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Canadian journalist, reformer, and first mayor of Toronto, Mackenzie was born near Dundee, Scotland, and settled in Canada in 1820. Elected to the colonial assembly in 1828, he was expelled from the legislature for publishing anti-government articles in his paper the Colonial Advocate. He was expelled from his seat in 1831 for libelling members of the Family Compact, the autocratic group which ruled the province. 930 people demonstrated in front of the Lieutenant-Governor's house the next day, staring down the loaded and armed cannon aimed at them. Mackenzie handily won the bi-election called to replace him, only to be ejected from the legislature when he tried to enter. In all, Mackenzie won four bi-elections, yet was prevented from taking his rightful seat. In 1834 he was elected the first mayor of Toronto. He held a seat from 1834 to 1836 in the provincial Parliament. Embittered by the defeat of his Reform Party in 1836, which he blamed on manipulation and intimidation by the government, Mackenzie became an advocate of open rebellion. A year later he led a group of armed insurgents on Toronto. Defeated, he fled to the United States where he was arrested and sentenced to 18 months in prison for violation of the neutrality laws between the United States and the British Empire.
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