The Conservatives made big inroads in seat-rich Ontario last night on their way to forming a government.
But while the Liberals were headed for defeat, they held on to much of their support in Toronto, a traditional stronghold for the party.
Several prominent Liberal cabinet ministers won re-election, including Social Development Minister Ken Dryden, Immigration Minister Joe Volpe, Public Health Minister Carolyn Bennett, National Revenue Minister John McCallum and Defence Minister Bill Graham.
Liberal star candidate Michael Ignatieff, touted as a potential party leader, won in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Belinda Stronach held on to her riding of Newmarket-Aurora, this time winning as a Liberal.
Liberal cabinet minister Belinda Stronach celebrates her re-election after staving off a tough challenge from the Conservatives.
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New Democrat Leader Jack Layton was re-elected in Toronto-Danforth, defeating Liberal constitutional expert Deborah Coyne.
The Conservatives picked up the lion's share of support in rural Ontario, where they already have a strong presence. The New Democrats also picked up votes from disaffected Liberals.
Conservative Bev Shipley stole Lambton-Kent-Middlesex from the Liberals, while New Democrat Chris Charlton managed the same in Hamilton Mountain.
Ontario hasn't elected Conservatives en masse to Parliament since the Mulroney years, when it sent 67 and then 46 Tories to Ottawa in the 1984 and 1988 elections.
The Liberals entered the election campaign with what appeared to be an unassailable lead in Ontario. Polls conducted by the Strategic Counsel for The Globe and Mail and CTV put Paul Martin's Liberals 12 points ahead of the Conservatives in Ontario in early December.
But before long the polls showed rising support for the Conservatives and the Liberals' grip beginning to weaken, dampening their hopes of making gains in several ridings in southwestern and eastern Ontario. By mid-January, as talk was in the air of Stephen Harper's Conservatives forming a majority government, the Tories gained important ground in the Greater Toronto Area. The Liberals recaptured some of the support at the end of the campaign, but they no longer have the lock on votes that they have, until now, been able to take for granted.
The Liberals retained support in the close-in Toronto suburbs. But the Tories appeared to be making inroads to the east and west of the city. Toronto's vote-rich 905 region, named for its area code, is one of the fastest-growing in Canada. Much of the province's manufacturing and industrial strength resides in these suburbs, which serve as a magnet for immigrants and others in search of cheaper housing and a suburban lifestyle.
This campaign was, in some respects, similar to the 2004 election when the Liberals were supposed to be in a neck-and-neck battle with the Conservatives in Ontario.
The Conservatives had been quietly optimistic of forming a minority government, but their hopes were dashed when Ontario voted in large numbers for the Liberals. Reservations about a possible Conservative government appeared to prevail over doubts about giving the Liberals a fourth mandate. The Grits won 75 of 106 seats in the province, down from a near-sweep in the 2000 election.
While a united right under the Conservative banner won 24 seats in the 2004 election, mostly in rural Ontario, it was far fewer than the number anticipated by pollsters.
The Conservatives have not been a strength in Ontario since 1988, when they held 47 seats. In 1993, the tide turned and Ontario became the bedrock of four consecutive Liberal governments. While the Liberals' stronghold ended in the 2004 election, they did not face the decimation some predicted.
Five fast facts
1
Ontario is home to more than one-third of Canada's ridings.
2
In 2004, the Liberals won 34 seats in the Greater Toronto Area.
3
In 2004, the Conservatives won 24 seats, mostly in rural Ontario.
4
Both Prime Minister Paul Martin and Tory Leader Stephen Harper were born in Ontario.
5
Ontario has been the bedrock of four consecutive Liberal governments since 1993.
