Supporters of Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne celebrate at her Ontario election party headquarters in Toronto.
The ballots have been cast and counted: Ontario has a new Liberal majority government.
Kathleen Wynne's Liberal Party as the evening's victors, winning or leading in 58 ridings with 37.2 per cent of the popular vote.
Tim Hudak's Progressive Conservatives finished in second place leading or elected in 28 ridings, while Andrea Horwath's New Democrats have 21 seats.
During his concession speech, Hudak announced that he was resigning as PC leader.
"I am proud of what our team has accomplished and I am optimistic about our parties future," Hudak said to a small crowd of supporters.
"But I will not be leading the Ontario PC party into the next election campaign."
The Liberal victory means that, despite the list of scandals, the traffic gridlock, high unemployment rate and economic woes of the province, the Liberals will continue their 11-year reign in office.
"Thank you people of Ontario for the choice that you've made tonight," Wynne told a jubilant crowd of supporters.
"You voted for jobs, you voted for growth, thank you for voting to build Ontario up."
The victory means that, despite the list of scandals, the traffic gridlock, high unemployment rate and economic woes of the province, the Liberals will continue their 11-year reign in office.
The opposition Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats certainly tried to make the McGuinty/Wynne record an issue during the often nasty campaign.
Throughout the 30-plus day writ period, both Hudak and Horwath railed against the Liberals for the gas plant, eHealth and Ornge scandals. They also attacked the government for the province's debt and deficit problem, high unemployment rate and government waste.
But both the PC and NDP campaigns were fraught with problems from, almost, day one.
Tim Hudak's 'million jobs plan' — the central plank of his campaign — was publicly discredited by journalists and economists alike. Hudak's best and rather weak defence, as he stated in the televised leaders' debate, was "In my heart and mind, I know that lower taxes will create jobs."
The PCs also faced a major backlash from the province's trade unions in response to their plan to eliminate 100,000 public sector jobs. The Ontario Federation of Labour urged its members to strategically vote to keep against Hudak while other unions, including the Ontario Provincial Police Association, produced attack ads against him.
The NDP had its own share of problems.
At one point in the campaign, a scathing letter to Horwath — written by 34 NDP insiders — was leaked to the media. In it, the NDP members complained that the party was losing its progressive roots.
For their part, the Liberals apologized for the gas plant scandal, promised to make investments in transit, in business and infrastructure and pledged to get their finances in order.
They also tried to paint the Hudak plan as radical and dangerous.
"Elections rarely offer such stark choices as the one before Ontario voters today," Wynne wrote in an op-ed published in the Toronto Star, earlier this week.
"We can lurch to the right, cutting and slashing our way in a race to the bottom of a low-wage, low-skill economy. Or we can aim higher, and choose to lead."
The Liberal strategy seems to have worked.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/liberals-form-government-ontario-majority-minority-still-014440469.html
No comments :
Post a Comment