Name of Toronto
John Graves Simcoe identified the area as a strategic location to base a new capital for Upper Canada, believing Newark to be susceptible to American invasion. A garrison was established at Garrison Creek, on the western entrance to the docks of Toronto Harbour, in 1793; this later became Fort York. The settlement it defended was renamed York on August 26, 1793, as Simcoe favoured English names over those of First Nations languages, in honour of Prince Frederick, Duke of York. Residents petitioned to change the name back to Toronto, and in 1834 the city was incorporated with its original name. The name York lived on through the name of York County (which was later split into Metropolitan Toronto and York Region), and continues to live on through the names of several districts within the city, including Yorkville, East York, and North York, the latter two suburbs that were formally amalgamated into the "megacity" of Toronto on January 1, 1998.
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.