legislative control of the budget, independent judges, an executive council that would report to the legislature, and equal rights for Christian denominations. He was re-elected to represent York County in the parliament. The Reform group lost their majority in the legislature, mostly because the Legislative Council of Upper Canada blocked the passage of their proposed legislation. In the new parliament, Mackenzie chaired a committee that recommended increased representation for Upper Canadian towns, a single day for voting in elections, and voting by ballot instead of voice. During a legislative break, Mackenzie travelled to Quebec City and met with Reform leaders in Lower Canada. He wanted to develop closer ties between the Reform leaders of each province and learn new techniques to oppose Upper Canada government policies. He gathered grievances from several communities in Upper Canada and planned to present these petitions to the Colonial Office in England. Expulsions, re-elections, and appeal to the Colonial Office Mackenzie criticized the Legislative Assembly in the Colonial Advocate and called the legislature a "sycophantic office". For this, the assembly expelled him for libel of the character of the Assembly of Upper Canada. Mackenzie won the resulting by-election on January 2, 1832, by a vote of 119–1. Upon his victory, his supporters gifted him a gold medal worth £250 () and organized a parade through the streets of York. He was expelled again when he printed an article critical of the assemblymen who voted for his first expulsion. Mackenzie won the second by-election on January 30 with 628 votes against two opponents—a Tory who received 23 votes and a moderate Reformer (who assumed his expulsion barred Mackenzie from becoming a legislator)—who received 96 votes. Mackenzie toured Upper Canada to promote his policies and Tory supporters, unhappy with his agitation, tried to harm him. In Hamilton, William Johnson Kerr organized an assault of Mackenzie by three men. In York, twenty to thirty men stole a wagon he was using as a stage while another mob smashed the windows of the Colonial Advocate office. On March 23, 1832, Mackenzie's effigy was carried around York and burned outside the Colonial Advocate office while James FitzGibbon, a magistrate in York, arrested Mackenzie in an attempt to placate the mob. Mackenzie feared for his life and stopped appearing in public until he left for England. In April 1832, Mackenzie travelled to London to petition the British government for reforms in