Toronto Federal EDs 1860-1872.jpg|1860–1886 EastToronto1894.jpg|1894–1914 The two original Toronto electoral districts,
West Toronto and East Toronto, were initially created in 1860 by dividing the city east–west along Yonge Street. They were contested in the final two elections of the
United Province of Canada in 1861 and 1863.
Toronto East consisted of the city wards of St. David, St. James, St. Lawrence. The city extended only as far north as Bloor Street at the time. Upon
Canadian confederation in 1867, the
British North America Act preserved approximately forty electoral districts in Ontario while another forty were redrawn or created. The two Toronto districts were among those preserved, and were each given a federal seat and a provincial seat with identical boundaries as before. They were contested in the
first federal election in 1867 that was held concurrently with the first
Ontario provincial election. While Toronto elected a third MPs by the
second federal election held in 1872, its provincial representation did not increase until the
sixth Ontario election in 1886. Toronto was a Conservative bastion in the first century following confederation. Instead of creating a new seat for the opposition, in 1886 the governing Liberals merged the two Toronto electoral districts into a single electoral district covering the entire city, including the recently annexed village of
Yorkville. The enlarged electoral district of
Toronto returned three members to the
sixth and
seventh Ontario legislative assembly with a limited voting system, where voters may vote for two of the candidates. In 1894, the city was distributed to four electoral districts. By that time Toronto had further annexed a number of communities, including
Riverdale in the east side of the city. Accordingly, the 1894 incarnation of Toronto East covered territory that were further east from the city core, consisting of the municipal ward No. 1 (Riverdale) and that part of ward No. 2 (
Cabbagetown &
Rosedale) lying south Carlton street and east of Sherbourne street, and also the
Toronto Island. The western boundary consisted of Sherbourne Street north to Carlton Street, east along Carlton to Sumach Street and north along Sumach to the Danforth. Its eastern border consisted of Coxwell Avenue north to Queen Street East, west along Queen to Greenwoods Avenue (now Greenwood Avenue) and north along Greenwoods to the Danforth. It elected one MPP at first. The city was rewarded when the conservatives finally ended the over three decades of Liberal rule in 1905. The city's representation at Queen's Park doubled from four to eight in the
1908 election. Instead of creating new districts, for the five elections between 1908 and 1923, Toronto voters cast two votes in two concurrent contests. In 1914 the districts of Toronto East, Toronto North, Toronto South and Toronto West were replaced by
Toronto Northeast,
Toronto Northwest,
Toronto Southwest and
Toronto Southeast, and they continued to be dual-member districts. Toronto East was distributed mostly to
Toronto Southeast and
Riverdale, a newly established single-member electoral district, with smaller portions to
Toronto Northeast. ==Electoral History==