The 2011 Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011, to elect members of the

40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario The 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario was a legislature of the government of the province of Ontario, Canada. The membership was set by the 2011 Ontario general election. It was controlled by a Liberal Party minority. The government was led b ...

. The Ontario Liberal Party was elected to a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) serving as the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

and the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) serving as a third party. In the final result, Premier McGuinty's party fell one seat short of winning a majority government. Under amendments passed by the Legislature in December 2005, Ontario elections are now held on fixed dates: the first Thursday of October every four years. The writ of election was issued by

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

David Onley on September 7, 2011. The election saw a then–record low voter turnout of 48.2%, only to be surpassed by the

2022 Ontario general election The 2022 Ontario general election will be held on or before June 2, 2022, to elect Members of Provincial Parliament to serve in the 43rd Parliament of Ontario. As of December 2016, Ontario elections are held on the first Thursday in June in th ...

with 43.53%.

Timeline

;2007 * October 10, 2007: Elections held for members of the Ontario Legislature in the

39th Legislative Assembly of Ontario The 39th Legislative Assembly of Ontario was a legislature of the government of the Province of Ontario, Canada. It officially opened November 29, 2007, and ended on June 1, 2011. The membership was set by the 2007 Ontario general election on Oc ...

. * November 29, 2007: The

officially opens with the

Speech from the Throne A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...

. ;2008 * February 23, 2008: John Tory's continued leadership of the Progressive Conservative party is endorsed by 66.9% of delegates at a leadership review. * June 14, 2008:

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Dalton McGuinty receives the support of 95.4% of delegates from the Ontario Liberal Party's mandatory leadership review. * June 14, 2008: NDP leader Howard Hampton announces he will be stepping down as party leader at the March 7, 2009 NDP leadership convention. ;2009 * January 9, 2009: Progressive Conservative MPP Laurie Scott announces her resignation from the legislature to allow party leader John Tory, who has been without a seat since his defeat in Don Valley West in the 2007 election, to re-enter the legislature. * March 5, 2009: In the Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock by-election following Scott's resignation, Tory is defeated by Liberal candidate Rick Johnson. * March 6, 2009: John Tory resigns as Progressive Conservative leader pending the selection of an interim party leader. * March 7, 2009: Andrea Horwath is elected leader of the Ontario NDP at the party's 2009 leadership convention. * June 27, 2009: Tim Hudak is elected leader of the Progressive Conservative party at its 2009 leadership election and also becomes the new Leader of the Opposition. * September 17, 2009: Eric Hoskins is elected as the MPP for the riding of St. Paul's following the resignation of Michael Bryant on June 7, 2009. * November 4, 2009: Mike Schreiner is affirmed as the new leader of the Green Party of Ontario, receiving 97% approval from the party membership defeating the None of the Above ballot option, in the 2009 leadership election. ;2010 * January 29, 2010:

Bob Runciman Robert William "Bob" Runciman (born August 10, 1942) is a veteran Canadian politician and former provincial Leader of the Opposition in the Ontario Legislature. First elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1981, he held the seat cont ...

resigns his seat to accept appointment to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

. * February 1, 2010: Jim Watson resigns his seat to run for Mayor in the

2010 Ottawa municipal election The 2010 Ottawa municipal election was a municipal election that was held on October 25, 2010, to elect the mayor of Ottawa, Ottawa City Council and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Ottawa-Carleton Public and Ottawa-Carleton Catholic Sch ...

* February 4, 2010: Glen Murray is elected as the MPP for the riding of Toronto Centre following the resignation of

George Smitherman George Smitherman (born February 12, 1964) is a former Canadian politician and broadcaster. He represented the provincial riding of Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2010, when he resigned to contest the mayora ...

on January 4, 2010. * March 4, 2010: Bob Chiarelli is elected as the MPP for the riding of

Ottawa West—Nepean Ottawa West—Nepean (french: Ottawa-Ouest—Nepean) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Geography The district includes the neighbourhoods of Shirleys ...

and

Steve Clark ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

is elected as the MPP for the riding of Leeds—Grenville. * December 16, 2010: Peter Fonseca resigned from cabinet to run for the federal Liberals in the riding of

Mississauga East—Cooksville Mississauga East—Cooksville (french: Mississauga-Est—Cooksville) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. History It was created in 2003 from parts of ...

in the 2011 federal election. ;2011 * June 3, 2011: Essex MPP

Bruce Crozier Bruce Crozier (June 26, 1938 – June 3, 2011) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the ridings of Essex South and Essex for the Ontario Liberal Party. Background Crozier ...

dies of an aortic aneurysm. * September 7, 2011: Official election call, Premier McGuinty formally asks the Lt. Governor to dissolve the legislature. The campaign will be 29 days long. * September 21–30, 2011: Advance polling stations open for early voting from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. * September 27, 2011: The televised

Leaders debate A leaders' debate or presidential debate is a public debate held during a general election campaign, where the candidates expose their political opinions and public policy proposals, and criticism of them, to potential voters. They are normally b ...

aired on CBC,

CHCH Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River ...

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

, Global, TVOntario and Sun News Network, with Liberal leader and

Dalton McGuinty, Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak and

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

leader Andrea Horwath. * October 6, 2011: Ontario general election from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. EDT (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CDT in north-western part of the province).

Party leadership

In March 2009, PC Party leader John Tory stepped down as leader, with Tim Hudak elected to be his successor. Also in March 2009, Andrea Horwath replaced Howard Hampton as leader of the NDP at the leadership election. Thus, both the Progressive Conservatives and the NDP went into the election with a new leader. Green Party of Ontario leader Frank de Jong stepped down in November 2009; their leadership convention confirmed Mike Schreiner as their new leader. Dalton McGuinty won 95 percent support for his leadership at an Ontario Liberal annual general meeting after the 2007 election, and ran again in 2011.

Party standings

Summary

Regional analysis

Detailed analysis

, - 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;" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:center;" , Dissol. , style="text-align:center;" , 2011 , style="text-align:center;" , Change , style="text-align:center;" , # , style="text-align:center;" , % , style="text-align:center;" , Change , style="text-align:left;" , Dalton McGuinty , style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , 71 , style="text-align:right;" , 70 , style="text-align:right;" , 53 , style="text-align:right;" , -18 , style="text-align:right;" , 1,625,102 , style="text-align:right;" , 37.65% , style="text-align:right;" , -4.7% , style="text-align:left;" , Tim Hudak , style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , 26 , style="text-align:right;" , 25 , style="text-align:right;" , 37 , style="text-align:right;" , +11 , style="text-align:right;" , 1,530,076 , style="text-align:right;" , 35.45% , style="text-align:right;" , +3.8% , style="text-align:left;" , Andrea Horwath , style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , 10 , style="text-align:right;" , 10 , style="text-align:right;" , 17 , style="text-align:right;" , +7 , style="text-align:right;" , 981,508 , style="text-align:right;" , 22.74% , style="text-align:right;" , +5.9% , style="text-align:left;" , Mike Schreiner , 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;" , 126,021 , style="text-align:right;" , 2.92% , style="text-align:right;" , -5.1% , 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;" , 51 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 19,447 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.45% , style="text-align:right;" , +0.3% , style="text-align:left;" ,

Phil Lees Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root term ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 31 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 9,524 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.22% , style="text-align:right;" , -0.6% , style="text-align:left;" , Paul McKeever , style="text-align:right;" , 57 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 9,253 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.21% , style="text-align:right;" , +0.1% , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Independents and no affiliation , style="text-align:right;" , 36 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 9,021 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.21% , style="text-align:right;" , – , style="text-align:left;" , Elizabeth Rowley , style="text-align:right;" , 9 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 1,162 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.03% , style="text-align:right;" , -0.01% , style="text-align:left;" , Edward Deibel , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 676 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.02% , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Danish Ahmed , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 667 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.02% , style="text-align:right;" , +0.01% , style="text-align:left;" , Bradley J. Harness , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 647 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.01% , style="text-align:right;" , +0.01% , style="text-align:left;" , Ranvir Dogra , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 562 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.01% , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" , ''vacant'' , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 559 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.01% , style="text-align:right;" , – , style="text-align:left;" , Michael Laxer , style="text-align:right;" , 5 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 519 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.01% , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Kevin Clarke , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 386 , style="text-align:right;" , < .01% , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Paul Figueiras , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 366 , style="text-align:right;" , < .01% , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Trueman Tuck , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 232 , style="text-align:right;" , < .01% , style="text-align:right;" , – , style="text-align:left;" , Michael Green , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 188 , style="text-align:right;" , < .01% , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Marilyn McCormick , 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;" , 170 , style="text-align:right;" , < .01% , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Bahman Yazdanfar , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 156 , style="text-align:right;" , < .01% , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

John Turmel John C. Turmel (born February 22, 1951) is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and according to the ''Guinness World Records'' holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost, having contested 105 el ...

, 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;" , 140 , style="text-align:right;" , < .01% , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4", Vacant , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:center;" colspan="5" , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="3", Total , style="text-align:right;" , 655 , style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , 107 , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , 4,316,382 , style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:right;" , -2.43% , - , colspan="11" style="text-align:left;font-size:90%;" , Source:

Maps

File:Ontario general election, 2011 results by riding - Liberal Party strength.svg, Support for Liberal Party candidates by riding File:Ontario Election 2011 - Progressive Conservative Party Vote.svg, Support for Conservative Party candidates by riding File:Ontario general election 2011 - New Democratic Party Strength.svg, Support for New Democratic Party candidates by riding File:Ontario general election, 2011 results by riding - Green Party strength.svg, Support for Green Party candidates by riding

Candidates and local results

Incumbents not running for reelection

Opinion polls

Media endorsements

Liberals * ''

Barrie Advance The ''Barrie Advance'' is a weekly newspaper serving Barrie, Ontario. History The first newspaper north of Toronto was published August 6, 1847, though because it was truly a time of pioneer printing, it was actually a week later due to a delay ...

'' * ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' * '' Hamilton Spectator'' * ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'' * ''

Sudbury Star ''The Sudbury Star'' is a Canadian daily regional newspaper published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is owned by the media company, Postmedia. It is the largest daily paper in Northeastern Ontario by circulation. History The ''Sudbury Star'' began as ...

'' * ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' * ''

Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, as well as the surrounding area. Since December 1998, the ''Re ...

'' * '' Windsor Star'' Progressive Conservatives * ''

Brampton Guardian The ''Brampton Guardian'' is a locally distributed, free, weekly community newspaper in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. History In the late 1950s, the Bramalea development began, under the oversight of Bayton Holdings Ltd., then Bramalea Consolidat ...

'' * ''Metroland Durham Region Media Group'' * ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with M ...

'' Did not endorse * ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Postmedia Place i ...

'', ''

Ottawa Sun The ''Ottawa Sun'' is a daily newspaper in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is published by Sun Media. It began publication in 1983 as the ''Ottawa Sunday Herald'', until it was acquired by (then) Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation in 1988. In Apri ...

References

External links

Elections Ontario

Elections Ontario, 2011 General Election

Election Almanac - Ontario Provincial Election 2011

Detailed interactive map of poll-level results
{{Ontario elections

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2011 in Ontario October 2011 events in Canada