After graduating from Brantford Collegiate Institute in 1961, he attended Trinity College at the University of Toronto and proceeded to law school.
[2] During an interview with Canadian Press, Reville intoned, tongue firmly in cheek, "I became a New Democrat because I was mentally ill" and was bemused when his statement appeared as a headline in newspapers across the country.
He got Council to award intervenor funding for a community group to be involved in the environmental assessment of a proposed refuse-fired steam plant.
Out of the group that organized around the issue came two popular politicians, Marilyn Churley and Peter Tabuns, both of whom were City Councillors before being elected to the legislature.
He was proud to be the author of a private member's bill that brought roomers and boarders under the protection of the Landlord and Tenant Act for the first time.
He ran a consulting company called David Reville & Associates specializing in social research and community development.
He sang at the Mariposa Folk Festival with the Spadina Road Tabernacle Band in 1980 and at Carnegie Hall with newchoir, Toronto's first rock choir in 2015.