He’s far from the reapers’ grasp yet, but if Bill Davis were dead, he would most likely have rolled over in his grave at the electoral results in Ontario Wednesday night. Fortunately (especially for Mr. Davis we suspect), the former Ontario Premier is still among us, though he probably spent Wednesday night shaking his head at what has become of his once omnipotent Big Blue Machine, as the 2007 Ontario election results came streaming across his television set.
The Big Blue roadster, once a finely tuned machine that never got so much as a flat tire, now suddenly looks like an aging gas guzzling memento of the eighties, a vehicle that is need of more than a tune up.
Not since Mitch Hepburn in 1937 led the Red tide of Liberalism to back to back victories, has Ontario returned a Liberal Premier to office. 70 years would pass as the natural governing order of Ontario would be a blue machine, which occasionally would be replaced with a short Liberal and even an NDP interruption.
The Big Blue roadster, once a finely tuned machine that never got so much as a flat tire, now suddenly looks like an aging gas guzzling memento of the eighties, a vehicle that is need of more than a tune up.
Not since Mitch Hepburn in 1937 led the Red tide of Liberalism to back to back victories, has Ontario returned a Liberal Premier to office. 70 years would pass as the natural governing order of Ontario would be a blue machine, which occasionally would be replaced with a short Liberal and even an NDP interruption.
.
That era received a definitive ending on Wednesday, as Dalton McGuinty joined the Liberal legends with an impressive hold on the seats at the Ontario Legislature.
By 9:34 Eastern time, the CBC had already decided that Ontario was McGuinty’s as they projected the second consecutive majority government for the Liberals. And while the success at the polls didn’t quite have the man who best resembles an undertaker doing an Irish jig, it did bring a smile to his face and gave cause for his supporters to relish yet another strong showing.
At last count the McGuinty forces had corralled 71 of Ontario’s 107 seats and 17 more than the 54 required for the majority.
There were a few chinks in the Liberal run for power this time, they managed to lose some of the popular vote from the last election and watched the NDP begin to chip away at some more of the vital urban ridings that have become swing seats in Ontario’s urban landscape.
Howard Hampton, while in that traditional territory of the NDP as the best second choice on the leadership scene, managed to hold the NDP seat count to 10, while they increased their popular vote count by three percent it did not translate into a jump in seats, which must be a bit of a disappointment we suspect for a party that had lobbied hard against the decline of Ontario’s economic base under the Liberals.
The Conservatives failed to capture the tide of the population and retake some prime Ontario landscape inside and outside of the big urban areas. Most of the responsibility will fall at the feet of John Tory, who politically is now a two time loser having previously lost a bid to become Mayor of Toronto and now coming up far too short again, this time provincially having lost the race for his own riding .
The one identifiable issue that seemed to be his largest mis-step was the concept of 400 million dollars in funding for Faith Based schools, a project that Tory championed during the campaign only to quickly learn that the prospect didn’t resonate very well with the Conservative base. The damage control began a few weeks ago when he suggested that no changes would take place without a free vote, but by then the political horses were out the door and the poll numbers plummeted. The Conservatives picked up one seat from last years totals, a definite step backwards for a party that should have been able to capitalize on the lukewarm endorsements that many gave the McGuinty government prior to the election.
The Green party had high hopes for a breakthrough in this election, but while they have attracted some higher support numbers, they have yet to actually claim a seat in the Ontario Legislature. The NDP most likely suffered the most from the bump in Green support which jumped from close to three percent to nudging eight, had some of those votes migrated to the Hampton side the NDP may have claimed a few more seats.
In the end it seems that the Ontario voters provided McGuinty with the healthy middle of the road vote, not straying towards socialism, still contemplating what the Greens are all about and rejecting the latest incarnation of the once mighty Conservatives.
McGuinty has more than the required seats and a fair amount of the popular vote, but not enough to truly believe that Ontario has begun to sip from the Liberal Kool aid jug. In the end the voters there felt that the status quo was much preferable to what the Conservatives had to offer, while the third and fourth parties still need to find a way to break through from their traditional nice guys finish last positions.
Final Ontario results page.
With the Ontario election out of the way, the political machines of Ontario can now get back to their Federal planning. It will be interesting to see how the recent results of Quebec, Newfoundland and Ontario will be interpreted by the various War Rooms.
The number crunching and analysis of the whims of the Ontario voter, may just decide whether the rest of us get to trundle off to the polls to exercise our Federal responsibilities any time soon.
By 9:34 Eastern time, the CBC had already decided that Ontario was McGuinty’s as they projected the second consecutive majority government for the Liberals. And while the success at the polls didn’t quite have the man who best resembles an undertaker doing an Irish jig, it did bring a smile to his face and gave cause for his supporters to relish yet another strong showing.
At last count the McGuinty forces had corralled 71 of Ontario’s 107 seats and 17 more than the 54 required for the majority.
There were a few chinks in the Liberal run for power this time, they managed to lose some of the popular vote from the last election and watched the NDP begin to chip away at some more of the vital urban ridings that have become swing seats in Ontario’s urban landscape.
Howard Hampton, while in that traditional territory of the NDP as the best second choice on the leadership scene, managed to hold the NDP seat count to 10, while they increased their popular vote count by three percent it did not translate into a jump in seats, which must be a bit of a disappointment we suspect for a party that had lobbied hard against the decline of Ontario’s economic base under the Liberals.
The Conservatives failed to capture the tide of the population and retake some prime Ontario landscape inside and outside of the big urban areas. Most of the responsibility will fall at the feet of John Tory, who politically is now a two time loser having previously lost a bid to become Mayor of Toronto and now coming up far too short again, this time provincially having lost the race for his own riding .
The one identifiable issue that seemed to be his largest mis-step was the concept of 400 million dollars in funding for Faith Based schools, a project that Tory championed during the campaign only to quickly learn that the prospect didn’t resonate very well with the Conservative base. The damage control began a few weeks ago when he suggested that no changes would take place without a free vote, but by then the political horses were out the door and the poll numbers plummeted. The Conservatives picked up one seat from last years totals, a definite step backwards for a party that should have been able to capitalize on the lukewarm endorsements that many gave the McGuinty government prior to the election.
The Green party had high hopes for a breakthrough in this election, but while they have attracted some higher support numbers, they have yet to actually claim a seat in the Ontario Legislature. The NDP most likely suffered the most from the bump in Green support which jumped from close to three percent to nudging eight, had some of those votes migrated to the Hampton side the NDP may have claimed a few more seats.
In the end it seems that the Ontario voters provided McGuinty with the healthy middle of the road vote, not straying towards socialism, still contemplating what the Greens are all about and rejecting the latest incarnation of the once mighty Conservatives.
McGuinty has more than the required seats and a fair amount of the popular vote, but not enough to truly believe that Ontario has begun to sip from the Liberal Kool aid jug. In the end the voters there felt that the status quo was much preferable to what the Conservatives had to offer, while the third and fourth parties still need to find a way to break through from their traditional nice guys finish last positions.
Final Ontario results page.
With the Ontario election out of the way, the political machines of Ontario can now get back to their Federal planning. It will be interesting to see how the recent results of Quebec, Newfoundland and Ontario will be interpreted by the various War Rooms.
The number crunching and analysis of the whims of the Ontario voter, may just decide whether the rest of us get to trundle off to the polls to exercise our Federal responsibilities any time soon.
(Picture above appears on the Globe and Mail website)
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