The 2007 Ontario general election was held on October 10, 2007, to elect members ( MPPs) of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. The Liberals under Premier

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...

won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular vote. The election saw the third-lowest voter turnout in Ontario provincial elections, setting a then record for the lowest voter turnout with 52.8% of people who were eligible voted. This broke the previous record of 54.7% in the 1923 election, but would end up being surpassed in the 2011 and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

elections. As a result of legislation passed by the Legislature in 2004, election dates are now fixed by formula so that an election is held approximately four years after the previous election, unless the government is defeated by a vote of "no confidence" in the Legislature. Previously, the governing party had considerable flexibility to determine the date of an election anywhere up to five years of being elected. The date of this election was originally presumed to be October 4, 2007; however, the law fixes the date on the first Thursday of October or on any day within seven days thereof if required to accommodate a date of "religious or cultural significance". The date was set as October 10, 2007, to avoid a conflict with the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

holiday of

Shemini Atzeret Shemini Atzeret (—"Eighth ay ofAssembly") is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei in the Land of Israel, and on the 22nd and 23rd outside the Land, usually coinciding with late September or earl ...

, which fell on October 4, 2007. In the same election, there was a provincial referendum on whether to change from

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

mixed member proportional representation Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...

, as recommended by the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. This measure failed, with 37% of the participating electorate and 5 out of 107 ridings voting for the new system; a 60% supermajority was required province-wide, with at least 2/3 of the ridings also supporting it by a simple majority.

Issues

Although all four parties released a variety of detailed platform proposals, the campaign was dominated almost entirely by John Tory's promise to extend public funding to Ontario's faith-based schools. In Ontario at present, the Catholic school system is fully funded in the same manner as public schools. However, other religious schools, such as

, Muslim or

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

schools, are not funded by the province. This discrepancy has been cited as discriminatory by both the Supreme Court of Canada and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per y ...

, although to date the province has taken no action to change its existing school funding policies, on the grounds that Catholic school funding in the province is mandated by the

Constitution of Canada The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents a ...

. Tory's proposal to extend funding to religious schools was controversial, with polls confirming that a clear majority of Ontarians opposed the proposal. Even some of Tory's own caucus, most notably Bill Murdoch and

Garfield Dunlop Garfield Dunlop is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2015 who represented the riding of Simcoe North. He resigned from the legislature in 2015 i ...

, openly criticized the proposal during the election campaign. After heavy opposition, Tory changed his position later in the campaign, promising a

free vote A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamentary ...

on the issue. The Liberals and the NDP were both opposed to non-Catholic religious school funding, while the Green Party proposed eliminating the province's existing Catholic school funding in favour of a single public school board. Liberal opposition to non-Catholic religious school funding, especially private Muslim schools, appealed to Islamophobic sentiment in the province. There was a brief flurry of interest in health care issues when John Tory emphasized his support for an increasing role for the private sector in health care. In the final week of the campaign, NDP leader

Howard Hampton Howard George Hampton (born May 17, 1952) is a politician who was a member of Provincial Parliament for the province of Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, from 1987 to 1999 in the electoral district of Rainy Ri ...

criticized the media for focusing almost entirely on religious schools and virtually ignoring other issues.

Ridings

With the passing of Bill 214 and the ''Representation Act, 2005'' in 2005, Ontario's electoral boundaries are no longer identical to the federal electoral boundaries. The province is now divided into 11 northern electoral districts that are identical, except for a minor boundary adjustment, to the ones that existed on October 2, 2003, and 96 southern electoral districts that are identical to their federal counterparts as they existed on September 1, 2004. The 11 northern electoral districts are: Algoma—Manitoulin, Kenora—Rainy River,

Nickel Belt Nickel Belt is one of two federal electoral districts serving the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1953. Geography It consists of: * the part of the Territorial District ...

, Nipissing,

Parry Sound—Muskoka Parry Sound—Muskoka is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1949. The riding consists of the Territorial District of Parry Sound (excluding the Town of Powassan, ...

, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay—Atikokan,

Thunder Bay—Superior North Thunder Bay—Superior North (french: Thunder Bay—Supérieur-Nord; formerly known as Thunder Bay—Nipigon) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1976. It is i ...

Timiskaming—Cochrane Timiskaming—Cochrane was a federal electoral district in Ontario that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2003. It was located in the northeast part of Ontario. This riding was created in 1996 from parts of Cochra ...

, and

Timmins—James Bay Timmins—James Bay (french: Timmins—Baie James) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Its population in 2011 was 83,104. The district includes the extreme ...

. As a result of the redistribution, none of the three major parties took fewer seats than it held at the dissolution of the previous legislature. The Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives each gained seats, while the New Democratic Party's seat total remained unchanged.

Results by party

, - style="background-color:#CCCCCC" !rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Party !rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Party leader !rowspan="2", Candidates !colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" , Seats !colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" , Popular vote , - style="background-color:#CCCCCC" , style="text-align:center;" , 2003 , style="text-align:center;font-size:80%;" , Dissol. , style="text-align:center;" , 2007 , style="text-align:center;" , Change , style="text-align:center;" , # , style="text-align:center;" , % , style="text-align:center;" , Change , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , 72 , style="text-align:right;" , 67 , style="text-align:right;" , 71 , style="text-align:right;" , +6.0% , style="text-align:right;" , 1,869,273 , style="text-align:right;" , 42.25% , style="text-align:right;" , -4.22% , style="text-align:left;" ,

John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 65th and current mayor of Toronto since 2014. After a career as a lawyer, political strategist and businessman, Tory ran as a mayoral candidate in the 200 ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , 24 , style="text-align:right;" , 25 , style="text-align:right;" , 26 , style="text-align:right;" , +4.0% , style="text-align:right;" , 1,398,806 , style="text-align:right;" , 31.62% , style="text-align:right;" , -3.05% , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , 7 , style="text-align:right;" , 10 , style="text-align:right;" , 10 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 741,465 , style="text-align:right;" , 16.77% , style="text-align:right;" , +2.08% , style="text-align:left;" ,

Frank de Jong Frank de Jong (born October 16, 1955) is a Canadian politician, environmentalist, and elementary school teacher. He joined the Green Party of Ontario in 1987 and became the party's first official leader in 1993 – a position he held until Novem ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 354,897 , style="text-align:right;" , 8.02% , style="text-align:right;" , +5.20% , style="text-align:left;" , Giuseppe Gori , style="text-align:right;" , 83 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 35,702 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.81% , style="text-align:right;" , +0.01% , style="text-align:left;" ,

Sam Apelbaum Sam Apelbaum is a politician in Ontario, Canada. A lawyer and real estate agent, he was leader of the Ontario Libertarian Party from 1996 to 2011. Like many other members of the Libertarian Party, Apelbaum believes in reducing government partici ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 25 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 9,249 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.21% , style="text-align:right;" , +0.17% , style="text-align:left;" , Paul McKeever , style="text-align:right;" , 15 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 3,003 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.07% , style="text-align:right;" , -0.13% , style="text-align:left;" ,

Elizabeth Rowley Elizabeth Rowley (born c. 1949) is the current leader of the Communist Party of Canada. A long-time politician, writer, and political activist, Rowley served as a school trustee in the former Toronto borough of East York. Before becoming leader ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 8 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 1,603 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.04% , style="text-align:right;" , -0.01% , style="text-align:left;" , Danish Ahmed , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 502 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.01% , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:left;" , Eileen Butson , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 446 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.01% , style="text-align:right;" , +0.00% , style="text-align:left;" , Brad Harness , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 354 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.01% , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:left;" , Trueman Tuck , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 272 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.01% , style="text-align:right;" , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Independents and no affiliation , style="text-align:right;" , 32 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 8,326 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.19% , style="text-align:right;" , -0.11% , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Vacant , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:center;" colspan="5" , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="3" , Total , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 103 , style="text-align:right;" , 103 , style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , 8,380,551 , style="text-align:right;" , 4,423,898 , style="text-align:right;" , 100% , style="text-align:right;" , - *''Two independent candidates are running for the unregistered Communist League, while two others are perennial candidates of the

Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist) The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist) ( abbr. CPC(M-L)) is a Canadian federal political party founded by Hardial Bains in 1970. The CPC(M-L) has been registered with Elections Canada as the Marxist–Leninist Party of Canada (MLP ...

.'' *''Eileen Butson, party president, acted as the CoR's spokesperson as the party decided not to have a party leader.''

Maps

File:Ontario general election, 2007 results by riding - Liberal Party strength.svg, Support for Liberal Party candidates by riding File:Ontario general election, 2007 results by riding - Progressive Conservative Party strength.svg, Support for Progressive Conservative Party candidates by riding File:Ontario general election, 2007 results by riding - New Democratic Party strength.svg, Support for New Democratic Party candidates by riding File:Ontario general election, 2007 results by riding - Green Party strength.svg, Support for Green Party candidates by riding

Results

Incumbent MPPs who did not run for re-election

Opinion polls

Since the 2003 general election, several polls have been conducted to determine the current preference of voters. They showed a decline in Liberal support following the 2004 Ontario budget. Overall, support for the governing Liberals has declined slightly since the 2003 election, the NDP has gained some ground since the 2003 election, and the PCs' poll numbers have not changed significantly since 2003. Support for the Green Party has increased significantly, a shift which parallels the increase in support for the party's federal counterpart. During the pre-election period, the Ontario Greens did not appear as an option in some of the polls. Polls indicate results for decided voters. More information can be found in the footnotes to each poll, including undecided results, if provided by the pollster. A dash indicates the absence of a prompt for that party.

Riding specific polls

Timeline

* May 13, 2004 -

Andrea Horwath Andrea Horwath (; born October 24, 1962) is a Canadian politician who has been the 58th mayor of Hamilton since 2022. Horwath previously served as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Hamilton Centre from 2004 to 2022, as leader of t ...

of the NDP is elected in a by-election in Hamilton East and collects over 60% of the vote. The riding was previously held by the Liberals. * May 18, 2004 - The 2004 Ontario budget is announced. Given its tax increase and healthcare cuts, it is unpopular with the public. * June 1, 2004 - Bill 87, which would establish fixed election dates, is introduced in the Legislative Assembly. * August 9, 2004 - A poll by Environics shows the Liberals in second place for the first time since the last election. The NDP is also rising in support. According to the poll, the Progressive Conservatives lead with 37% followed by the Liberals with 35%, the NDP with 23% and the Greens with 4%. * September 18, 2004 -

becomes leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party replacing outgoing former premier

Ernie Eves Ernest Larry Eves (born June 17, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 23rd premier of Ontario from 2002 to 2003. A Progressive Conservative, he took over the premiership upon Mike Harris's resignation as party leade ...

and defeating

Jim Flaherty James Michael Flaherty (December 30, 1949 – April 10, 2014) was a Canadian politician who served as the federal minister of finance from 2006 to 2014 under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. First elected to the Legislative Assembly ...

and

Frank Klees Frank Klees (born March 6, 1951) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2014. He was a cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Erni ...

. * January 31, 2005 - Eves resigns his seat in the provincial legislature, clearing the way for Tory to run in the resulting

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. * March 17, 2005 - Tory is elected in the

Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004. Federal electoral district The federal riding was created as a result of redist ...

by-election, holding the seat for the Conservatives. * March 29, 2005 - Tory is officially installed as the Leader of the Opposition. * August 18, 2005 -

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

Alvin Curling resigns his

Scarborough—Rouge River Scarborough—Rouge River was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada between 1988 and 2015. However, as of the Fall 2015 federal election, part of this riding has been com ...

seat to accept a diplomatic appointment. A by-election must be called within six months. * October 26, 2005 - A by-election is called for Scarborough—Rouge River for November 24. * November 24, 2005 -

Bas Balkissoon Bas Balkissoon (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2005 to 2016 who represented the riding of Scarborough—Rouge River. From 1988 to 1997 he was a municipal cou ...

wins in the Scarborough–Rouge River by-election, holding the seat for the Liberals. * November 29, 2005 - Progressive Conservative MPPs

, John Baird, and NDP MPP

Marilyn Churley Marilyn Churley (born May 7, 1948) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 2005 who represented the downtown Toronto ridings of Riverdale and Toronto—Danfor ...

resign their seats in the provincial legislature to run for seats in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2006 federal election. * March 1, 2006 - By-elections are called for the ridings of

Toronto—Danforth Toronto—Danforth (formerly Broadview—Greenwood) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. It lies to the east of Downtown Toronto. Its best-known MP was ...

, Nepean—Carleton, and

Whitby—Ajax Whitby—Ajax was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2003, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2007. It was located to the east ...

for March 30. These seats became vacant when they were resigned on November 29, 2005, so the MPPs could run in the federal election of January 2006. * March 30, 2006 - the NDP's

Peter Tabuns Peter Charles Tabuns (born October 3, 1951) is a Canadian politician who has served as the interim leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party and the leader of the Opposition since June 28, 2022. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of O ...

wins the

by-election, Progressive Conservative

Lisa MacLeod Lisa Anne MacLeod (born 1974) is a Canadian politician who has represented Nepean (provincial electoral district), Nepean in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Elected in 2018, MacLeod is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Onta ...

wins in Nepean—Carleton, and Progressive Conservative Christine Elliott wins in Whitby-Ajax. The Liberals' star candidates in all three ridings fell short. * May 18, 2006 - Former Education Minister

Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...

resigns his

Parkdale—High Park Parkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. It was created during the 1976 electoral boundaries redistribution from parts of Parkdale, Hig ...

seat to pursue his bid for the federal

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

. * September 14, 2006 - Cheri DiNovo of the

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

wins the by-election to replace Liberal Gerard Kennedy in Parkdale-High Park. * September 18, 2006 -

Joe Cordiano Joseph Cordiano (born October 30, 1957) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 2006 who represented the riding of Downsview. He served as a cabinet minister in the g ...

, MPP for York South—Weston, resigns from cabinet and legislature to spend more time with family. * September 25, 2006 - Tony Wong, MPP for

Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

, resigns from the legislature to run for

York Region The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...

council in

Markham, Ontario Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...

. * September 28, 2006 -

Cam Jackson Cameron "Cam" Jackson (born February 27, 1951) is a Canadian politician. A Progressive Conservative, he was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1985, and held the office of Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Burlington ...

, MPP for

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

, resigns from the Legislature to run for mayor of

. * January 10, 2007 -

By-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

called in the ridings of:

;

; and York South—Weston to be held on February 8, 2007. * February 7, 2007 - The provincial government announces election date will be October 10, 2007 to avoid conflict with

on October 4. * February 8, 2007 - In three by-elections, Paul Ferreira of the NDP wins York South–Weston from the Liberals while Michael Chan of the Liberals and

Joyce Savoline Joyce Savoline (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the riding of Burlington from 2007 to 2011. Background Savoline was born in Sha ...

of the PCs hold

and

, respectively. * March 29, 2007 - MPP Tim Peterson leaves the Liberal caucus and intends to run in this election as a Progressive Conservative. * April 25, 2007 - Democratic Renewal Minister

Marie Bountrogianni Marie Bountrogianni (born December 10, 1956) is the former Dean of The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University. She is also the former Chief psychologist of the Hamilton Board of Education, the former President and ...

introduces Bill 218, a bill to have longer voting hours – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. – that identification be presented, advanced polls increased to 13 days from 6 days, and amendments regarding the referendum on election formulas for electing MPPS. The proposed legislation will also deal with suggestions for online voting and with complaints that the permanent voters' list is unreliable because it does not keep up with moves and deaths. * May 18, 2007 - New Democratic Party MPP

Shelley Martel Shelley Dawn Marie Martel (born April 8, 1963) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2007. She represented the ridings of Sudbury East and Nickel Belt. She ...

announced she will not seek re-election in her

riding. She is leaving politics for family reasons, and to pursue other career opportunities. * May 18, 2007 - A poll released by Environics showed the governing Liberals in second place for the first time since March 2006. According to the poll, the Progressive Conservatives lead with 39% followed by the Liberals with 33%, the NDP with 26% and the Greens with 2%. The poll was conducted between March 13 to April 3, 2007. * June 3, 2007 - A poll released by

SES Research Nanos Research (previously SES Research) is a Canadian public opinion and research company that was established in 1987 by Nik Nanos. For the 2004 Federal Election, the company launched a publicly available nightly tracking program, the first ...

showed that the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives are in a dead-heat, with 29.8% of voters supporting each party. The NDP had 16% and the Green Party had 9%. 15% were undecided. * June 4, 2007 Today, Bill 218 is given third reading and royal assent. The bill amends the Elections Act with the following changes: making electors present proper identification; methods of updating the permanent register of electors and creating an electronic system to allow electors to change their personal information online; alternative forms of voting and electronic vote counting can now take place; scrutineers from outside an electoral district, now have the same privileges as a resident scrutineer; Ballots will now show party affiliation and any nickname or familiar name of that the candidate requests; the Chief Electoral Officer is allowed to advertise information regarding the October 2007 Referendum on electoral reform. * June 5, 2007 - Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty

prorogue Prorogation in the Westminster system of government is the action of proroguing, or interrupting, a parliament, or the discontinuance of meetings for a given period of time, without a dissolution of parliament. The term is also used for the period ...

s the Legislature, stating that the passing of 14 bills during the session meant that the government's agenda had been fulfilled. The adjournment was three weeks earlier than expected and several private members' bills failed to receive third reading, including a bill to make it mandatory to fill out organ transplant cards. The legislature will not sit again until sometime after the October 10th election. * July 11, 2007 - Citing health concerns

Mary Anne Chambers Mary Anne Veronica Chambers, (born September 8, 1950) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada, and is the recently named Chancellor of the University of Guelph. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 until 2007, and s ...

, the Children and Youth Services Minister and MPP for

Scarborough East Scarborough East was a Canadian electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 2003. It initially consisted the eastern part of the Borough of Scarborough, although its boundaries were adjusted several times. It ...

, will not be seeking re-election in the October 10 Ontario vote. She would have run in the

Scarborough—Guildwood Scarborough—Guildwood is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. It was created in 2003 from parts of Scarborough East, Scarborough Southwest and S ...

electoral district. * July 26, 2007 - Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle resigned after an

auditor general An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

's report severely criticizes how $32 million in year-end grants to ethnic groups was administered. * September 10, 2007 - Official election call. Writ issued as per omnibus ''Budget Act'', Bill 187, that includes the amendment to the Election Act to set writ issuance date. Premier McGuinty formally asked the Lt. Governor to dissolve the legislature. The campaign will be 29 days long, one day longer than the minimum. Lawn signs for 2007 Ontario election

* September 18, 2007- Nomination papers due. A candidate or their designate must submit their nomination papers and deposit in person at the returning office by 2 p.m. * September 20, 2007- Televised leadership debate between McGuinty, Tory and Hampton. * September 22 – October 4, 2007 - Advance polling stations open for early voting from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. * October 10, 2007 - Ontario general election from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. EDT or in the most western part of the province 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CDT as per Provision 20, Section 40(1) and 40(2) of the ''Election Act''.

Election results

At 9:23 pm EDT, Citytv projected a Liberal majority government.

CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the national ...

made the same call at 9:30 pm EDT, followed by

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

at 9:37 pm EDT, and Canadian Press at 9:52 pm EDT. Also at 10:30 pm EDT, CBC and CTV reported that Progressive Conservative leader John Tory had called Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty to concede the election. At 10:39 pm EDT, Tory was declared defeated by Canadian Press in the riding of Don Valley West. At 10:43 pm EDT, Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty took the stage to give his speech to the public, breaking tradition of the defeated party leaders going first. Each party lost at least one incumbent MPP — Liberals

Mario Racco Mario G. Racco (born May 13, 1955) is a politician in Ontario, Canada currently serving as a Local and Regional Councillor in the City of Vaughan since November 15, 2022. He was an Ontario Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontar ...

and Caroline Di Cocco, PCs

Joe Tascona Joseph N. Tascona (born October 9, 1951) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the ridings of Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford and Simcoe Centre from ...

, Tim Peterson and

and NDP Paul Ferreira were all defeated. However, each party's losses were offset by gains in other seats. The actual changes in party standings were accounted for entirely by the four new seats resulting from redistribution and the defeat of Peterson. Overall, however, most incumbent MPPs were returned in their ridings. McGuinty became the first Liberal leader in Ontario to win two successive majorities in the legislature since

Mitchell Hepburn Mitchell Frederick Hepburn (August 12, 1896 – January 5, 1953) was the 11th premier of Ontario, from 1934 to 1942. He was the youngest premier in Ontario history, appointed at age 37. He was the only Ontario Liberal Party leader in the 20th cent ...

in the 1937 election.

Breakdown by region

Northern Ontario

All eleven ridings in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Pro ...

were retained by their incumbent parties. The popular vote, however, shifted dramatically, with several Liberal incumbents holding on only very narrowly against NDP challengers. Most notably,

Bill Mauro William Joseph Mauro (born ) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as the mayor of Thunder Bay, Ontario from 2018 to 2022. He was previously a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018, represen ...

retained Thunder Bay—Atikokan by a margin of just 36 votes against John Rafferty, whom Mauro had defeated in 2003 by a margin of over 11,000 — Rafferty, in fact, spent much of the night leading Mauro. A judicial recount on October 31 increased Mauro's margin of victory to 50 votes. David Ramsay, similarly, trailed New Democrat

John Vanthof John Vanthof (born ) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a Ontario New Democratic Party, New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in 2011 Ontario general election, 2011. He represents the riding of Timis ...

for much of the night, pulling ahead to a winning margin of 634 votes only in the final few polls to report. This was the narrowest margin of victory in Ramsay's 22-year career.

Michael Gravelle Michael Gravelle (born January 23, 1949) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who represented the riding of Thunder Bay—Superior North from 1995 to 2022 (known as Port Arthur fro ...

also retained

by an uncharacteristically narrow margin over Jim Foulds. As well, Monique Smith retained Nipissing by just 377 votes over Progressive Conservative candidate Bill Vrebosch — in 2003, she had defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent

Al McDonald Al McDonald is a politician in Ontario, Canada, who was mayor of North Bay, Ontario from 2010 to 2022. He was previously a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2002 to 2003, and ran unsuccessfully for th ...

by a wider margin of over 3,000 votes. In keeping with this trend, New Democrat incumbents

and Gilles Bisson ''widened'' their margins of victory over Liberal challengers compared to 2003, and

France Gélinas France Gélinas is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in 2007. She represents the riding of Nickel Belt. Background Gélinas was born and raised in Shawinigan ...

maintained the same margin that her predecessor,

, had attained in the previous election. Notably, the rise in popular support for the New Democrats in Northern Ontario carried over into the 2008 federal election, in which the NDP won nearly every seat in the region for the first time in its history.

Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It s ...

, the new riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington was carried by PC candidate Randy Hillier, while all 13 existing ridings were carried by their incumbent parties. With the exception of

Yasir Naqvi Yasir Abbas Naqvi (born January 25, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Ottawa Centre since the 2021 federal election, sitting as a Liberal. Prior to his election to the House of Commons, Naqvi wa ...

, who carried

Ottawa Centre Ottawa Centre (french: Ottawa-Centre) is an urban federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. While the riding's boundaries (mainly to the south and west as the north a ...

by a much smaller margin over the NDP than

Richard Patten Richard Andrew Patten (May 13, 1942 – December 30, 2021) was a Canadian politician. Patten was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2007. He represented the riding of Ottawa Centre. ...

had attained in 2003, Liberals in Ottawa improved their winning margins, although outside of Ottawa the popular vote trend remained relatively stable.

Central Ontario

The most conservative-friendly area of the province, the PC vote largely held up, with the only Liberal gain being

Aileen Carroll Margaret Aileen Carroll ( O'Leary; June 1, 1944 – April 19, 2020) was a Canadian politician. She served as a member of the House of Commons from 1997 to 2006 who represented the ridings of Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford and Barrie. She serve ...

winning

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically ...

, the seat she used to represent federally. This was countered by a PC nominal gain in

Newmarket—Aurora Newmarket—Aurora is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. The district contains the towns of Newmarket, Aurora, and a very small portion of East Gwillimbury. ...

. The area also delivered the strongest support in the province for the Green Party, with Shane Jolley finishing a very strong second in Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound with 33.1% of the vote, the best finish ever received by any Green candidate in Canada to that point. The Greens also knocked the NDP into fourth place in a majority of area ridings.

Midwestern Ontario

A politically mixed region, Midwestern Ontario had every incumbent party re-elected, as well as some anomalous results; in an election where the PCs were largely held to rural areas, and the Liberals consolidated an urban/suburban base,

Elizabeth Witmer Elizabeth Witmer (née Gosar; born October 16, 1946) is a former Deputy Premier of Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 until 2012, representing Waterloo North and later Kitchener—Waterloo as a m ...

held onto the riding of Kitchener—Waterloo for the PCs, while the Liberals won in rural ridings in which they were the incumbent party, such as

Huron—Bruce Huron—Bruce (formerly known as Huron and Huron—Middlesex) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1953. History The riding was created in 1952 from parts of Hur ...

and

Perth—Wellington Perth—Wellington is a federal electoral district in southwestern Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. The riding consists of: :* Perth County including the City of Stratford and the Town ...

. Further away from the provincewide result, on an election night which demonstrated Liberal strength province wide,

Haldimand—Norfolk—Brant Haldimand—Norfolk—Brant was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004. This riding was created in 1996 from parts of Elgin—Norfolk and Haldimand—Norfolk ...

delivered the most crushing defeat for a Liberal candidate in the province, with the victorious PC incumbent

Toby Barrett Theobald Butler "Toby" Barrett (born November 3, 1945) was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the district of Haldimand—Norfolk for the Progressive Conservative Party from 1995 until 2022. B ...

coming out 16,571 votes and 38.6% ahead of the Liberal.

Brampton, Mississauga & Oakville

Although the suburban Western GTA had traditionally been a good area for the PCs, winning many seats in the area as recently as the Harris days, where it formed part of the 905-area backbone of the PC government, the Liberals won every seat in the area handily, with the victorious Liberal candidates averaging at around 50%. Even Mississauga South, which prior to the 2003 election had not voted Liberal provincially since the riding's creation, and had been expected to be a very tight race, proved a surprisingly easy victory for

Charles Sousa Anthony Charles Sousa (born September 27, 1958) is a Canadian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament from Mississauga-Lakeshore since December 12, 2022. He previously served as the Minister of Finance for Ontario from 2013 to ...

, who gained the seat back for the Liberals from Tim Peterson, who had

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

. The NDP continued to be a non-factor in the area, while the Greens growth in popular vote across the province was reflected, with the Greens even beating the NDP into fourth place in Oakville, which ironically had been the only riding in the province the Greens had not run in the previous election.

Southern Durham and York

The Liberals continued to dominate

, with each incumbent being re-elected by a comfortable margin except in Thornhill where

lost to PC candidate

Peter Shurman Peter Shurman (born November 18, 1947) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2013 who represented the riding of Thornhill. Prior to his time in ...

. The newly created riding of

Ajax—Pickering Ajax—Pickering was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that had been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2011 by Conservative MP Chris Alexander. Its population in 2001 was 100,215. The district included the Town ...

, projected to be a close race, elected Liberal Joe Dickson by over 6,000 votes despite having no party nominate incumbents. In southern

Durham Region The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater Tor ...

, Liberal Wayne Arthurs was re-elected to the newly distributed

Pickering—Scarborough East Pickering—Scarborough East was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that had been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. The district was created in 2003 from 44.1% of Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge, 39.7% ...

, while Progressive Conservative Christine Elliott was re-elected to Whitby—Oshawa. Despite high expectations for

Sid Ryan Patrick Cyril "Sid" Ryan (born 1952) is a Canadian labour union leader and politician. Ryan is the former president of the Ontario Federation of Labour. Biography Born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and third eldest of ten children, Ryan emigrat ...

's fourth run as an NDP candidate in Oshawa, PC incumbent Jerry Ouellette was again re-elected by a wider majority than in 2003.

Hamilton, Burlington & Niagara

An area with several close seats, and a fairly even distribution of seats, every party had a realistic chance of increasing its seat count here.

Hamilton East—Stoney Creek Hamilton East—Stoney Creek (french: Hamilton-Est—Stoney Creek) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. The riding was formed in 2003 from parts of the fo ...

, which was a merger of a Liberal held riding and an NDP held riding, and had neither incumbent running, was the most interesting match of the night, with the NDP winning a close race. It proved to be the only change of the election, and every other riding returned the incumbent party, although many in close races, such as

Hamilton Mountain Hamilton is located on the western end of the Niagara Peninsula and wraps around the westernmost part of the Lake Ontario. Most of the city including the downtown section lies along the south shore. Situated in the geographic centre of the Gold ...

(Liberals over NDP), Halton, (PCs over Liberals) and

(PCs over Liberals).

Southwestern Ontario

In an area with a strong rural-urban divide, both the NDP and PCs had strong hopes of making gains against the Liberals. The NDP had strong hopes of upsetting high-profile Liberals in both

Windsor West Windsor West (french: Windsor-Ouest) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography The district consists of the part of the city of Windsor lying west an ...

, and Windsor—Tecumseh, given the NDP's ownership of those seats federally, and the continued decline of the local industrial economy.

London—Fanshawe London—Fanshawe is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Geography The district consists of the southeast part of the City of Lon ...

was similarly also a top target, as the NDP has the riding federally and finished a close second in 2003. Overall, however, the only area seat that changed hands was

Sarnia—Lambton Sarnia—Lambton (formerly known as Sarnia) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. It is located in the area of the city of Sarnia, in the southwest corner of ...

, with Culture Minister Caroline Di Cocco, the most high-profile Liberal casualty of the night, losing to PC challenger Bob Bailey.

Toronto

All ridings in Toronto were retained by their incumbent parties, with the exception of York South—Weston. New Democrat Paul Ferreira, who had won the seat from the Liberals in a by-election in February 2007, was narrowly defeated by a swing back to Liberal candidate

Laura Albanese Laura Albanese Politi (born September 11, 1957) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2018 who represented the Toronto riding of York South—Weston. She served ...

. Almost twice as many people voted in the riding in the general election compared to the by-election. In Toronto's other notable race, Liberal incumbent

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2003 and sat as the ...

defeated PC leader

Don Valley West Don Valley West (french: Don Valley-Ouest) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. Its population in 2001 was 115,539. 13.6% of the population is Muslim, the ...

. Tory previously represented Dufferin—Caledon, but had chosen to run in a Toronto riding in the general election. Toronto's only incumbent from 2003 not to run again was Liberal MPP

. The Liberals successfully retained the seat under new candidate

Margarett Best Margarett R. Best is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2013 who represented the riding of Scarborough—Guildwood. She was a cabinet minister in the government ...

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Elections Ontario

Ontario's 107 electoral districts

Canadian news/media networks

CBC News CoverageCNEWS CoverageThe Globe and Mail: Ontario Election 2007 Full Coverage

TheStar.com - ElectionOttawaStart Ontario Election GuideGoogle map of poll-by-poll results, Ontario General Election, 2007

Blogs and forecasters

DemocraticSPACE Ontario 2007 CoverageElection Almanac - Ontario Provincial ElectionPaulitics 2007 Ontario Election Projections
(Antweiler Application & Universal Swing Model)
Pollingreport.ca - Ontario Political Situation
(includes table of 10 model predictions and how they fared on Election Day)
Professor Antweiler's Voter Migration Election Forecaster - Ontario 2007 Election
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ontario General Election, 2007 2007 elections in Canada 2007 2007 in Ontario October 2007 events in Canada