General elections were held in Ontario, Canada on June 12, 2014, to elect the members of the 41st Parliament of Ontario. The Liberal Party won a majority of seats in the legislature, allowing its leader, Kathleen Wynne, to continue as premier, moving from a minority to majority government. This was the Liberals' fourth consecutive win since 2003 and an improvement from their performance in the 2011 election. The Progressive Conservatives under Tim Hudak were returned to the official opposition; following the election loss, Hudak announced his resignation as Progressive Conservative leader. The New Democratic Party under Andrea Horwath remained in third place, albeit with an improved share of the popular vote.
The election was called on May 2, 2014, by Lieutenant Governor David Onley, upon the recommendation of Wynne following the announcement that the NDP, whose support was critical to the survival of the Liberals' minority government in the Legislative Assembly, would vote against the Liberals' proposed budget.
With the election, Wynne became the first woman and the first openly gay person to lead a party to a majority victory in an Ontario general election.
Context - 40th Parliament The preceding election held in October 2011 reduce the incumbent Liberal ministry led by Dalton McGuinty from a government with a comfortable 35-seat majority to a minority government that was one seat short, the first minority government in almost a quarter-century.
One of the most contentious issues during that election campaign was a mid-campaign decision to scrap unpopular gas plants being constructed in Mississauga and Oakville. The move was viewed by many as cynically made to improve the Liberal Party's chances of retaining the five ridings it held in the area. Whether that was the motivation or not, the Liberal did retained those seats.
The political dynamic of the legislature changed significantly by the resulted minority parliament. The government was forced to seek support from opposition members on a vote-by-vote basis. The government's control over parliamentary schedule and work of committees were significantly diminished. It could not stop committees from issuing order compelling sensitive documents. Emboldened by their newfound ability embarrassed the government, the opposition demanded all documents related to the gas plant cancellation be released to the public. The released document revealed the cost of the cancellation was estimated to be $950 million to $1.1 billion over approximately 20 years. In the fall of 2012. Energy minister Chris Bentley was cited in contempt of upon reports of an additional 20,000 documents relating to the gas plants not having been release.
Two veterans of the legislature, former finance minister Greg Sorbara and former PC Deputy Premier Elizabeth Witmer, resigned in the first year of the 40th parliament. The Liberals had hoped to regain their majority by winning Whitmer's seat for Kitchener—Waterloo. The riding was targeted by various teachers unions in protest of the government imposing contracts and suspending their right to strike. After an exceptionally acrimonious byelection campaign, the seat went to the NDP, with the Liberals placing third.
McGuinty unexpectedly announced on October 15, 2012, that he was ending the legislative session by proroguing the legislature and that he would resign as premier as soon as the Liberal Party chose his successor, in January 2013. The ensuing Ontario Liberal leadership contest, the first such contest held by a governing party since 1984, resulted in Kathleen Wynne being elected the first woman and the first LGBT person serve as Premier of Ontario.
The march to the 2014 election The following table lists events most directly relevant in setting the dynamic of the 2014 general election.
Date EventOctober 6, 2011Election held for members of the Ontario Legislature in the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario.Spring of 2012Finance minister Dwight Duncan tabled the government's first minority budget in March, a budget the government could not approve on its own. PC leader Tim Hudak's outright rejection of it meant some concession to the NDP caucus would be required. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath makes several demands in exchange for her party to support but secured little concession. In June, Premier Dalton McGuinty threatened to call another election if the budget is not passed, at which point the NDP opted to abstain, avoiding a summer election.September 6, 2012Two byelection held, future party leader Steven Del Duca succeeding his mentor former finance minister Greg Sorbora, while NDP secure an upset victory, picking up the seat of former PC deputy premier Elizabeth Witmer following an exceptionally acrimonious local campaign.October 15, 2012Dalton McGuinty announced his resignation as Premier of Ontario and as Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.January 26, 2013Kathleen Wynne elected Ontario Liberal leader at the party's leadership convention. This would be the last delegated convention in Canada where the elected leader also automatically become a first minister. February 11, 2013Premier Dalton McGuinty formally tendered the resignation of the McGuinty ministry, and was succeeded by the Wynne ministry. Wynne sworn in as Ontario's first female premier and the first out LGBT person to serve as first minister in Canada.February 20, 2013The 40th parliament reconvened for the opening of its second session, with the government at a three-seat deficit from majority following the retirement of finance minister Dwight Duncan and former energy minister Chris Bentley.June 2013The Wynne ministry passed its first budget with the support of the NDP.August 1, 2013By-elections was held in five electoral districts all previously held by minister of the McGuinty ministry, the most by-election contests held on a single day since 1984, and the most byelection contests to be defended by a party in Ontario history. The Liberals lost three of the five seats, losing Duncan's Windsor seat and Bentley's London seat to the NDP by wide margin.May 2, 2014With both Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak and NDP leader Andrea Horwath having signaled their caucus' intention to vote against Wynne ministry's second budget, Wynne pre-empted the confidence vote by seeking dissolution of the legislature from Lieutenant Governor David Onley. Writs of elections were issued for general election to be held on June 12, 2014.June 12, 2014The Liberal Party wins a majority, claiming 58 ridings in the Ontario election. Tim Hudak announced that he is stepping down from his leadership of the PC party. Later in June a judicial recount award the Thornhill seat, declared for the Liberal on election night, to the Progressive Conservatives.
Changes in party standing and membership
Incumbents declined seeking re-election With numerous veterans of the McGuinty ministry having resigned during the 40th Parliament, the number of incumbent retiring at the general election was relatively small. Seven incumbent MPPs opted not to seek re-election in 2014. Five Liberals, four having served in the McGuinty ministry, announced their intention not to seek re-election months in advance of the general election, though there were reported effort in asking some of them to reconsider. Former Conservative minister Frank Klees, a one-time leadership rival to Conservative leader Tim Hudak, and long time MPP John O'Toole, father of then federal minister and future national Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole rounded out the list of seven.
These retirement resulted in three seats changing hands. The governing Liberals picked up the seats of both retiring conservatives, both located in the Greater Toronto Area, in upset victories. While not unexpected, their loss of Sudbury, held by former minister Rick Bartolucci since 1995, was viewed as proof point for the star power of incumbency especially in communities outside of Toronto and Ottawa. The electoral district of Sudbury and the Liberals pursuit in building incumbency advantage would become a major storyline in the 41st parliament. Electoral districtIncumbent at dissolution and subsequent nomineeNew MPPDurham John O'TooleMike Patrick Granville AndersonEtobicoke Centre Donna CansfieldYvan Baker Yvan BakerKingston and the Islands John GerretsenSophie Kiwala Sophie KiwalaKitchener Centre John MilloyDaiene Vernile Daiene VernileNewmarket—Aurora Frank KleesStatement by Newmarket - Aurora MPP Frank Klees , dated: January 21, 2014, retrieved May 28, 2014Jane Twinney Chris BallardOttawa—Orléans Phil McNeelyMarie-France Lalonde Marie-France LalondeSudbury Rick BartolucciAndrew Olivier Joe Cimino All 21 NDP incumbents, along with 43 incumbent Liberals and 35 incumbent Progressive Conservatives, stood in the General Election.
Top level summary of election outcome This table tracked the key changes in parliarmary dynicmic in the lead up to the election, and provide a summary of the election results for the four main parties, together having captured 98.5% of the popular votes. More detailed results and more extensive analysis can be found in sections below, following the section covering the election campaign. +↓ 58 28 21 Party Leader 40th Parliament 41st 2014 pop. votes Δ # # Δ% % Δ Liberal Kathleen Wynne 53 53 51 49 48 58 5 1,863,974 238,872 38.67 1.02 Progressive Conservative Tim Hudak 37 36 36 37 37 28 9 1,505,436 24,640 31.23 4.22 New Democratic Andrea Horwath 17 18 18 20 21 21 4 1,144,822 168,573 23.75 1.01 Green Mike Schreiner – – – 235,911 109,890 4.89 1.97 Other (Sum of) – – 2 2 1 – 70,404 11,470 1.46 0.22 Total Valid 4,820,547 504,165 Rejected/Unmarked 35,009 16,909 0.72 0.30 Declined 29,937 27,602 0.61 0.05 References:Turnout 4,885,493 548,676 51.29 3.11 Elections Ontario Registered Voters 9,526,031 525,656 5.84
Campaign Issues Economy Unemployment in Ontario was a major political issue. In particular, the manufacturing sector had shrunk by about 30% or more than 300,000 jobs since 2002.
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario proposed a plan called "Million Jobs Plan", outlining their strategy for job creation and economic growth. By reducing tax, government services, energy costs and regulations the PCs projected to create a cumulative 507,488 jobs over eight years. The plan also called for the reduction of 100,000 civil service jobs. Economists and critics noted fundamental mathematical errors with the PCs' projections. They held, even if the PCs' own data were correctly tabulated, only 50,000 extra jobs would be created (in addition to the 500,000 that would be created anyway without any policy change).
The Ontario Liberal Party proposed the 10 year "Jobs and Investment Plan", which proposed infrastructure investments as their main strategy to create jobs.
The Ontario New Democratic Party platform called for targeted tax credits and incentives to encourage job creation.
The Green Party of Ontario policy proposal stated that it would "focus on your job by lowering payroll taxes for small businesses" as well as investing in transit infrastructure and subsidising energy-saving home improvements.
The Ontario Libertarian Party called for mass privatization, lower taxes and general deregulation, eliminating many business requirements such as permitting, insurance and certification that they considered to be interfering with job creation. Their platform called for government spending to be limited to "only core functions of government; defending life, liberty, and property" and as such would have eliminated industry subsidies or incentives of any kind, particularly in the energy sector.