During the Second World War, Eddie Sargent was elected to the Owen Sound City Council while still in his late 20s. And then, in 1946, he was asked by a news reporter about the rumour that he was about to announce for the mayor’s chair. It was reported in the Sun Times the next day. At that time, Ernest Knox was Owen Sound’s mayor. Asked how he felt about his opposition, he replied, “Eddie Sargent is nothing but a young up-start.”
Eddie set out on his first campaign for mayor with no team behind him and none of Owen Sound’s establishments promoting his bid. On election night, Eddie and his wife, Roma, sat at home listening to the results on CFOS radio. As each poll reported, Eddie wrote the numbers down. And then someone knocked on the door. It was a photographer and reporter who asked to get a photograph of the new mayor and his family. Eddie realized that at the age of 31, he was the mayor of Owen Sound.
On January 13th, 1947, Mayor Eddie Sargent gave his inaugural address on CFOS radio. Eddie soon became known around Ontario as the “Boy Mayor,” a man who would in the months to come give Owen Sound national news coverage. Particularly when he set up a limited dividend company called the Owen Sound Housing Company that provided affordable rental accommodations for seniors in the city, something that no other community in Canada had ever done.
In those days, elections for mayor were held every year and from 1947 to 1951, Eddie ran and won. He reached the pinnacle of his municipal career in 1951 when, at the age of 36, he was elected President of the Ontario Mayors and Reeves Association.
Originally aired June 27th 2016
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