting Pearson airport to downtown Toronto. Waffle knew that the growing region would need a rapid transit link to the core, and after seeing a monorail at Disneyland, he had been impressed with its small stature and that it could be built above ground level. Waffle pushed hard to get it built; he had a scale model of a monorail in the basement, and advocated for it at the Metropolitan Toronto council. He proposed the idea at council in 1958 and was shot down. In 1962, he raised it again, and council agreed to make a study of it. Ultimately, council did not support the plan, and it never came to fruition. But Waffle’s vision of a rapid transit link from Pearson to downtown was realized in 2015 with the opening of the Union Pearson express. “I remember him saying we needed rapid transit,” Alan Waffle recalls, “because he knew what Etobicoke was going to become.”
Despite the powerful influence of the city of Toronto, Waffle stood strongly in favour of Etobicoke maintaining its autonomy. He was strongly opposed to amalgamation, arguing that it would be financially irresponsible and would place the government at a remove from the people.
He envisioned the evolution of the Toronto region into four distinct cities: Toronto, Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke. After decades of debate, the suburbs would be amalgamated into the city of Toronto in 1998.
“He knew what Etobicoke was going to become,” recalls Waffle’s son, Alan. “It was a sleeping giant.”
Henry Oscar “Ozzie” Waffle was deputy reeve of Etobicoke from 1954 to 1956, and reeve from 1957 to 1962. He was born in Sydenham, a small town north of Kingston, in 1918, just as World War I drew to a close. When WWII began, Waffle became a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, and served as a flight instructor and engineer. Stationed in western Canada, he did his part for the war by training other flyers to become flight engineers. When the war ended, his technical aptitude led him to a new career: fixing and selling cars. After returning home, Waffle opened Thorncrest Motors, a new and used car dealership on the northwest corner of Burnhamthorpe Crescent and Dundas Street West in Etobicoke.
His business helped him become a fixture of the community, but his commitment to civic service made him a public figure. He was involved in his church, St. George’s-on-the-Hill, and his local Kiwanis Club, where he would serve as president. But the event that would kick him into top gear was yet to come.
In 1954, Hurricane Hazel descended onto Toronto. On the night of October 15, Ozzie was sitting at home listening to the radio when the weather reports began to take a turn for the worse. He charged out into the rain to check the level of the river. Waffle sprang into action, setting up a shortwave radio communication centre, directing his neighbours to collect warm clothing, helping to provide emergency heating to a local hospital, and — with the help of his dealership connections — establishing a truck convoy system for supplies. Waffle’s heroism during this time of crisis would not soon be forgotten by the community.
It was in December 1954 that Ozzie would begin his political career as deputy reeve. After serving a two-year term, he was elected as reeve in 1956 and began serving in 1957. This was a time of significant change in Etobicoke. In the two decades after the war, the population of Etobicoke more than tripled from 40,000 to 200,000. The transformation was stark and quick.
The farmland that abutted the 427 (then Highway 27) was bought for development. Enrolment at the local schools soared. Through it all, Waffle looked to the horizon, attempting to build what the community would need decades down the line.
One of his major projects was a plan to build a monorail connecting Pearson airport to downtown Toronto. Waffle knew that the growing region would need a rapid transit link to the core, and after seeing a monorail at Disneyland, he had been impressed with its small stature and that it could be built above ground level. Waffle pushed hard to get it built; he had a scale model of a monorail in the basement, and advocated for it at the Metropolitan Toronto council. He proposed the idea at council in 1958 and was shot down. In 1962, he raised it again, and council agreed to make a study of it. Ultimately, council did not support the plan, and it never came to fruition. But Waffle’s vision of a rapid transit link from Pearson to downtown was realized in 2015 with the opening of the Union Pearson express. “I remember him saying we needed rapid transit,” Alan Waffle recalls, “because he knew what Etobicoke was going to become.”
Despite the powerful influence of the city of Toronto, Waffle stood strongly in favour of Etobicoke maintaining its autonomy. He was strongly opposed to amalgamation, arguing that it would be financially irresponsible and would place the government at a remove from the people.
He envisioned the evolution of the Toronto region into four distinct cities: Toronto, Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke. After decades of debate, the suburbs would be amalgamated into the city of Toronto in 1998.
Ozzie Waffle accompanied by Queen Elizabeth
to view the new Etobicoke Civic Centre, West
Mall, June 30, 1959 (Alan Waffle collection,
donated to EHS)
One milestone event of Waffle’s tenure was Queen Elizabeth’s 1959 visit to Canada. The Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, had been on a whirlwind tour of Canada, visiting ten provinces and two territories in forty-five days— and their packed itinerary included a stop in Etobicoke. If the royals had visited a decade earlier, there may have been less to see. But when the Queen arrived in Toronto, she travelled to Etobicoke on the newly-built Gardiner Expressway, which had just opened the previous year. Waffle welcomed her to the new Etobicoke Civic Centre, also opened in 1958. She then travelled to Woodbine racetrack to attend the 100th Queen’s Plate horse race. Woodbine racetrack had opened in 1956 after being relocated from the east end of Toronto. With the eyes of the nation on the Queen, the royal visit served as an exciting showcase for a rapidly changing Etobicoke — and Waffle was its proud representative.
After two terms, Waffle left office in 1962. He passed away in 1980, after suffering from multiple sclerosis. Since Ozzie Waffle’s time, Etobicoke has undergone even more transformation. Yet, if he could see where we stand today, he may not have been surprised.
Waffle was an advocate for our changing town, and someone who had a vision for the future. "He saw Etobicoke for what it was going to become,” says his son, Alan. “And he tried to make sure things were in place to make it happen.”
Researched and Written by Aleksandra Kandic.
After two terms, Waffle left office in 1962. He passed away in 1980, after suffering from multiple sclerosis. Since Ozzie Waffle’s time, Etobicoke has undergone even more transformation. Yet, if he could see where we stand today, he may not have been surprised.
Waffle was an advocate for our changing town, and someone who had a vision for the future. "He saw Etobicoke for what it was going to become,” says his son, Alan. “And he tried to make sure things were in place to make it happen.”
Researched and Written by Aleksandra Kandic.