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Ontario general election, 2003

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Map of Ontario's ridings and their popular vote for their party elected
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Map of Ontario's ridings and their popular vote for their party elected

The Ontario Legislature after the 2003 election.
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The Ontario Legislature after the 2003 election.

The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the Legislative Assembly (Members of Provincial Parliament, or "MPPs") of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

The election was called on September 2 by Premier Ernie Eves after public opinion polls indicated an increase in support for the governing Ontario Progressive Conservative Party because of the government's handling of the 2003 North American blackout. The election was won, however, by the Ontario Liberal Party, led by Dalton McGuinty.

Contents

Campaign

Conduct of the campaign

Many observers commented on the high level of mudslinging during the campaign, even though all sides had disavowed this tactic during the televised debate. Both the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives (Tories) participated in mudslinging, but it was the Conservative side that initiated many of the more egregious incidents. One bizarre incident took place on September 12, when a press release from the Tories referred to Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty as an "evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet", which was roundly condemned as a petty and juvenile insult. In another incident towards the end of the campaign, Premier Eves referred to Mr. McGuinty as having a "pointy head," a remark he later conceded was inappropriate. Many observers have commented that the negative tone apparently backfired, creating more sympathy for the Liberal leader.

Another embarrassing Tory gaffe occurred when Eves couldn't say how much his election promises would cost. These gaffes were magnified by a generally unsympathetic media which was poorly treated by the Tory campaign team. An important blow to the Tory campaign was a study by the right-wing Fraser Institute that demonstrated that despite Tory promises, Ontario had a large budgetary deficit.

For its part, the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) led a theatrical campaign. Leader Howard Hampton made an appearance in front of the Toronto home of millionaire Peter Munk to denounce Eves' tax breaks, claiming that they would save Munk $18,000 a year. He attempted to nail Jell-O to a wall to dramatize the elusiveness he accused his opponents of regarding hydro privatization. He also used a piece of Swiss cheese to suggest that his opponents' platforms were full of holes. [link]

Another campaign issue was the treatment of the Green Party of Ontario, which denounced a CRTC decision not to allow leader Frank de Jong to participate in the leaders' debate. A Green candidate in Nipissing also alleged that his Tory opponent's campaign had offered him a significant donation in order to ensure that he stayed in the race to divide the opposition vote.

Issues

The campaign was contentious on the issues as well, with both the Liberals and Howard Hampton's New Democrats attacking the Tories' record in office. Various scandals and other unpopular moves reduced public opinion of the Tories going into the race, including the Walkerton water tragedy, the deaths of Dudley George and Kimberly Rogers, the possible sale of publicly-owned electric utility Hydro One, the SARS outbreak, the decision to release the 2003 budget at an auto parts factory instead of the Legislature, the widespread blackout in August, and the Aylmer packing plant tainted meat investigation. [link]. As one Tory insider put it "So many chickens came to roost, its like a remake of The Birds".

One of the most contentious issues was education. All three parties pledged to increase spending by $2 billion, but Premier Eves also pledged to ban teacher strikes, lock-outs, and work-to-rule campaigns during the school year, a move the other parties rejected. Teacher strikes had plagued the previous Progressive Conservative mandate of Mike Harris, whose government had deeply cut education spending.

Tax cuts were also an issue. The Progressive Conservatives proposed a wide range of tax cuts, including a 20-percent cut to personal income taxes, and the elimination of education tax paid by seniors, two moves that would have cost $1.3 billion together. The Liberals and New Democrats rejected these cuts as profligate. The Liberals also promised to cancel some pending Tory tax cuts and to eliminate some tax cuts already introduced.

Assessment

CBC Newsworld declared a Liberal victory minutes after ballot-counting began. Ernie Eves conceded defeat only ninety minutes into the count.

The NDP had a disappointingly confusing election: on one hand, they won one fewer than the eight seats needed to keep "official party status", which would give it a share of official Queen's Park staff, money for research, and guaranteed time during Question Period. On the other hand, they increased their share of the popular vote for the first time since 1990. The party may be in a better position for the next election, given the disillusionment with McGuinty's government and a distaste for a weakened Progressive Conservative party. Despite the mixed results, Hampton stated that he would stay on as party leader, saying that the party did not blame him for the poor performance in an election where voters were apparently more concerned about defeating the Tories by any means necessary than about voting their conscience. The party was returned to official party status seven months into the session, when Andrea Horwath won a by-election in Hamilton East on May 13, 2004.

The Tories were completely shut out of Toronto, where 19 out of 22 ridings were won by the Liberals, and the remaining three were carried by the New Democrats. The Tories also managed to win only one seat in northern Ontario: Ernie Eves' home riding of Perry Sound-Muskoka. Former Premier Mike Harris' old seat went Liberal. Six Tory cabinet ministers were defeated at the polls, though both Eves and NDP leader Howard Hampton retained their seats.

The 38th Parliament of Ontario opened on November 19th, 2003 at 3 P.M. Eastern Time.

Student vote

High School students in every riding in Ontario were allowed to cast ballots in their classrooms as part of a student vote. While their numbers did not count in the official election, they did tell a story all on their own. The student vote reflected change a lot more than the actual result, as well as wide scale anti-conservatism. 93 ridings favoured the liberals in the student vote, 9 favoured the New Democrats, and one favoured the greens, while the Conservatives were shut out. There was also a vote for elementary students.

Results

|- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     |- |bgcolor="yellowgreen"|     |- |bgcolor="moccasin"|     |- |bgcolor="#3333CC"|     |- |bgcolor="tomato"|     |- |bgcolor="green"|     |- |bgcolor="#66CC66"|     |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|    
Party Party Leader # of
candidates 		Seats Popular Vote
1999 Dissolution Elected % Change # % % Change |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     Liberal Dalton McGuinty 103 35 36 72 align=right
100%
2,090,001 46.4% align=right
6.6%
Progressive Conservative Ernie Eves 103 59 56 24 align=right
1,559,181 34.6% align=right
New Democratic Howard Hampton 103 9 9 7 align=right
660,730 14.7% align=right
2.1%
Green Frank de Jong 102 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
126,651 2.8% align=right
2.1%
Family Coalition Giuseppe Gori 51 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
34,623 0.8% align=right
0.2%
Freedom Paul McKeever 24 align=right
align=center
align=right
align=right
8,376 0.2% align=right
0.1%
Communist Elizabeth Rowley 6 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
2,187 0.05% align=right
0.03%
Libertarian Sam Apelbaum 5 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
1,991 0.04% align=right
Confederation of Regions none (Richard Butson, de facto) 1 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
293 0.01%   |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     Independent & non-affiliated 24 align=right
1 align=right
align=right
13,211 0.3% align=right
Independent Renewal 10 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
3,402 align=right
align=right
Independent Liberal 1 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
3,259 align=right
align=right
Independent Reform 1 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
586 align=right
align=right
Communist League 1 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
204 align=right
align=right
Other independent 11 align=right
align=right
align=right
align=right
5,760 align=right
align=right
  Vacant 1  
Total   103 103 103 align=right
4,497,244 100%  

Notes:

1 "Before" refers to the party standings in the Legislature at the end of the legislative session, and not to the standings at the previous election.

2 Richard Butson was the sole candidate for the Confederation of Regions Party.

3Ten candidates ran as "Independent Renewal" candidates. This was the Marxist-Leninist party under another name.

4Candidates from the Independent Reform Party and Communist League also ran as independents.

5Costas Manios ran as an "Independent Liberal" candidate after being denied the opportunity to run for the Liberal Party nomination in Scarborough Centre. Outgoing MPP Claudette Boyer had sat in the house as an "Independent Liberal" from 2001 to 2003.

It is possible that some other candidates listed on the ballot as independents ran for unregistered parties.

The following table gives the number of seats each party won, and the number of ridings in which each party came second, third, and fourth:

|- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|    
Party Seats Second Third Fourth
Liberal 72 30 1 0 |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     Progressive Conservative 24 57 22 0 |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     New Democratic 7 16 78 2 |- |bgcolor="yellowgreen"|     Green 0 0 2 92

Riding results

Ottawa

Eastern Ontario

Central Ontario

Southern Durham & York

Downtown Toronto

Suburban Toronto

Brampton, Mississauga & Oakville

Hamilton, Burlington & Niagara

Midwestern Ontario

Southwestern Ontario

Northern Ontario

Hamilton East (called due to the death of Dominic Agostino, March 24, 2004), May 13, 2004:

|- |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     | style="width: 130px" |NDP |Andrea Horwath |align="right"|15,185 |align="right"|63.6 |align="right"|+34.1 |- |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |Liberal |Ralph Agostino |align="right"|6,362 |align="right"|26.6 |align="right"|-25.5 |- |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |PC |Tara Crugnale |align="right"|1,772 |align="right"|7.4 |align="right"|-5.7 |- |- |bgcolor="yellowgreen"|     |Green |Raymond Dartsch |align="right"|449 |align="right"|1.9 |align="right"|-0.4 |- |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     |Independent |John C. Turmel |align="right"|122 |align="right"|0.5 |align="right"|- |- bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3|Total !align="right"|23,887 !align="right"| !align="right"| |}

Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey (resignation of Ernie Eves, February 1, 2005), March 17, 2005:

|- |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     | style="width: 130px" |PC |John Tory |align="right"|15,633 |align="right"|56.3 |align="right"|-0.3 |- |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |Liberal |Bob Duncanson |align="right"|4,621 |align="right"|16.7 |align="right"|-12.1 |- |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     |NDP |Lynda McDougall |align="right"|3,891 |align="right"|14.0 |align="right"|+7.9 |- |- |bgcolor="yellowgreen"|     |Green |Frank de Jong |align="right"|2,767 |align="right"|10.0 |align="right"|+3.9 |- |- |bgcolor="moccasin"|     |FCP |Paul Micelli |align="right"|488 |align="right"|1.7 |align="right"|-0.6 |- |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     |Independent |Bill Cook |align="right"|164 |align="right"|0.6 |align="right"|- |- |- |bgcolor="green"|     |Libertarian |Philip Bender |align="right"|135 |align="right"|0.5 |align="right"|- |- |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     |Independent |John C. Turmel |align="right"|88 |align="right"|0.3 |align="right"|- |- bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3|Total !align="right"|23,887 !align="right"| !align="right"| |}

Scarborough—Rouge River (Called due to the resignation of Alvin Curling August 19, 2005. Held November 24, 2005 |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     |- |bgcolor="yellowgreen"|     |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |- |bgcolor="yellowgreen"|     |- |bgcolor="#3333CC"|    
By-election: Scarborough—Rouge River
Party Candidate Votes % style="width: 40px"
/-
Liberal Bas Balkissoon 9,347 57.6 align=right
Progressive Conservative Cynthia Lai 4,032 24.9 align=right
New Democrat Sheila White 2,425 14.9 align=right
8.9
Green Steven Toman 167 1.2 -2.3 |- |bgcolor="green"|     Libertarian Alan Mercer 100 0.6 - |- |bgcolor="moccasin"|     Family Coalition Rina Morra 93 0.6 -0.8 |- |bgcolor="#3333CC"|     Freedom Wayne Simmons 59 0.4 - |}

Toronto—Danforth (resignation of Marilyn Churley), March 30, 2006:

NDP Peter Tabuns 13,064 47.8%
Liberal Ben Chin 10,636 38.9%
PC Georgina Blanas 2,713 9.9%
Green Paul Charbonneau 582 2.1%
Freedom Party Franz Cauchi 93 0.3%

Whitby—Ajax (resignation of Jim Flaherty), March 30, 2006:

|- |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     | style="width: 130px" |PC |Christine Elliott |align="right"| 15,843 |align="right"| 46.2% |align="right"| |- |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |Liberal |Judi Longfield |align="right"| 14,529 |align="right"| 42.3% |align="right"| |- |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     |NDP |Julie Gladman |align="right"| 3,204 |align="right"| 9.3% |align="right"| |- |- |bgcolor="yellowgreen"|     |Green |Nick Boileau |align="right"| 307 |align="right"| 0.9% |align="right"| |- |- |bgcolor="#3333CC"|     | style="width: 185px"|Freedom Party |Paul McKeever |align=right| 198 |align=right| 0.6% |align=right| |}

Nepean—Carleton (resignation of John Baird), March 30, 2006:

|- |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     | style="width: 130px" |PC |Lisa MacLeod |align="right"| 17,311 |align="right"| 57.6% |align="right"| |- |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |Liberal |Brian Ford |align="right"| 9,457 |align="right"| 31.4% |align="right"| |- |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     |NDP |Laurel Gibbons |align="right"| 2,489 |align="right"| 8.3% |align="right"| |- |- |bgcolor="yellowgreen"|     |Green |Peter Tretter |align="right"| 634 |align="right"| 2.1% |align="right"| |}

See also

External links

General resources

Parties

Parties with seats in the house prior to dissolution

Other parties


Preceded by:
1999 Ontario election 		Ontario elections Followed by:
2007 Ontario election

The most recent elections in Canada
Federal 2006 | Provinces summary
BC 2005 | Alberta 2004 | Saskatchewan 2003 | Manitoba 2003 | Ontario 2003
Quebec 2003 | New Brunswick 2003 | Nova Scotia 2006 | PEI 2003 | Nfld. & Lab. 2003
Yukon 2002 | NWT 2003 | Nunavut 2004

 

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