WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE
William Lyon Mackenzie was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician. He grew up in Dundee, Scotland, and emigrated to York, Upper Canada, (later known as Toronto) in 1820. He published his first newspaper in 1824 called Colonial Advocate and wrote articles that supported the policy proposals of the Upper Canadian political Reform movement. In 1827 he was elected as a York County representative to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada. He investigated corruption by Tory politicians (who were the political opponents of the Reform movement) and other elite members of Upper Canada, which he called the Family Compact. He brought grievances from Upper Canada citizens to the Colonial Office in London, England, causing the colonial secretary to propose reforms in the colony. In 1834, York became the city of Toronto and Mackenzie was elected by the city council to be its first mayor, but he was not reelected the following year.
