York West (electoral district)
Wikimedia article covering multiple topics: electoral districts in Ontario, Canada (1867–2018)
York West (known as West York in the 1800s) was an electoral district in the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A historical electoral district first defined in 1798 as the West Riding for the Country of York by legislation, it was most recently represented in the House of Commons of Canada until 2015 and Legislative Assembly of Ontario until 2018. It covered the area around the Jane and Finch neighbourhood in the northwest corner of Toronto in its final form, and had covered geography as far away as Hamilton during its long, non-continuous existence.
This article focuses on the historical presence and significance of the electoral district named York West. For the political representation of the neighbourhood in northwest Toronto covered by York West's final form, please see the articles for its successor electoral districts linked in the headnote above.
Overview
York West was one of the original eight-two electoral districts in Ontario prescribed by the British North America Act, 1867 upon Canadian Confederation. It was represented both federally and provincially for all but about ten years in Canada's first 150 years. But its history traced further back. In May 1808, election was held for an electoral district named West York to elect a member to the 5th Parliament of Upper Canada. Since then, York West was represented in:
Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada - from 1809 to 1812, in the 5th Parliament of Upper Canada
Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada - from 1848 to 1867 (in the 3rd to 8th parliament of the united province)
House of Commons - from 1867 to 1904 (in the 1st to 9th Canadian parliaments) and again from 1917 to 2015 (in the 13th to 41st Canadian parliaments)
Legislative Assembly of Ontario - from 1867 to 1987 (in the 1st to 33rd Ontario parliaments) and again from 1999 to 2018 (in the 37th to 41st Ontario parliaments
Toronto City Council - from 2000 to 2018 over five council terms, as wards 7 and 8.
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