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.
The electoral district’s existence was formally extinguished in 2014, not through the normal redistribution process, but by legislation introduced after the proclamation of Redistribution Order, 2013. The new name, Humber River--Black Creek, took effect upon the 2015 federal election and consequently in the 2018 provincial and municipal elections.
Members
Before 1867 Canadian Confederation
⁂ served as a cabinet minister
Member of Legislative Assembly Years MemberMemberGeneral geographyLegislative Assembly of Upper Canada1st Not represented: Within Durham-York-1st Lincoln2nd3rd 1801–04 Robert NellesRichard BeasleyShared duo-member district:West York, 1st Lincoln & Haldimand 4th 1805–07 Solomon Hill1808–08 Joseph Willcocks 5th 1808–09 Richard Beasley (unseated)Modern day Hamilton area1810–12 John Willson6th1812–15John WillsonAbraham Markle (vacated)Shared duo-member district:West York, Saltfleet, Ancaster 1815–16 James Durand 7thElectoral district renamed to align with new counties created8th Not represented: within electoral district of York and Simcoe 9th10th11th 2nd Riding of the County of York12th 1835–36 William Lyon MackenziePeel Region13th 1837–40 Edward William Thomson2nd Riding of York, Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada1st1841–44 George DugganPeel Region2nd1844–47 York West3rd1848–51 Peel Region4th1852–53 George Wright5th Not represented: renamed Peel York West — 6th1858–61 Toronto (w. of Yonge), and Vaughan, see below7th1862–638th1863–66
After Canadian Confederation
Member of Parliament forYork West (federal electoral district)Member of Provincial Parliament forYork West (provincial electoral district) Years MemberGeneral geography General geographyYears Member1st 1867–68 York Township west of Yonge Street except for the City of Toronto as defined at the time, Etobicoke, Vaughan, with Richmond Hill added after 1874. 1st 1867–71 1868–72 2nd 1871–75 2nd 1872–74 3rd 1875–793rd 1874–78 4th 1879–834th 1878–82 5th 1882–87 5th 1883–86 6th 1887–91 6th 1886–90 7th 1891–96 7th 1890–94 8th 1896–978th 1894–98 1897–1900 9th 1898–1902 9th 1900–021902–04 10th 1902–05 †10th Not represented: distributed toToronto North, Toronto West, York Centre and York SouthYork (w. of Yonge), Etobicoke and Vaughan Townships 11th 1905–0711th1907–08 † 12th 12th 1908–11York West 13th 1911–1413th 1917–21 Thomas G. Wallace† Etobicoke, Weston, Vaughan14th 1914–1914th 1921–25 15th 1919–2315th 1925–26 York (w. of Yonge) and Etobicoke 16th 1923–2616th 1926–28 Etobicoke(plus a sliver)17th1926–291928–30 18th 1929–3217th 1930–35 1932–34 18th 1935–40 John E.L. Streight Etobicoke(plus a sliver)19th 1934–37 19th 1940–45 †20th 1937–43 21st 1943–45 20th 1945–49 22nd 1945–48 21st 1949–53 23rd 1948–51 22nd 1953–54 Etobicoke(minus a sliver)24th 1951–55 † 1954–57 Etobicoke(minus a sliver)25th 1955–56 23rd 1957–58 1956–59 24th 1958–62 26th 1959–63 25th 1962–63 26th 1963–65 Etobicoke(centre portion)27th 1963–67 27th 1965–68 28th 1967–71 28th 1968–72 Etobicoke & North York (both partial)29th 1971–75 29th 1972–74 30th 1974–79 Etobicoke(west centre portion) 30th 1975–77 31st 1979–80 North York(Jane & Finch)31st 1977–81 32nd 1980–84 32nd 1981–85 33rd 1984–88 33rd 1985–87 34th 1988–93 North York(Jane & Finch)34th Not represented: distributed toEtobicoke West and Etobicoke—Humber 35th 1993–97 35th 36th 1997–99 North York(Jane & Finch)36th 1999–2000 York West North York (Jane & Finch)37th 37th 2000–04 38th 2004–06 North York (Jane & Finch)38th 2003–07 39th 2006–08 39th 2007–11 40th 2008–11 40th 2011–14 41st 2011–15 41st 2014–18 Humber River—Black Creek Humber River—Black Creek
Elections Results
Election results are group together by the various phases of the electoral district's core formation. York Township, Etobicoke, Vaughan York West electoral district was defined in 1853 to "consist of the Townships of Etobicoke, Vaughan, and that portion of the Township of York lying West of Yonge Street" and was retained by the British North America Act, 1867. This remained the core formation of West York from 1867 until 1904 federally and 1926 provincially, with many small scale boundary changes occurred mostly outside of regular redistribution cycle (further details in the section above): addition of the part of Village of Richmond Hill east of Yonge as of 1878 dominion/1875 Ontario election, and the removal of the entire village provincially in 1885 removal of territory as results of more than a dozen annexations undertook by Toronto between 1883 and 1914, except for West Toronto/Toronto Junction, which became Ward 7 of the city and remain in West York both federally and provincially (see Amalgamation of Toronto for a full list) 1867–1902 dominion elections
1867–1923 Ontario provincial elections
"
Etobicoke plus Vaughan, Etobicoke plus York Township 1917–1930 federal election The York West federal electoral district went through five elections with two formations that was never adopted by the provincial electoral district. For 1917 and 1921 elections - Etobicoke, Vaughan, Weston, Toronto's Ward Seven, and a small piece of York Township in the southern part. For 1925, 1926 and 1930 elections - Etobicoke and York Township, Weston, Toronto's Ward Seven, but not Vaughan
MP Wallace died on February 20, 1921, as his father did twenty years prior; no byelection was held to fill the vacancy prior to the December general election.
The definition of York West was revised in 1924 to be "consisting of that part of the county of York lying west of Yonge Street, south of the south boundary of the township of Vaughan and outside the city of Toronto."
Etobicoke's Electoral district 1935–1965 federal elections
1926–1959 provincial elections
Urban Transition Rexdale: 1968–79 federal elections
Richview-Islington: 1963-85 provincial elections
Jane and Finch 1979–2011 federal elections York West was again given new definition in 1976, shifting eastward with a resulting riding centered around the Jane & Finch area and entirely in North York. The electoral district remained anchored around the Jane & Finch area until its elimination in 2015, with further adjustments in 1987, 1996, 2003.
1999–2014 provincial elections
Reference Legislative sources for York West
(substantially the same as 1908)
(Substantially the same as 1925)
(substantially the same as 1963)
Notes
Other citations