during her last term as mayor she made the surprising announcement that she wished to run as a Liberal in the next provincial election. She was nominated as the Liberal candidate in the riding of York East. She said she ran because she was frustrated by the way the Conservative government was treating municipalities. She said "The municipalities can't go on taking more and more responsibilities and having less and less resources given them by a provincial government which is as whimsical as a 15-year-old girl with her first beau." During the election campaign she received a lot of press coverage but it focused on her age (then 70) and a certain perceived parochial attitude. Her small town persona carried well in the municipal world, but did not translate well to provincial politics. She lost badly to the Conservative incumbent Arthur Meen. Retirement and death Davidson retired from politics in 1972. She continued to remain involved by writing a twice-weekly column on local affairs for the Toronto Sun. She also wrote occasionally for the Toronto Star and provided commentaries for CBC Radio.In 1973 she published a book called The Golden Strings. Many had expected this to be an autobiography but instead she wrote about people whose lives had inspired her. One of the activities she focused on was her interest in environmentalism. She continued to serve as a member of the Metro Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). As reeve, one of her first acts had been to donate of land in the Don Valley to the TRCA, because she said that the borough did not have the funds to properly manage it. She stated her environmental beliefs as, "...prudent ecological management which the wise and far-seeing tell us is absolutely necessary for the future of the race." Davidson used some of her free time to travel to Europe and Australia. On one of her trips she had an accidental fall and an x-ray revealed a cancerous growth. She was diagnosed with cancer and died at Toronto East General Hospital on 18 September 1978. Honours and legacy When Davidson retired from East York politics the borough named a senior's residence after her, the True Davidson Acres. In 1971 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Victoria College as a Doctor of Sacred Letters. Davidson was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1973, received the Queen's Jubilee Medal