1987 Ontario general election


The 1987 Ontario general election was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by Premier David Peterson, was returned to power with their first majority government in half a century, and the second-largest majority government in the province's history. Peterson had successfully managed to govern with a minority in the Legislature by obtaining the co-operation of the Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Bob Rae, in a confidence and supply agreement. It was through the NDP's support that Peterson was able to form a government, even though the Progressive Conservative Party had won a slightly larger number of seats in the previous election.
The PC Party, led by Larry Grossman, campaigned on a platform of tax cuts to stimulate the economy. Its support continued to slide, as voters opted for the change that the Liberal-NDP arrangement provided, with Grossman losing his own seat. The PCs fell to 16 seats and third place in the legislature, their worst showing in an election in half a century.
The NDP was unable to convince the bulk of voters that it should be given credit for the success of the Liberal government that it had supported. It nevertheless did receive more votes and a larger proportion of the vote than in the previous election, although the party lost six seats due to the first-past-the-post electoral system. The party became the Official Opposition for the second time in its history.

Expansion of the Legislature

An Act was passed in 1986, providing for the Legislative Assembly to increase from 125 members to 130. The following changes were made:

Results

! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party
! rowspan=2 | Party leader
! colspan=4 | MPPs
! colspan=4 | Votes
! Candidates
!1985
!1987
!±
!#
! ±
!%
! ±
! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total
! " colspan="2"|130
! " colspan="2"|3,777,311
! " colspan="2"| 100.00%

Analysis

Parties1st2nd3rd4th5th
9535
1943671
1652611
274
36
159
61
43
35

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
Oakville SouthChristopher Kowalchuk1,3574th
Stormont—Dundas—GlengarryGordon McGregor4,7843rd
YorkviewTony Marzilli2,5073rd

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

Beaches—Woodbine">Beaches—Woodbine (provincial electoral district)">Beaches—Woodbine

  • Marion Bryden 19948
  • Patricia Herdman 8519
  • John Beveridge 3022
  • Steve Thistle 533

Brampton South">Brampton South (provincial electoral district)">Brampton South

  • Bob Callahan 17913
  • Frank Russell 6772
  • Paul Ledgister 5786
  • Don Best 2946
  • Jim Bridgewood 268
  • Garnet Brace 225
  • Malcolm Cook 158

Burlington South">Burlington South (provincial electoral district)">Burlington South

  • Cam Jackson 12968
  • Bill Priestner 12363
  • Judy Worsley 4694
  • Don Pennell 1125
  • Dan Riga 228

Cambridge">Cambridge (provincial electoral district)">Cambridge

[Carleton East]

  • Gilles Morin 20706
  • Joan Gullen 6105
  • Roland Saumure 4572
  • Andre Lafrance 926

Chatham—Kent">Chatham—Kent (provincial electoral district)">Chatham—Kent

  • Maurice Bossy 13370
  • Brian Rice 7623
  • Ron Anderson 6669
  • Marcy Edwards 806
  • Don Carnegie 341

Don Mills">Don Mills (electoral district)">Don Mills

Dovercourt">Dovercourt (electoral district)">Dovercourt

Durham Centre">Durham Centre (provincial electoral district)">Durham Centre

  • Allan Furlong 12885
  • Sarah Kelly 9881
  • Stephanie Ball 8790
  • Harold Tauscah 378

Durham West">Durham West (provincial electoral district)">Durham West

[Durham—York]

Eglinton">Eglinton (provincial electoral district)">Eglinton

Elgin">Elgin (federal electoral district)">Elgin

[Essex—Kent]

[Etobicoke—Humber]

  • Jim Henderson 21644
  • Avie Flaherty 8062
  • Peter Sutherland 4511
  • George Hartwell 1237

[Etobicoke—Lakeshore]

[Etobicoke West]

Fort William">Fort William (provincial electoral district)">Fort William

Fort York">Fort York (federal electoral district)">Fort York

  • Bob Wong 9593
  • Joe Pantalone 9456
  • Tom Pang 2084
  • Paul “No Government” Barker 427
  • Andrew Scorer 243
  • Glen Magder 186
  • Bill Whelan 181
  • Ronald Rodgers 154

[Frontenac—Addington]

  • Larry South 11628
  • Bob Lucas 7407
  • Lars Thompson 4996
  • Ross Baker 667

[Grey—Owen Sound]

Guelph">Guelph (provincial electoral district)">Guelph

[Halton North]

[Hamilton Centre]

Hamilton East">Hamilton East (federal electoral district)">Hamilton East

  • Bob Mackenzie 16421
  • David Bach 9890
  • Tommy Tarpos 1915
  • Bob Jaggard 673

Hamilton Mountain">Hamilton Mountain (federal electoral district)">Hamilton Mountain

Hamilton West">Hamilton West (provincial electoral district)">Hamilton West

[Hastings—Peterborough]

[High Park—Swansea]

Huron">Huron (electoral district)">Huron

Kenora">Kenora (provincial electoral district)">Kenora

Kingston and the Islands">Kingston and the Islands (provincial electoral district)">Kingston and the Islands

Kitchener">Kitchener (provincial electoral district)">Kitchener

  • David Cooke 15373
  • Sue Coulter 8379
  • Barbara Fraser 4226
  • John Meenan 1100
  • Ed Halbach 290

[Kitchener—Wilmot]

Lake Nipigon">Lake Nipigon (electoral district)">Lake Nipigon

Lambton">Lambton (federal electoral district)">Lambton

[Lanark—Renfrew]

Lawrence">Lawrence (electoral district)">Lawrence

[Leeds—Grenville]

Lincoln">Lincoln (provincial electoral district)">Lincoln

London Centre">London Centre (provincial electoral district)">London Centre

[London North]

  • Ron Van Horne 22452
  • Diane Whiteside 7961
  • Lucky Clark 7177
  • Elvin Mizzau 611
  • Barry Malcolm 537

[London South]

Markham">Markham (federal electoral district)">Markham

Middlesex">Middlesex (federal electoral district)">Middlesex

[Mississauga East]

[Mississauga North]

  • Steve Offer 14604
  • John Moszynski 6153
  • Gabe Spoletine 5309

[Mississauga South]

[Mississauga West]

Nepean">Nepean (provincial electoral district)">Nepean

Niagara Falls">Niagara Falls (provincial electoral district)">Niagara Falls

[Niagara South]

Nickel Belt">Nickel Belt (provincial electoral district)">Nickel Belt

Nipissing">Nipissing (provincial electoral district)">Nipissing

  • Mike Harris 15744
  • Marthe Smith 11690
  • Sandra Clifford 2961
  • Brendan Purtill 672

Norfolk">Norfolk (electoral district)">Norfolk

Northumberland">Northumberland (Ontario electoral district)">Northumberland

[Oakville South]

Oakwood">Oakwood (electoral district)">Oakwood

Oriole">Oriole (electoral district)">Oriole

Oshawa">Oshawa (provincial electoral district)">Oshawa

  • Mike Breaugh 12957
  • Cathy O'Flynn 10041
  • Frank Snyder 4076
  • James Delaney 1184

Ottawa Centre">Ottawa Centre (provincial electoral district)">Ottawa Centre

[Ottawa East]

[Ottawa—Rideau]

Ottawa South">Ottawa South (provincial electoral district)">Ottawa South

Oxford">Oxford (provincial electoral district)">Oxford

Parkdale">Parkdale (provincial electoral district)">Parkdale

  • Tony Ruprecht 13430
  • Vasco Dos Santos 3961
  • Charles Olito 798
  • Carla Marmelo 389
  • Danny Hunt 283
  • Gordon Massie 184
  • Camilo Tiqui 176
  • Nancy Van Schouwen 113

Parry Sound">Parry Sound (federal electoral district)">Parry Sound

  • Ernie Eves 11332
  • Rollie Boissonneault 6935
  • Bill Pabst 2231
  • Warren Edgar 647

Perth">Perth (federal electoral district)">Perth

Peterborough">Peterborough (electoral district)">Peterborough

  • Peter Adams 15098
  • Linda Slavin 10641
  • Doris Brick 8480
  • Alex Calder 3057
  • John Conlin 344

Port Arthur">Port Arthur (provincial electoral district)">Port Arthur

Prescott and Russell">Prescott and Russell (electoral district)">Prescott and Russell

[Prince Edward—Lennox]

[Quinte]

  • Hugh O'Neil 17151
  • Doug Brewer 6543
  • Gene Morosan 3520
  • Allan Bristol 413

Rainy River">Rainy River (electoral district)">Rainy River

Renfrew North">Renfrew North (provincial electoral district)">Renfrew North

Riverdale">Riverdale (electoral district)">Riverdale

[St. Andrew—St. Patrick]

[St. Catharines—Brock]

[St. George—St. David]

Sarnia">Sarnia (provincial electoral district)">Sarnia

  • Andy Brandt 12964
  • Joan Link-Mellon 10303
  • Catherine Giles 4552
  • Terry Burrell 1475
  • Margaret Coe 559

Sault Ste. Marie">Sault Ste. Marie (provincial electoral district)">Sault Ste. Marie

Scarborough—Agincourt">Scarborough—Agincourt (provincial electoral district)">Scarborough—Agincourt

  • Gerry Phillips 19101
  • David Kho 7021
  • Adrienne Johnson 6284
  • Barry Coyne 794

Scarborough Centre">Scarborough Centre (provincial electoral district)">Scarborough Centre

Scarborough East">Scarborough East (provincial electoral district)">Scarborough East

  • Ed Fulton 16944
  • Mary Cook 7048
  • Russ Bastow 5390
  • Jim McIntosh 869
  • Greg Knittl 337

[Scarborough—Ellesmere]

Scarborough North">Scarborough North (provincial electoral district)">Scarborough North

  • Alvin Curling 20021
  • Peter Lam 5861
  • Nick Summers 4509
  • Louis Di Rocco 1371

Scarborough West">Scarborough West (provincial electoral district)">Scarborough West

  • Richard Johnston 13330
  • Joe Pacione 10094
  • Brian Clark 3881
  • Stephen Jalsevic 1035
  • George Dance 483

[Simcoe Centre]

[Simcoe East]

  • Al McLean 12543
  • Butch Orser 11737
  • Fayne Bullen 9699

[Simcoe West]

Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry and East Grenville">Glengarry (provincial electoral district)">Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry and East Grenville

  • Noble Villeneuve 10771
  • Gerry Rosenquist 10164
  • Gordon McGregor 4784
  • Arthur Carkner 2345

Sudbury">Sudbury (provincial electoral district)">Sudbury

[Sudbury East]

Timiskaming">Timiskaming (provincial electoral district)">Timiskaming

[Victoria—Haliburton]

  • John Eakins 16287
  • Arthur Ward 5856
  • Ivan Moore 4251
  • Diane Roblin-Lee 2403

Waterloo North">Waterloo North (provincial electoral district)">Waterloo North

[Welland—Thorold]

  • Mel Swart 17490
  • Mark Larose 9855
  • Giulio Roca 2167
  • Angela Braun 706

Wellington">Wellington (electoral district)">Wellington

[Wentworth East]

[Wentworth North]

  • Chris Ward 16150
  • Gary Tilley 7107
  • Lynn Spencer 6641

Willowdale">Willowdale (provincial electoral district)">Willowdale

Wilson Heights">Wilson Heights (electoral district)">Wilson Heights

[Windsor—Riverside]

[Windsor—Sandwich]

[Windsor—Walkerville]

  • Mike Ray 14361
  • Donna Champagne 13415
  • Jerry Kovacs 1553
  • Mike Longmoore 335

York Centre">York Centre (provincial electoral district)">York Centre

York East">York East (provincial electoral district)">York East

  • Christine Hart 15683
  • Peter Oyler 7352
  • Sophia Apostolides 7056
  • Chris Frazer 527

York Mills">York Mills (electoral district)">York Mills

[York—Mackenzie]

[York South]

[Yorkview]

  • Claudio Polsinelli 11499
  • Sheila Lambrinos 6148
  • Tony Marzilli 2507
  • Fareed Khan 1037
  • Russ Jackman 674

Byelections after 1987

Dalton McGuinty, Sr., MPP for Ottawa South, died on March 16, 1990. No byelection was held; the seat was vacant until the 1990 election in September.