You need to think about just how long you'd be driving east from Toronto before you finally hit the Atlantic. (And not just the widening of the St Lawrence at Quebec City, but let's say... where the water is fully salty and tidal... which is apparently around Matane, directly north of New Brunswick).

Like, 20 hours of driving. And then to get to e.g. Halifax or Sydney NS, which aren't even our furthest east points, another what.. 15? 16? hours of driving. And then a ferry out to Newfoundland?

Toronto is really quite quite far west of the easternmost points in the country. Calling it "east" seems odd.

Especially when you consider when people were settling this country they were doing so by going up the St Lawrence and into the lakes. Or had taken the railway from Halifax, etc. They had traveled a long way before they got here. It wouldn't have felt "east" to them at all.