Toronto declared a second cholera outbreak. Mackenzie chaired the Toronto Board of Health in his role as mayor, which was tasked to implement the city's response to the outbreak. The board was divided between the Tories and the Reformers and they argued over Mackenzie's alleged interference with the work of health officers. He remained on the board when it restructured two weeks after the start of the outbreak, although he was no longer its chairman. He brought people to the hospital until he was also infected with the disease and remained in his home until he recovered later that year. Mackenzie declined the nomination for alderman in the 1835 municipal election, printing in his paper that he wanted to focus on provincial politics. Reformers included him on their ticket for the election, and he received the fewest votes in his ward. Provincial politics In the 1834 election for the 12th Parliament of Upper Canada, Mackenzie's York County constituency was split into four, each new section (known as a riding) electing one member. Mackenzie was elected in the 2nd Riding of York by a vote of 334–178. After the election, he sold The Advocate to William John O'Grady because of its debt and to devote more time to his political career. The legislature appointed Mackenzie as chairman of the Committee on Grievances. which questioned several members of the Family Compact on their work and government efficiency. The committee documented their findings in The Seventh Report from the Select Committee of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada on Grievances. The report expressed Mackenzie's concern on the excessive power of the executive branch in Upper Canada and the campaigning of government officials for Tory politicians during elections. It also criticized companies that mismanaged funds given to them by the government and the salaries of officials who received patronage appointments. Mackenzie used the Committee on Grievances to investigate the Welland Canal Company. The Upper Canadian government partly owned the company and appointed directors to its board; in 1835 the legislature appointed Mackenzie. He discovered parcels of company land were given to Family Compact members or the Anglican Church for low prices, or swapped with land that was of lesser value. Mackenzie printed his investigation in a newspaper he created that summer in the Niagara peninsula called The Welland Canal. When the new lieutenant governor Francis Bond Head arrived in Upper Canada, Mackenzie believed