The government of Ontario took a sharp turn to the right June 7 as Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative party toppled the Liberal Party of Kathleen Wynne.
The Conservatives proved wrong polls that had the party in a tight race with the socialist New Democratic Party, taking 76 of 124 available seats in the provincial legislature, according to results compiled by Elections Ontario. The New Democrats under leader Andrea Horwath took 40 seats to form the official opposition, while Wynne's Liberals had only seven members elected. The Green Party scored a single seat.
Ford, the brother of former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who shot to international recognition after a series of misadventures in his personal life, became leader of the Conservatives after Patrick Brown resigned in January amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Ford appealed to the grass roots in Canada's most-populous province, attacking Wynne for high government spending, environmental policies that led to some of the highest electricity prices in North America, and pay increases and bonuses for executives of government-controlled utility Hydro One Ltd.
Ford has pledged to pull Ontario from the Western Climate Initiative, a carbon emissions cap-and-trade program that also includes Quebec and California.
In his victory speech, Ford promised "an era of economic growth and prosperity, the likes of which the province has never seen before." The province "has sent a clear message to the world that Ontario is open for business," he said. "The party with taxpayers' money is over — it's done." Ford will be premier designate until his government is sworn in by the province's Lieutenant Governor.
Doug Ford, 53, served as a Toronto city councilor from 2010 to 2014 during Rob Ford's term as mayor of Canada's largest city. The Ford family operates Deco Label and Tags, a printing business with operations in Canada and the U.S. In thanking his family for their support, he acknowledged his brother, who died in 2014 at the age of 46. "I know that Rob is looking down from heaven," he said. "We owe so much to Rob's legacy."
In the waning days of the election Wynne acknowledged that her party would not win and announced her resignation as leader of the Liberals after the defeat. Wynne was named premier after the resignation of Dalton McGuinty in 2013. She has been a member of the provincial parliament since 2003.
"I have spoken to the party president and asked him to start the process of choosing an interim leader," Wynne said. "It is the right thing to do. There is another generation, and I am passing the torch to that generation."
Horwath said she had spoken to Ford on election night and vowed to keep working for Ontario families "I am deeply humbled that Ontarians have asked us to serve as the new official opposition," she said.
