A Historic Election in Ontario
Kevin Hua - June 14, 2018
A dramatic and unprecedented shift has occurred in Ontario on June 7th, ending fifteen years of Liberal rule. An election motivated by the rejection of the status quo, Ontarians moved en masse to the polls with 19% voting early and 58% voting overall, the highest since 1999. History was made in this election as political playing fields across shift and jostle with little foresight on our part.
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
Leader: Doug Ford
Seat Count: 76
Seat Change: ▲49
Popular Vote: 40.50%
Popular Vote Change: ▲9.25%
On the morning of June 8th, Ontarians awoke to Doug Ford, former Toronto City Councillor and the brother of the late Rob Ford, as the Premier Designate. Under a strong mandate with a 76-seat majority in Legislature, returning the Progressive Conservatives to power since Mike Harris last won power in 1999. Although he has a flexible political arm, the PCs face the scrutiny that 27.5% of PC candidates under a police investigation of varying allegations. Doug Ford himself also has the lawsuit of Rob Ford’s widow, Renata Ford, on allegations of mismanagement of the family business and withholding inheritance money from the family. Premier-designate Ford also holds the challenge of his lack of a clear and fully-costed plan, which has been projected to increase the deficit.
The Ontario New Democratic Party
Leader: Andrea Horwath
Seat Count: 40
Seat Change: ▲19
Popular Vote: 33.56%
Popular Vote Change: ▲9.81%
The New Democratic Party pushed upwards into the position of Official Opposition with a 40-seat caucus. This is the second highest performance of the party’s history, behind that of the Bob Rae government in 1990. A bittersweet victory for the party. Despite the increase in both seat and vote count, the party underperformed and missed an opportunity to capture government. Ms. Horwath has served as leader for almost 10 years, failing a breakthrough for all three elections she served as leader. Despite the setbacks, the New Democratic Party has stated they are committed to holding Ford and his government accountable to Ontarians. The Student Vote in Ontario yielded a 68-seat majority government for the NDP. Last election, students gave the NDP a minority government.
The Ontario Liberal Party
Leader: Kathleen Wynne
Seat Count: 7
Popular Vote Change: ▼19.59%
Popular Vote: 19.59%
Seat Change: ▼48
The Liberal Party was decimated in this election, falling one seat short of the 8-seat limit for official party status, the smallest caucus of the party’s history. Without party status, Liberal MPs must sit as independents with the loss of many privileges, especially in terms of financial assets and priority in the Legislature. Former Premier Kathleen Wynne resigned that night after the hard news of their loss. She, herself, barely clinged onto a slim victory in her own riding. Liberals will have a hard time recovering from this disastrous election, it may take several election cycles before the party can stand as a potent political force again.
The Green Party of Ontario
Leader: Mike Schreiner
Seat Count: 1
Seat Change: ▲1
Popular Vote: 4.60%
Popular Vote Change: ▼0.24%
The Green Party made history when party leader, Mike Schreiner, was elected to his seat in Guelph by an overwhelming plurality of the vote. The Green Party changed tactics in concentrating resources in a few ridings in order, similar to the tactic of the Green Party in the 2011 Federal Election.
With a secured and large majority, Doug Ford will likely serve as Premier for a full term before facing the voters again in 2022. Many challenges and past weights face him as he takes the responsibility of serving the province. The collapse of the Liberal Party will likely take years to rejuvenate the party, leaving the NDP an opening to pose as the province’s only feasible left-wing party. Doug Ford made many campaign promises ranging from scraping the sex education curriculum to cutting $6 billion of inefficiencies, but now he must breathe those promises to life. There is little we can tell what will entail in this province in the future.