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TORONTO — Ontario Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty cruised to a majority last night on a crest of anxiety over faith-based schools as voters gave him a second mandate to continue his middle-of-the-road reforms to the health and education systems.
Mr. McGuinty becomes only the second Liberal Premier in the province's history to win back-to-back majorities since 1937 despite a drop-off of about three percentage points in support. That decline was matched by the Progressive Conservatives. The beneficiaries were the NDP and the Green Party.
The Liberal showing also swept PC Leader John Tory from the legislature, as he failed to win his seat in Toronto, which remained a wasteland for his party. The results as of late last night saw the Liberals leading or elected in 70 seats, two fewer than 2003, the Tories up two seats to 26 from last time and the NDP third, gaining four seats to a total of 11 from 2003. There are 107 seats in the legislature, four more than in 2003.
Mr. McGuinty's victory came despite efforts by the PCs to paint him as untrustworthy in the wake of broken promises made during his first term, particularly his introduction of a health tax after pledging not to raise taxes. He secured his large majority with only 42 per cent of the vote.
Ontario Progressive Conservative party leader John Tory (left) embraces his father John Tory Sr. after the elder Tory casted his ballot in the Ontario election at a polling station in Toronto Wednesday. (Mike Cassese/Reuters)
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A triumphant Premier told supporters that Ontarians have voted for change.
"Ontarians are saying we have not voted for the status quo," Mr. McGuinty said. "We are voting for moving forward and we demand progress. We embrace positive ideas. We deplore negativity. We cherish our diversity. ... But we want to work and build and dream together.''
The loss was shattering for Mr. Tory, who said last night he will consult with his party about his future, but also suggested he will stay. "I will continue to have my job to do as leader of my party, holding [the Liberals] to account."
The party was unable to overcome doubts sown by his promise to fund faith-based schools and Mr. Tory will almost certainly come under pressure now to step aside, after three years as leader.
"This was my first campaign as party leader and I've learned from that experience," he told crestfallen supporters in Toronto. "Obviously, I am ultimately accountable for the campaign and for the results and I accept that accountability as leaders must do."
NDP Leader Howard Hampton won his Northern Ontario seat of Kenora-Rainy River while his party also appeared to pick up one new seat in the city of Hamilton.
"We increased our popular vote significantly tonight and we're going to send four new New Democrats to Queen's Park and some of them are very youthful," he said. He pledged to continue to push for his campaign promise to raise the minimum wage and to cut tuition fees.
Voters also rejected a proposal to change the existing first-past-the-post electoral model to a new system under which the number of seats won by a political party would roughly equal its share of the popular vote. Changing the system received 54 per cent, six points below the 60 per cent threshold needed to pass.
Fewer than 50 per cent of Ontarians cast ballots, a record low. Fifty-seven per cent of Ontarians voted in 2003.
Green Leader Frank de Jong said the referendum might have lost support because voters were confused by the plan, particularly the fact that MPPs were to be elected under a list system.
At press time, Green Party candidate Shane Jolley was running second in the rural riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, a safe Conservative riding held by Bill Murdoch, who has held the seat since 1990. Mr. Jolley was sitting at 34 per cent, the highest percentage total of any Green candidate in Canadian history.
Although most of Mr. McGuinty's ministers survived, one cabinet member, Caroline Di Cocco, was defeated in Sarnia-Lambton, where residents were upset about huge cost overruns in construction of a new hospital.
Ontarians can now expect that Mr. McGuinty will have a relatively free hand in pursuing his social agenda designed to bring down class sizes and reduce waiting lists for patients.
In 2003, Mr. McGuinty won a commanding majority - taking 72 of the legislature's then 103 seats - with 47 per cent of the vote. The Conservatives won 24 seats with 35-per-cent support, while the New Democrats were the first choice of 15 per cent of voters, winning seven seats.
Mr. McGuinty admitted to having butterflies yesterday when he voted with his wife, Terri, and son, Dalton Jr., at Featherston Public School near his Ottawa home.
"I will go and bite my nails and pace the floor until the results come in. It's as simple as that," Mr. McGuinty said.
He refused to say what his first governing priority would be.
Despite most polls that showed the Conservatives trailing the Liberals, Mr. Tory remained upbeat as he watched his father, John, cast his ballot in the Toronto riding of Don Valley West, where the PC Leader had hoped to win a seat.
Mr. McGuinty, having suffered in 2003 for raising expectations with a series of promises, played it safer this time around with a plan calling for incremental improvements to existing programs. However, the Liberal Leader may find it difficult to pursue an activist agenda in a second term given the dearth of promises.
Mr. Tory pledged to phase out the controversial $2.6-billion annual health tax over four years, give doctors more latitude to work in private, for-profit clinics as long as their fees are paid with a health card, and end what he calls Ontario's "catch-and-release" justice system, whereby offenders are allowed back on the street under lenient bail conditions.
But it was his contentious promise to extend government funding to faith-based schools that dogged his campaign. Near its end, he said he would put the matter to a free vote in the legislature. But he appeared to back off too late to rescue the PC effort and it may even have cost him votes.
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