1985 Ontario general election


The 1985 Ontario general election was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. The Progressive Conservatives won the most seats, but came short of a majority, and lost the popular vote to the [Ontario Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party|Liberals]. This left the NDP with the balance of power in the 33rd Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
Shortly afterward, the 42 years of PC governance in Ontario came to an end by a confidence vote defeating Premier Frank Miller's minority government. David Peterson's Liberals then formed a minority government with the support of Bob Rae's New Democratic Party.

Prelude

Around Thanksgiving in 1984, Ontario Premier Bill Davis announced that he would be stepping down from his longtime post and as leader of the Ontario PCs in early 1985. In office since 1971, he had a string of electoral victories by pursuing a moderate agenda and by relying on the skill of the Big Blue Machine team of advisors. Davis, who remained generally popular throughout his term in office, would unveil a surprise legacy project: full funding for Ontario's separate Catholic school system, which would become known as Bill 30. That decision was supported by both other parties but was generally unpopular, especially in the PC base.
The subsequent leadership race saw the party divide into two rough camps. The moderate and mainly-urban wing was represented by the second-place finisher, Larry Grossman. The more conservative rural faction backed the eventual victor, Frank Miller. After Miller's victory at the convention, the party's factions failed to reconcile, which was especially important since many moderate members of the Big Blue Machine were pushed aside.

Election

Despite those problems, the PCs remained far ahead in the polls, and when Miller called an election just six weeks after becoming premier, he was about 20% ahead of the Liberals. Over the campaign, however, the PC lead began to shrink as the Liberals waged a highly effective campaign. During the campaign, the separate schools question re-emerged when the Anglican prelate of Toronto, Archbishop Lewis Garnsworthy, held a news conference on the issue in which he compared Davis' methods in pushing through the reform to Adolf Hitler, saying: "This is how Hitler changed education in Germany, by exactly the same process, by decree. I won't take that back." Garnsworthy was much criticized for his remarks, but the issue was revived, which alienated the PC base, some of whom chose to stay home on election day.
The election held May 2, 1985, ended in a stalemate. The PCs emerged with a much-reduced caucus of 52 seats. The Liberals won 48 seats but won slightly more of the popular vote. The NDP held the balance of power, with 25 seats. Despite taking 14 seats from the PCs, the Liberals were somewhat disappointed, as they felt that they had their first realistic chance of winning government in recent memory. The NDP was also disappointed by the election result, as the party had been nearly tied with the Liberals for popular support for several years and had hoped to surpass them.

Aftermath

The incumbent PCs intended to remain in power with a minority government, as they had done on two occasions under Davis' leadership. Rae and the NDP had little interest in supporting a continuation of PC rule, while the Liberals were also more amenable to a partnership compared to in the 1970's. Among other things, the Liberals repeatedly pointed out that their party had won the popular vote and therefore, in their view, had at least as much of a right to govern the province as the Conservatives. The NDP began negotiations on May 13 to reach an agreement with the Liberals. Rae and Peterson signed an accord on May 29 that would see a number of NDP priorities put into law in exchange for an NDP motion of non-confidence in Miller's government and the NDP's support of the Liberals. The NDP agreed to support a Liberal minority government for two years during which the Liberals agreed not to call an election.
Miller, apprised of negotiations, considered a plan to address the province on television two days before the throne speech, disown funding for Catholic schools, and announce he was meeting with the Lieutenant Governor to request an election before a confidence vote could take place. Believing that the Lieutenant Governor would have to call an election if requested before the confidence vote, Miller refused to do so since he believed the party's finances to be too fragile for a second campaign and that repudiating a key Davis policy would tear the party apart.
In what was by then a foregone conclusion, on June 18, 1985 the PC government was defeated by the passage of a motion of no confidence introduced by Rae. Lieutenant-Governor John Black Aird then asked Peterson to form a government. Privately, Aird's actions suited Miller since even without party infighting and finances to consider, the PC's internal polling had by then clearly indicated the voters did not want another election and that even if the Lieutenant-Governor could have been convinced to call one, the Liberals would have been likely to win in a landslide. The actions of Aird, who was appointed by former Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, therefore allowed Miller to portray his relinquishing of the premiership as a grudging acquiescence that he was forced to undertake by a representative of the sovereign, who the PCs would subsequently claim had breached constitutional convention and inappropriately engaged in partisanship to elevate the second-place party to government. In any case, Miller resigned on June 26 and Peterson's minority government was sworn in on the same day.

Results

! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party
! rowspan=2 | Party leader
! colspan=4 | MPPs
! colspan=4 | Votes
! Candidates
!1981
!1985
!±
!#
! ±
!%
! ±
! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total
! " colspan="2"|125
! " colspan="2"|3,635,699
! " colspan="2"| 100.00%

Analysis

Parties1st2nd3rd4th5th
525815
484730
2520791
1207
151
10
53
3

Significant results among independent and minor party candidates

Those candidates not belonging to a major party, receiving more than 1,000 votes in the election, are listed below:
RidingPartyCandidatesVotesPlaced
Don MillsGary Watson1,3824th
Essex NorthRaymond Boggs2,9254th
Essex SouthJeffrey Totten4,9473rd
LincolnKenneth Lee1,0364th
OakvilleChristopher Kowalchuk2,0084th
OrioleGeorge Graham1,1064th
St. GeorgeMichael Beech1,0074th
Scarborough EastJames McIntosh1,4024th
Scarborough NorthRonald Austin1,9744th
York CentreStewart Cole2,6444th
York MillsScott Bell2,3394th
York SouthWilliam Schulze1,0634th
York WestRobert Dunk1,0994th

Seats changing hands

Twenty-five seats changed allegiance in this election:
;PC to Liberal
;PC to NDP
;Liberal to NDP
;Liberal-Labour to PC
;NDP to Liberal
;NDP to PC

MPPs elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows:
;Northern Ontario
;Ottawa Valley
;Saint Lawrence Valley
;Central Ontario
;Georgian Bay
;Hamilton/Halton/Niagara
;Midwestern Ontario
;Southwestern Ontario
;Peel/York/Durham
;Metropolitan Toronto

Riding results

Algoma:
Algoma—Manitoulin:
  • John Lane 7174
  • Tom Farquhar 4704
  • Len Hembruf 3309
Armourdale:
Beaches—Woodbine:
Bellwoods:
  • Ross McClellan 8088
  • Walter Bardyn 6655
  • Bento de Sao Jose 1964
  • Ronald Rodgers 324
Brampton:
  • Bob Callahan 25656
  • Jeff Rice 21239
  • Terry Gorman 8313
  • Jim Bridgewood 531
  • Dave Duqette 500
Brantford:
Brant-Oxford-Norfolk:
Brock:
Burlington South:
  • Cam Jackson 16479
  • Doug Redfearn 11822
  • Walter Mukewich 10820
Cambridge:
Carleton:
Carleton East:
Carleton-Grenville:
Chatham—Kent:
Cochrane North:
Cochrane South:
  • Alan Pope 13935
  • Roger Loiselle 5662
  • Jim Martin 4002
Cornwall:
Don Mills:
Dovercourt:
  • Tony Lupusella 6677
  • Gil Gillespie 6600
  • Joe Palozzi 3564
  • Gordon Massie 298
Downsview:
Dufferin—Simcoe:
Durham East:
Durham West:
  • George Ashe 18684
  • Brian Evans 14348
  • Don Stewart 8495
  • Eugene Gmitrowicz 911
Durham—York:
Eglinton:
Elgin:
  • Ron McNeil 11816
  • Peter Charlton 8619
  • Gord Campbell 5315
Erie:
Essex North:
  • Pat Hayes 7901
  • Jack Morris 6615
  • Jack Menard 6105
  • Ray Boggs 2925
Essex South:
  • Remo Mancini 11382
  • Paul Setterington 5098
  • Jeff Totten 4947
  • Paul Hertel 267
Etobicoke:
  • Ed Philip 16792
  • John Smith 7573
  • John Genser 6544
Fort William:
Frontenac—Addington:
Grey:
  • Bob McKessock 16061
  • Case Vanderham 5875
  • Rhonda Green 2402
  • Eric Biggins 306
Grey—Bruce:
Haldimand—Norfolk:
Halton—Burlington:
  • Don Knight 14991
  • Peter Pomeroy 14777
  • Doug Hamilton 4871
  • Neil Sivertson 665
Hamilton Centre:
Hamilton East:
Hamilton Mountain:
Hamilton West:
  • Richard Allen 10182
  • Paul Hanover 9732
  • Anne Jones 6705
  • Ron Crawford 496
  • Val Hache 97
Hastings—Peterborough:
High Park—Swansea:
Humber:
Huron—Bruce:
Huron—Middlesex:
Kenora:
  • Leo Bernier 12574
  • Colin Wasacase 4025
  • Mark Ducharme 2254
Kent—Elgin:
  • Jim McGuigan 11616
  • Shirley McHardy 7838
  • Donald Alexander 1916
Kingston and the Islands:
Kitchener:
  • David Cooke 14066
  • Don Travers 9684
  • Tim Little 5654
  • Ed Halbach 453
  • Albert Norris 157
Kitchener—Wilmot:
Lake Nipigon:
Lambton:
Lanark—Renfrew:
Lakeshore:
Leeds:
Lincoln:
  • Philip Andrewes 12226
  • Gladys Huffman 9004
  • Barbara Mersereau 2264
  • Ken Lee 1036
London Centre:
  • David Peterson 13890
  • Bill Rudd 6714
  • Peter Cassidy 4340
  • Michelle McColm 403
London North:
London South:
Middlesex:
Mississauga East:
Mississauga North:
Mississauga South:
Muskoka:
Niagara Falls:
Nickel Belt:
Nipissing:
  • Mike Harris 14900
  • Mike Gauthier 11002
  • Lynne Bennett 3984
Northumberland:
Oakville:
Oakwood:
  • Tony Grande 10407
  • Joe Ricciuti 9631
  • Harriet Wolman 4636
  • Mike Sterling 327
Oriole:
Oshawa:
Ottawa Centre:
Ottawa East:
  • Bernard Grandmaitre 14601
  • Kathryn Barnard 3971
  • Paul St. Georges 2257
  • Serge Girard |Serge Girard 518
Ottawa South:
Ottawa West:
Oxford:
  • Dick Treleaven 15507
  • Charlotte Sutherland 10656
  • Wayne Colburn 5660
  • Kaye Sargent 729
  • Rick Spurgeon 577
Parkdale:
Parry Sound:
  • Ernie Eves 10904
  • Richard Thomas 9544
  • Leo Gagne 1130
Perth:
Peterborough:
  • John Turner 16878
  • Linda Slavin 11941
  • Bill Ayotte 9734
  • John Conlin 461
  • George K. Kerr 212
Port Arthur:
  • Jim Foulds 13084
  • Swede Johnson 9826
  • John Ranta 6169
Prescott and Russell:
Prince Edward—Lennox:
Quinte:
Rainy River:
Renfrew North:
  • Sean Conway 12849
  • Bryan Hocking 5748
  • Robert Cottingham 740
Renfrew South:
Riverdale:
  • David Reville 9869
  • Bret Snider 4590
  • Doug DeMille 3949
  • Maggie Bizzell 322
  • Michael Tegtmeyer 192
St. Andrew—St. Patrick:
  • Larry Grossman 10332
  • Meg Griffiths 8373
  • Jim DaCosta 6330
  • Cathy Laurier 264
  • Judy Hannon 232
St. Catharines:
St. David:
St. George:
  • Susan Fish 11378
  • Diana Hunt 10543
  • Joseph Mifsud 9361
  • Michael Beech 1007
  • Karol Siroky 186
Sarnia:
  • Andy Brandt 18651
  • Michael Robb 7438
  • Duncan Longwell 3572
  • Margaret Coe 792
Sault Ste. Marie:
Scarborough Centre:
Scarborough East:
  • Ed Fulton 15855
  • Verla Fiveash 11245
  • Alawi Mohideen 4381
  • Jim McIntosh 1402
Scarborough—Ellesmere:
Scarborough North:
  • Alvin Curling 30504
  • Carole Noble 22644
  • Jerry Daca 9072
  • R.J. Austin 1972
Scarborough West:
Simcoe Centre:
Simcoe East:
  • Al McLean 13371
  • Fayne Bullen 11002
  • George MacDonald 7566
Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry and East Grenville:
Sudbury:
  • Jim Gordon 12591
  • Ernie St-Jean 7010
  • Chris Nash 6302
Sudbury East:
Timiskaming:
Victoria—Haliburton:
Waterloo North:
Welland—Thorold:
  • Mel Swart 17065
  • Roy Smith 6027
  • Ed Minchin 5618
Wellington—Dufferin—Peel:
Wellington South:
Wentworth:
  • Gordon Dean 12322
  • June Peace 10337
  • Sharon Lehnert 8571
  • Albert Papazian 947
Wentworth North:
Wilson Heights:
Windsor—Riverside:
Windsor—Sandwich:
  • Bill Wrye 10730
  • Paul Forder 7583
  • Ron Arkell 3681
  • Mike Longmoore 197
Windsor—Walkerville:
York Centre:
  • Don Cousens 25022
  • Ron Maheu 19776
  • Diane Meaghan 7171
  • Stewart Cole 2644
York East:
  • Robert Elgie 11459
  • Gord Crann 9183
  • Omar Chaudhery 6629
  • Ed McDonald 929
  • Kathy Sorensen 410
York Mills:
York North:
York South:
  • Bob Rae 16373
  • Horace Hale 6807
  • Toomas Dunapuu 5321
  • Paul Schulze 1063
  • Lucille Boikoff 402
  • Dusan Kubias 343
York West:
Yorkview:

Post-election changes

York East, April 17, 1986:
Cochrane North, August 14, 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, at 51,.
Paul Yakabuski, PC MPP for Renfrew South died July 31, 1987