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Wikipedia / 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 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 (again, unlike in the previous decade) 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.

Opinion polls

During campaign period

During the 32nd Parliament of Ontario

Results

|- ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=4 | MPPs ! colspan=4 | Votes |- ! Candidates !1981 !1985 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp) |style="text-align:left;"|Frank Miller | 125 || 70 || 52 || 18 || 1,343,044 || 69,444 || 36.94% || 7.44 |style="text-align:left;"|David Peterson | 125 || 34 || 48 || 14 || 1,377,965 || 305,285 || 37.90% || 4.20 |style="text-align:left;"|Bob Rae | 125 || 21 || 25 || 4 || 865,507 || 192,683 || 23.81% || 2.67 | || 28 || – || – || – || 25,728 || 15,143 || 0.71% || 0.38 |style="text-align:left;"|Scott Bell | 17 || – || – || – || 12,831 || 5,744 || 0.35% || 0.13 | || 9 || – || – || – || 5,345 || 5,345 || 0.15% ||New |style="text-align:left;"|Gordon Massie | 10 || – || – || – || 3,696 || 1,610 || 0.10% || 0.07 |style="text-align:left;"|none | 3 || – || – || – || 1,583 || 1,123 || 0.04% || 0.03 |- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total |442||125 ! " colspan="2"|125 ! " colspan="2"|3,635,699 ! " colspan="2"| 100.00% |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Rejected ballots | 26,434 | 5,637 | colspan="2"| |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Voter turnout | 3,662,133 | 458,852 | 61.55 | 3.51 |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Registered electors | 5,950,295 | 431,091 | colspan="2"| |}

Vote and seat summaries

Synopsis of results

  1. = open seat

  2. = turnout is above provincial average

  3. = winning candidate was in previous Legislature

  4. = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

  5. = incumbent had switched allegiance

  6. = incumbency arose from byelection gain

  7. = previously incumbent in another riding

  8. = other incumbents renominated

  9. = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

  10. = multiple candidates

Comparative analysis for ridings (1985 vs 1981)

Analysis

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:

Seats changing hands

Twenty-five seats changed allegiance in this election:

  1. PC to Liberal

  2. Brampton

  3. Carleton East

  4. Chatham—Kent

  5. Cochrane North

  6. Humber

  7. Kingston and the Islands

  8. Lambton

  9. London South

  10. Middlesex

  11. Mississauga North

  12. Oriole

  13. St. David

  14. Scarborough East

  15. Scarborough North

  16. Wilson Heights

  17. York North

  18. PC to NDP

  19. Lakeshore

  20. Sault Ste. Marie

  21. Scarborough—Ellesmere

  22. Timiskaming

  23. Liberal to NDP

  24. Essex North

  25. Hamilton West

  26. Liberal-Labour to PC

  27. Rainy River

  28. NDP to Liberal

  29. Downsview

  30. NDP to PC

  31. Cornwall

MPPs elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows:

  1. 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:

  • (incumbent) Bud Wildman (NDP) 7575

  • Jim Thibert (PC) 3694

  • Bryan McDougall (L) 2995

Algoma—Manitoulin:

  • (incumbent) John Lane (PC) 7174

  • Tom Farquhar (L) 4704

  • Len Hembruf (NDP) 3309

Armourdale:

Beaches—Woodbine:

Bellwoods:

  • (incumbent) Ross McClellan (NDP) 8088

  • Walter Bardyn (L) 6655

  • Bento de Sao Jose (PC) 1964

  • Ronald Rodgers 324

Brampton:

  • Bob Callahan (L) 25656

  • Jeff Rice (PC) 21239

  • Terry Gorman (NDP) 8313

  • Jim Bridgewood (Comm) 531

  • Dave Duqette 500

Brantford:

  • (incumbent) Phil Gillies (PC) 13444

  • Jack Tubman (NDP) 12303

  • Herb German (L) 6533

Brant-Oxford-Norfolk:

  • (incumbent) Robert Nixon (L) 15317

  • Ian Birnie (PC) 5817

  • Irene Heltner (NDP) 3487

Brock:

  • Peter Partington (PC) 9741

  • Bill Andres (L) 9081

  • Robert Woolston (NDP) 3867

  • Brian Dolby (G) 755

Burlington South:

  • Cam Jackson (PC) 16479

  • Doug Redfearn (L) 11822

  • Walter Mukewich (NDP) 10820

Cambridge:

  • (incumbent) Bill Barlow (PC) 12888

  • Alec Dufresne (NDP) 11985

  • Bob Jeffrey (L) 7083

Carleton:

Carleton East:

Carleton-Grenville:

  • (incumbent) Norm Sterling (PC) 15524

  • Dan Maxwell (L) 8019

  • Alan White (NDP) 3468

Chatham—Kent:

Cochrane North:

Cochrane South:

  • (incumbent) Alan Pope (PC) 13935

  • Roger Loiselle (NDP) 5662

  • Jim Martin (L) 4002

Cornwall:

  • Luc Guindon (PC) 9430

  • Claude Poirier (L) 6384

  • Steve Corrie (NDP) 5828

Don Mills:

  • (incumbent) Dennis Timbrell (PC) 15481

  • John Atkin (L) 7504

  • Michael Wyatt (NDP) 6153

  • Gary Watson (Ind [RWL]) 1382

Dovercourt:

  • (incumbent) Tony Lupusella (NDP) 6677

  • Gil Gillespie (L) 6600

  • Joe Palozzi (PC) 3564

  • Gordon Massie (Comm) 298

Downsview:

Dufferin—Simcoe:

  • (incumbent) George McCague (PC) 16198

  • Gary Johnson (L) 11822

  • Jeff Koechlin (NDP) 4316

Durham East:

  • (incumbent) Sam Cureatz (PC) 15193

  • Doug Smith (NDP) 9832

  • Steve Ryan (L) 7584

Durham West:

  • (incumbent) George Ashe (PC) 18684

  • Brian Evans (L) 14348

  • Don Stewart (NDP) 8495

  • Eugene Gmitrowicz (Lbt) 911

Durham—York:

  • (incumbent) Ross Stevenson (PC) 14343

  • Don Hadden (L) 9760

  • Margaret Wilbur (NDP) 5440

Eglinton:

Elgin:

  • (incumbent) Ron McNeil (PC) 11816

  • Peter Charlton (L) 8619

  • Gord Campbell (NDP) 5315

Erie:

  • (incumbent) Ray Haggerty (L) 10926

  • Stan Pettit (PC) 5904

  • Shirley Summers (NDP) 3191

Essex North:

  • Pat Hayes (NDP) 7901

  • Jack Morris (L) 6615

  • Jack Menard (PC) 6105

  • Ray Boggs 2925

Essex South:

  • (incumbent) Remo Mancini (L) 11382

  • Paul Setterington (PC) 5098

  • Jeff Totten 4947

  • Paul Hertel (NDP) 267

Etobicoke:

  • (incumbent) Ed Philip (NDP) 16792

  • John Smith (PC) 7573

  • John Genser (L) 6544

Fort William:

  • (incumbent) Mickey Hennessy (PC) 14452

  • Don Smith (NDP) 7071

  • Norris Badanai (L) 4629

  • John MacLennan (Comm) 289

Frontenac—Addington:

Grey:

  • (incumbent) Bob McKessock (L) 16061

  • Case Vanderham (PC) 5875

  • Rhonda Green (NDP) 2402

  • Eric Biggins (Lbt) 306

Grey—Bruce:

  • (incumbent) Eddie Sargent (L) 14883

  • Arlene Wright (PC) 7595

  • Joanne Shaw (NDP) 2340

Haldimand—Norfolk:

  • (incumbent) Gordon Miller (L) 17456

  • Barbara Martindale (PC) 9863

  • Wayne Pierce (NDP) 3821

Halton—Burlington:

  • Don Knight (L) 14991

  • Peter Pomeroy (PC) 14777

  • Doug Hamilton (NDP) 4871

  • Neil Sivertson 665

Hamilton Centre:

Hamilton East:

Hamilton Mountain:

Hamilton West:

  • (incumbent) Richard Allen (NDP) 10182

  • Paul Hanover (L) 9732

  • Anne Jones (PC) 6705

  • Ron Crawford 496

  • Val Hache 97

Hastings—Peterborough:

High Park—Swansea:

  • (incumbent) Yuri Shymko (PC) 9960

  • Elaine Ziemba (NDP) 9630

  • John Rudnicki (L) 5578

  • Bob Cumming (Lbt) 498

  • Robert Seajkowski 244

  • Andrew Scorer (G) 209

Humber:

Huron—Bruce:

Huron—Middlesex:

Kenora:

  • (incumbent) Leo Bernier (PC) 12574

  • Colin Wasacase (NDP) 4025

  • Mark Ducharme (L) 2254

Kent—Elgin:

  • (incumbent) Jim McGuigan (L) 11616

  • Shirley McHardy (PC) 7838

  • Donald Alexander (NDP) 1916

Kingston and the Islands:

Kitchener:

  • David Cooke (L) 14066

  • Don Travers (PC) 9684

  • Tim Little (NDP) 5654

  • Ed Halbach (Ind [Humanist]) 453

  • Albert Norris 157

Kitchener—Wilmot:

Lake Nipigon:

Lambton:

Lanark—Renfrew:

  • (incumbent) Douglas Wiseman (PC) 10916

  • John Carley (L) 5146

  • Don Page (NDP) 3297

Lakeshore:

Leeds:

  • (incumbent) Robert Runciman (PC) 11809

  • Dolores Wing (L) 6748

  • Bob Smith (NDP) 3583

  • Mackie Morrison 741

Lincoln:

  • (incumbent) Philip Andrewes (PC) 12226

  • Gladys Huffman (L) 9004

  • Barbara Mersereau (NDP) 2264

  • Ken Lee 1036

London Centre:

  • (incumbent) David Peterson (L) 13890

  • Bill Rudd (PC) 6714

  • Peter Cassidy (NDP) 4340

  • Michelle McColm (F) 403

London North:

London South:

Middlesex:

Mississauga East:

  • (incumbent) Bud Gregory (PC) 14900

  • Victor Maida (L) 12334

  • Larry Taylor (NDP) 12015

Mississauga North:

Mississauga South:

Muskoka:

  • (incumbent) Frank Miller (PC) 12723

  • Kenneth McClellan (L) 3036

  • Bob Maguire (NDP) 2836

Niagara Falls:

Nickel Belt:

  • (incumbent) Floyd Laughren (NDP) 8912

  • Evelyn Dutrisac (PC) 5849

  • Trudy Bolduc (L) 2255

Nipissing:

  • (incumbent) Mike Harris (PC) 14900

  • Mike Gauthier (L) 11002

  • Lynne Bennett (NDP) 3984

Northumberland:

Oakville:

Oakwood:

  • (incumbent) Tony Grande (NDP) 10407

  • Joe Ricciuti (L) 9631

  • Harriet Wolman (PC) 4636

  • Mike Sterling (Comm) 327

Oriole:

Oshawa:

  • (incumbent) Mike Breaugh (NDP) 12686

  • Bob Boychyn (PC) 7528

  • Joe Neal (L) 5034

Ottawa Centre:

Ottawa East:

  • (incumbent) Bernard Grandmaitre (L) 14601

  • Kathryn Barnard (NDP) 3971

  • Paul St. Georges (PC) 2257

  • Serge Girard (politician)|Serge Girard 518

Ottawa South:

  • (incumbent) Claude Bennett (PC) 12971

  • Andrew Caddell (L) 11634

  • John Smart (NDP) 8311

Ottawa West:

Oxford:

  • (incumbent) Dick Treleaven (PC) 15507

  • Charlotte Sutherland (L) 10656

  • Wayne Colburn (NDP) 5660

  • Kaye Sargent (Lbt) 729

  • Rick Spurgeon 577

Parkdale:

  • (incumbent) Tony Ruprecht (L) 12065

  • Richard Gilbert (NDP) 5176

  • Tessie Jew (PC) 2052

Parry Sound:

  • (incumbent) Ernie Eves (PC) 10904

  • Richard Thomas (L) 9544

  • Leo Gagne (NDP) 1130

Perth:

  • (incumbent) Hugh Edighoffer (L) 20040

  • Glynn Coghlin (PC) 6076

  • Warren Ham (NDP) 2796

Peterborough:

  • (incumbent) John Turner (PC) 16878

  • Linda Slavin (NDP) 11941

  • Bill Ayotte (L) 9734

  • John Conlin (Lbt) 461

  • George K. Kerr (G) 212

Port Arthur:

  • (incumbent) Jim Foulds (NDP) 13084

  • Swede Johnson (PC) 9826

  • John Ranta (L) 6169

Prescott and Russell:

  • (incumbent) Jean Poirier (L) 18833

  • Guy Genier (PC) 11038

  • Maurice Landry (NDP) 2625

Prince Edward—Lennox:

  • (incumbent) James Taylor (PC) 10170

  • Gordon Mylks (L) 6918

  • Harry Plummer (NDP) 2307

Quinte:

  • (incumbent) Hugh O’Neil (L) 18988

  • Neil Robertson (PC) 9287

  • Gene Morosan (NDP) 1817

Rainy River:

Renfrew North:

  • (incumbent) Sean Conway (L) 12849

  • Bryan Hocking (PC) 5748

  • Robert Cottingham (NDP) 740

Renfrew South:

Riverdale:

  • David Reville (NDP) 9869

  • Bret Snider (PC) 4590

  • Doug DeMille (L) 3949

  • Maggie Bizzell (Comm) 322

  • Michael Tegtmeyer (G) 192

St. Andrew—St. Patrick:

  • (incumbent) Larry Grossman (PC) 10332

  • Meg Griffiths (NDP) 8373

  • Jim DaCosta (L) 6330

  • Cathy Laurier (Comm) 264

  • Judy Hannon (G) 232

St. Catharines:St. David:

St. George:

  • (incumbent) Susan Fish (PC) 11378

  • Diana Hunt (NDP) 10543

  • Joseph Mifsud (L) 9361

  • Michael Beech (Lbt) 1007

  • Karol Siroky (Ind [New Tories]) 186

Sarnia:

  • (incumbent) Andy Brandt (PC) 18651

  • Michael Robb (L) 7438

  • Duncan Longwell (NDP) 3572

  • Margaret Coe (Lbt) 792

Sault Ste. Marie:

Scarborough Centre:

Scarborough East:

  • Ed Fulton (L) 15855

  • Verla Fiveash (PC) 11245

  • Alawi Mohideen (NDP) 4381

  • Jim McIntosh (Lbt) 1402

Scarborough—Ellesmere:

Scarborough North:

  • Alvin Curling (L) 30504

  • Carole Noble (PC) 22644

  • Jerry Daca (NDP) 9072

  • R.J. Austin 1972

Scarborough West:

  • (incumbent) Richard Johnston (NDP) 12889

  • Kurt Christensen (PC) 5994

  • Anthony Judd (L) 4806

  • John MacMillan 544

Simcoe Centre:

Simcoe East:

  • (incumbent) Al McLean (PC) 13371

  • Fayne Bullen (NDP) 11002

  • George MacDonald (L) 7566

Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry and East Grenville:

  • (incumbent) Noble Villeneuve (PC) 13119

  • Bill Dillabough (L) 7036

  • Rudi Derstroff (NDP) 1700

Sudbury:

  • (incumbent) Jim Gordon (PC) 12591

  • Ernie St-Jean (NDP) 7010

  • Chris Nash (L) 6302

Sudbury East:

Timiskaming:

Victoria—Haliburton:

  • (incumbent) John Eakins (L) 15340

  • Murray Fearrey (PC) 11570

  • Art Field (NDP) 3209

Waterloo North:

Welland—Thorold:

  • (incumbent) Mel Swart (NDP) 17065

  • Roy Smith (L) 6027

  • Ed Minchin (PC) 5618

Wellington—Dufferin—Peel:

  • (incumbent) Jack Johnson (PC) 14845

  • Bruce Whiteside (L) 10401

  • Sandy Young (NDP) 6395

Wellington South:

Wentworth:

  • (incumbent) Gordon Dean (PC) 12322

  • June Peace (L) 10337

  • Sharon Lehnert (NDP) 8571

  • Albert Papazian 947

Wentworth North:

  • Chris Ward (L) 18328

  • (incumbent) Ann Sloat (PC) 13160

  • Lynn Spencer (NDP) 6158

  • George Grinnell (G) 751

Wilson Heights:

Windsor—Riverside:

Windsor—Sandwich:

  • (incumbent) Bill Wrye (L) 10730

  • Paul Forder (NDP) 7583

  • Ron Arkell (PC) 3681

  • Mike Longmoore (Comm) 197

Windsor—Walkerville:

  • (incumbent) Bernard Newman (L) 9130

  • Jane Boyd (PC) 6980

  • Gary Parent (NDP) 6698

York Centre:

  • (incumbent) Don Cousens (PC) 25022

  • Ron Maheu (L) 19776

  • Diane Meaghan (NDP) 7171

  • Stewart Cole 2644

York East:

  • (incumbent) Robert Elgie (PC) 11459

  • Gord Crann (NDP) 9183

  • Omar Chaudhery (L) 6629

  • Ed McDonald (Comm) 929

  • Kathy Sorensen (Lbt) 410

York Mills:

  • (incumbent) Bette Stephenson (PC) 17943

  • Gunnar Tannis (L) 10078

  • Gord Doctorow (NDP) 6872

  • Scott Bell (Lbt) 2339

York North:

York South:

  • (incumbent) Bob Rae (NDP) 16373

  • Horace Hale (L) 6807

  • Toomas Dunapuu (PC) 5321

  • Paul Schulze 1063

  • Lucille Boikoff 402

  • Dusan Kubias (Lbt) 343

York West:

Yorkview:

Post-election changes

York East (res. Robert Elgie, September 26, 1985), April 17, 1986:

Cochrane North (res. René Fontaine, 1986), 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, (if the Speaker of the Legislature is included as a Liberal).

Paul Yakabuski, PC MPP for Renfrew South died July 31, 1987

See also

Notes

References

Further reading