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Ontario general election, 1985

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The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. This election ended 42 years of Progressive Conservative Party rule in Ontario with David Peterson's Liberal's eventually forming government with the support of Bob Rae's NDP.

Near Thanksgiving of 1984 Premier Bill Davis announced that he would be stepping down. Davis, in office since 1971, had rung up a string of landslide victories by pursuing a moderate agenda and relying on the legendary skill of the Big Blue Machine team of Tory advisors. Davis remained popular when he decided to retire, and the opposition leaders were pleased to see him go.

The subsequent leadership race saw the Tory party divide into two rough camps. The moderate and mainly urban wing was represented by second place finisher Larry Grossman. The more strongly conservative rural faction backed victor Frank Miller. These divisions within the party were reinforced by the controversy over the separate schools question. Bill Davis had pushed through full funding for Ontario's Catholic school system. This decision was supported by both other parties, but the Tory base had strong misgivings. After the convention the party factions failed to reconcile, especially important was that a number of the mainly moderate members of the Big Blue Machine were pushed aside.

Despite these problems the Tories remained far ahead in the polls, and when Miller called an election six weeks after becoming premier he was twenty points ahead of the Liberals. Over the campaign the Tory lead began to shrink as the Liberals waged a highly effective campaign. The Tory popularity was also hurt by Miller's refusal to participate in a leaders debate. Partway into the campaign the separate schools question re-emerged when the Anglican prelate of Toronto Archbishop Lewis Garnsworthy held a news conference on the issue where he compared Bill Davis to Adolf Hitler. Garnsworthy was much criticized for his remarks, but the issue was revived alienating the conservative base some of whom chose to stay home on election day.

The election held May 2, 1985 ended in a major upset. The Tory emerged with a much reduced caucus of 52 seats, still the largest party in the legislature. The Liberals won 48 seats, but won slightly more of the popular vote. The NDP held the balance of power with 25 seats. As the party with the most seats the Tories remained as the government. This did not last long, however.

The NDP was also disappointed by the result. It had been closely matched with the Liberals for several years and had hoped to surpass them. Rae and the NDP had little interest in supporting a continuation of Tory rule, and thus reached an agreement with the Liberals, known as "The Accord". Rae and Peterson signed a deal that would see a number of NDP priorities put into law. In exchange the NDP voted non-confidence in Miller's government and choose to back the Liberals instead. The NDP agreed to support the Liberal minority government for two years, and the Liberals agreed to not call an election during that period.

Contents

Results

  Party Leader 1981 Elected % change Popular vote
% change |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     Progressive Conservative Frank Miller 70 52 align="right"
37.0% -7.4% |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     Liberal David Peterson 34 48 align="right"
41.2%
37.9% +4.2% |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     New Democratic Bob Rae 21 25 align="right"
19.0%
23.8% +2.7% |- |bgcolor="green"|     Libertarian Scott Bell   align="right"
  0.4%   |- |bgcolor="yellowgreen"|     Green     align="right"
  0.1%   |- |bgcolor="tomato"|     Communist Gordon Massie   align="right"
  0.1%   |- |bgcolor="#3333CC"|     Freedom none (Robert Metz, President)   align="right"
  0.1%   |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     Others     align="right"
  0.7% align="right"
Total Seats 125 125 align="right"
100%  

The Revolutionary Workers League fielded one candidate.


Preceded by:
1981 election 		List of Ontario general elections Followed by:
1987 election

Constituency results

Algoma:

Algoma—Manitoulin:

Armourdale:

Beaches—Woodbine:

Bellwoods:

Brampton:

Brantford:

Brant—Oxford—Haldimand:

Brock:

Burlington South:

Cambridge:

Carleton:

Carleton East:

Carleton—Grenville:

Chatham—Kent:

Cochrane North:

Cochrane South:

Cornwall:

Don Mills:

Dovercourt:

Downsview:

Dufferin—Simcoe:

Durham East:

Durham West:

Durham—York:

Eglinton:

Elgin:

Erie:

Essex North:

Essex South:

Etobicoke:

Fort William:

Frontenac—Addington:

Grey:

Grey—Bruce:

Haldimand—Norfolk:

Halton—Burlington:

Hamilton Centre:

Hamilton East:

Hamilton Mountain:

Hamilton West:

Hastings—Peterborough:

High Park—Swansea:

Humber:

Huron—Bruce:

Huron—Middlesex:

Kenora:

Kent—Elgin:

Kingston and the Islands:

Kitchener:

Kitchener—Wilmot:

Lake Nipigon:

Lambton:

Lanark—Renfrew:

Lakeshore:

Leeds:

Lincoln:

London Centre:

London North:

London South:

Middlesex:

Mississauga East:

Mississauga North:

Mississauga South:

Muskoka:

Niagara Falls:

Nickel Belt:

Nipissing:

Northumberland:

Oakville:

Oakwood:

Oriole:

Oshawa:

Ottawa Centre:

Ottawa East:

Ottawa South:

Ottawa West:

Oxford:

Parkdale:

Parry Sound:

Perth:

Peterborough:

Port Arthur:

Prescott and Russell:

Prince Edward—Lennox:

Quinte:

Rainy River:

Renfrew North:

Renfrew South:

Riverdale:

St. Andrew—St. Patrick:

St. Catharines:

|- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|    
Party Candidate Votes % style="width: 40px"
/-
Liberal (x)Jim Bradley 20,605 57.94 |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     Progressive Conservative Elaine Herzog 9,029 25.39 |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     New Democratic Party Michael Cormier 5,624 15.81 |- |bgcolor="tomato"|     Communist Eric Blair 305 0.86
Total valid votes 35,563 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 201
Turnout 35,764 61.65

St. David:

St. George:

Sarnia:

Sault Ste. Marie:

Scarborough Centre:

Scarborough East:

Scarborough—Ellesmere:

Scarborough North:

Scarborough West:

Simcoe Centre:

Simcoe East:

Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry & East Grenville:

Sudbury:

Sudbury East:

Timiskaming:

Victoria—Haliburton:

Waterloo North:

Welland—Thorold:

Wellington—Dufferin—Peel:

Wellington South:

Wentworth:

Wentworth North:

Wilson Heights:

Windsor—Riverside:

Windsor—Sandwich:

Windsor—Walkerville:

York Centre:

York East:

York Mills:

York North:

York South:

York West:

Yorkview:

Post-election changes

York East (res. Robert Elgie, September 26, 1985), April 17, 1986:

David Ramsay, elected as a New Democrat, joined the Liberal Party on October 6, 1986. Tony Lupusella, also elected as a New Democrat, joined the Liberal Party on December 17, 1986. After Lupusella's defection, the Liberals held as many seats in the legislative assembly as the Progressive Conservatives (if the Speaker of the Legislature is included as a Liberal).

Cochrane North (res. René Fontaine, 1987), August 14, 1987:

See also


Preceded by:
1981 election 		List of Ontario general elections Followed by:
1987 election

 

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