Municipal government of Toronto
On January 1, 1967, several of the smaller municipalities were amalgamated with larger ones, reducing their number to six. Forest Hill and Swansea became part of Toronto; Long Branch, Mimico, and New Toronto joined Etobicoke; Weston merged with York; and Leaside amalgamated with East York. This arrangement lasted until 1998, when the regional level of government was abolished and Etobicoke, North York, East York, York, and Scarborough were amalgamated into Toronto the "megacity". Mel Lastman, the long-time mayor of North York before the amalgamation, was the first mayor (62nd overall) of the new "megacity" of Toronto, which is the successor of the previous City of Toronto.
Fort York
In 1793, Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe authorized a garrison on the present site of Fort York, just west of the mouth of Garrison Creek on the north western shore of Lake Ontario. Simcoe recognized Toronto was an ideal site for settlement and defence because of its natural harbour and relative longer distance from the United States. Fort York guards the western (at the time of construction, the only) entrance to the bay. Simcoe had decided to make Toronto (which he renamed York) the capital of Upper Canada, and the government, the first parliament buildings and the town were established one and a half miles east of the fort (near the foot of the present Parliament Street).