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.
Humber River—Black Creek
The riding was re-created in 1914 from parts of York Centre and York South when the county of York, including parts of the city of Toronto, was divided into four ridings: York North, South, East and West. West York was defined to consist of the townships of Vaughan and Etobicoke and the villages of Weston, New Toronto, Mimico and Woodbridge and Ward 7 of the city of Toronto; and the portion of the township of York lying between the western limit of the city of Toronto and the township of Etobicoke bounded on the south by Lake Ontario and on the north by Northland Avenue.