In an election that recorded the lowest voter turnout in history, Premier Doug Ford has been declared the winner in the 2022 Ontario election, with majority for Progressive Conservatives.
Remarkably, the PCs improved both their seat count and their popular vote from 2018, a rare feat for incumbents running on a record in government that has been dissected and criticized daily.
The Conservatives won 83 ridings — even more than than the 76 they won in 2018 — the NDP 31, the Liberals eight, the Greens one and an independent one. A party needs at least 63 seats to capture a majority in the province’s legislature. The results mean the NDP forms the official Opposition again while the Liberals failed to secure official party status for the second consecutive election.
The PCs had won 41 per cent of the popular vote, the Liberals and NDP both about 24 per cent.
In a victory speech, Doug Ford said he is “humbled” by all of the support he’s received.
“To the people of Ontario, thank you, thank you so much, thank you for your trust and thank you for once again putting your confidence in me. But most importantly, thank you for sharing in a vision for our great province.”
“Every single day I will get up and I will get to work and I will do everything in my power to deliver on this dream because tonight’s victory,…this victory belongs to every worker who knows they deserve better… I see hope, I see optimism and your energy, your passion, is what keeps me going everyday.”
The Premier added that the province needs to have unity, across party lines.”We need unity, the road ahead, it won’t be easy, we have big challenges ahead of us,” adding that he is “ready to work with anyone.”
“This is our time, this is our moment because this is our province…. God bless the people of Ontario.”
In a shocking development, both the NDP and Liberal Party Leaders, Andrea Horwath and Steven Del Duca, have stepped after coming in behind Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath said “My commitment to you is never going to waver…but tonight it’s time for me to pass the torch, the pass the baton, to hand over the leadership of the NDP. I’m not shedding tears of sadness, I’m shedding tears of pride,..look at what we have done together”.
“Together, my friends, we have built a party that is stronger and more ready to govern than ever before. We didn’t get there this time but just know that we will continue to be the powerful champions people need us to be in order to fight Doug Ford’s cuts.”
On his part, Del Duca announced that he will be stepping down as leader of Ontario’s Liberal Party after stating that he is disappointed in the outcome for his party, and in his own riding.
Duca added that he is “very proud” of “watching how we’ve grown strong, watching how we’ve worked so hard to build this party over the las couple of years.”
However, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner is holding unto his seat in the Guelph riding.
Schreiner said “We are proving that Greens are here to stay, we’re building momentum across this riding and across this province. All of you in Guelph have shown that we can do politics differently in this province.”
“I will fight the next four years to be a strong opposition voice in the legislature. To make sure the issues that Ontarians care about are talked about… I will work to amplify your voices because we need change, especially when it comes to the climate emergency, we cannot afford to wait.”
The Greens leader also congratulated Doug Ford on his victory.
“The people have spoken but at this critical moment… I ask you to consider the financial, the economic and the climate implications of paving over the places we love, the farmland that feeds us and the nature that protect us… We have to work together to make sure this province is climate ready, to make sure our infrastructure can withstand the storms we’ve experienced this last month.”
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