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.
York Centre
York Centre was originally created in 1903 from parts of York East and York West ridings. It was created when the county of York (excluding the city of Toronto) was divided into three ridings: York Centre, York North and York South. The centre riding consisted of the townships of Etobicoke, Markham, Scarborough and Vaughan, and the villages of Markham, Richmond Hill, Weston and Woodbridge. The electoral district was abolished in 1914 when it was redistributed between York East, York South and York West. In 1952, York Centre was re-designated with parts of Eglinton—Lawrence, Willowdale, York North and York West ridings.