William Lyon Mackenzie
The township of York, which until 1793 had been known as "Toronto", incorporated as a city (meaning it received local self-government) on March 6, 1834, taking the name of "the City of Toronto" to distinguish it from New York City and the dozen other settlements named 'York' in Upper Canada. The Tories and the Reformers fielded candidates for Toronto's first municipal election, held on March 27, 1834, with the Reformers winning a majority on the Toronto City Council. Mackenzie was elected as an alderman. The City Council then met to decide who should become mayor. Mackenzie, after being nominated by Franklin Jackes, defeated John Rolph in the vote and thereby became the first Mayor of Toronto.
Boroughs of Canada
East York, Ontario, although an independent municipality with its own mayor and council, was also formerly designated as a borough. With the community's amalgamation into Toronto in 1998, East York no longer holds this status. At the time, East York was the only municipality in Canada designated as a borough; most of the communities in Quebec now designated as "arrondissements" or boroughs were also independent "villes" prior to 2002.