Liberals win, Tory loses, MMP not adopted

Ontario voters have elected a second straight Liberal majority. The province was painted red yet again as Dalton McGuinty lead his party to its first consecutive majority in 70 years. PC leader John Tory not only lost his bid to become Premier, he also lost his seat in parliament. Kathleen Wynne, the current education minister, defeated Tory in the riding of Don Valley West. John Tory is the first party leader to lose his or her seat in 17 years. It appeared, however, that Tory is planning on remaining leader of the party despite the loss.

Toronto voters did not change their allegiances in the last four years. Out of the 24 Toronto ridings, 19 ridings went to the Liberals, four went to the NDP, and the PC only managed one, as Julia Munro was victorious in York-Simcoe. The 905 region elected 15 Liberals and 5 Conservatives.

At the dissolution of parliament 67 MPPs were Liberals, 25 were Conservatives, 10 represented the NDP, and there was one vacant seat. Not much has changed. Parliament will now be made up of 71 Liberals, 26 Conservatives, and 10 New Democrats.

The referendum regarding electoral reform also maintained the status quo. About 63 per cent of voters chose to stick with the current first-past-the-post system. Many blamed confusion, lack of education, and poor explanations for the loss suffered by the mixed member proportional system. P.E.I. and British Columbia have voted on the electoral system earlier, but both votes lead to the same results as Ontario, with the current system remaining.

The Liberals won 42 per cent of the votes, but now hold 66 per cent of the seats in parliament. The Progressive Conservatives garnered 32 per cent of the votes, but will sit in 24 per cent of the seats and the New Democratic Party's 17 per cent gives them about 10 per cent representation in parliament. The Green Party won over eight per cent of Ontario voters, but they remain without a seat in parliament.

Voter turnout was even lower than last time. While many thought that the referendum would boost the numbers heading to the polls, only about 50 per cent of eligible Ontarians bothered to vote. The turnout in 2003 was 56.9 per cent.