September 6, 1990 1995 → 74 36 55 59 Date 6 September 1990 | 95 16 36 20 59 4 | |
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Winner Bob Rae | ||
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada.
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The governing Ontario Liberal Party led by Premier David Peterson was unexpectedly defeated. Although the Peterson government was very popular, he was accused of opportunism in calling an election just three years into his mandate. In a shocking upset, the New Democratic Party, led by Bob Rae, won a majority government. This marked the first time the NDP had won government east of Manitoba, and to date the only time the NDP formed the government in Ontario.
The NDP had not expected to come close to winning power; indeed, Rae had already made plans to retire from politics after the election. However, the NDP managed to take many seats in the Greater Toronto Area (Rae himself represented York South, in Metro Toronto) from the Liberals. They also did better than ever before (or in some cases, since) in many other cities and rural areas. The NDP only finished five points ahead of the Liberals in the popular vote. However, due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, which ignores the popular vote and only awards power based on the number of ridings won, the NDP's gains in the GTA decimated the Liberal caucus. The Liberals lost 59 seats, the worst defeat in their history and the second-worst defeat for a governing party in Ontario. Peterson himself was heavily defeated in London Centre by NDP challenger Marion Boyd, losing by 8,200 votes—one of the few times a provincial premier has lost his own seat.
Although Mike Harris's Progressive Conservative Party was unable to overcome voter distrust of the federal Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, his party did manage to make a net gain of four seats.
Although Harris was from northern Ontario, the Tories were particularly weak in that region, placing fourth, behind the Liberals, NDP and the right-wing, Confederation of Regions Party (CoR) in six northern Ontario ridings (Algoma, Cochrane South, Nickel Belt, Sudbury, Sudbury East and Sault Ste. Marie). The CoR Party also placed ahead of the PC Party in the Renfrew North and Cornwall ridings in eastern Ontario. Although they only received 1.9% of the vote provincewide, they managed 7.8% in the 33 ridings in which they actually fielded a candidate.
The Green Party of Ontario placed third, ahead of the NDP, in Parry Sound riding, where former Liberal leadership candidate Richard Thomas was the party's candidate.
Party affiliation switches
Tony Rizzo (NDP) became an independent MPP on October 10, 1990, after questions were raised about labour practices in his bricklaying firms. He would later rejoin the NDP caucus.
Dennis Drainville (NDP) became an independent MPP on April 28, 1993, as a protest against the Rae government's plans to introduce casinos to the province. He later resigned his seat in the legislature, resulting in a by-election.
Will Ferguson (NDP) became an independent MPP on April 30, 1993, following accusations relating to the Grandview scandal. He later rejoined the NDP caucus on June 21, 1994, having been cleared of all charges.
John Sola (L) became an independent MPP on May 11, 1993, after making comments about Canadian Serbs that most regarded as racist.
Peter North (NDP) became an independent MPP on October 27, 1993, claiming he had lost confidence in the Rae government. He tried to join the Progressive Conservatives, but was rebuffed.
Byelections
Due to resignations, five by-elections were held between the 1990 and 1995 elections.
Vacancies
In addition, four seats were vacant in the final months of the legislature, as the sitting members resigned and by-elections were not held to replace them before the 1995 election: