Happy Bench Monday!

Nathan Phillips Square, New City Hall, Toronto.

Nathan Phillips was the first mayor of Toronto who wasn't a Protestant (Toronto used to be called Protestant Rome), and the first mayor since 1836 who wasn't a member of the Orange Order. Although his development policies (such as the razing of entire neighbourhoods and the destruction of landmark buildings in order to modernize Toronto) are often criticized (the people had to rise as one to stop the demolition of Old City Hall, for example), he was known as the Mayor of All the People for acknowledging that Toronto was no longer an overwhelmingly Protestant city.