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In the end, one pollster got it right, a majority government for the liberals. The election, for some, came to a surprising end, with the liberals winning 59 of the province's 107 seats-11 more than when the government dissolved in May.
The PC's captured 27 seats, 10 less than when they were last in the House. The outcome was capped off with Tim Hudak announcing he will be stepping down as the leader of the party.
Andrea Horwath's NDP's maintained their seat count with 21. With a now liberal majority, the NDP have lost the balance of power they held during the last government.
Premier Wynne has stated she will assemble her cabinet by July 2nd at which time the legislature will convene. The Premier intends to reintroduce her previous government's spring budget. What this means for Ontarians and OMSSA is likely little legislative work until mid-July.
Voter turnout was higher than expected at 51%-higher than the last provincial election- with the liberals capturing 38.6%, the PC's 31.3% and the NDP 23.8%.
Key ridings impacting the outcome were:
- Barrie - Liberal Ann Hoggarth unseated PC Rod Jackson
- Beaches - East York-Liberal Arthur Potts unseated NDP Michael Prue
- Burlington - Liberal Eleanor McMahon unseated PC Jane McKenna
- Cambridge - Liberal Kathryn McGarry unseated PC Rob Leone
- Davenport - Liberal Cristina Martins unseated NDP Jonah Schein
- Durham- Liberal Granville Anderson defeated new PC candidate Mike Patrick
- Etobicoke - Lakeshore - Liberal Peter Milczyn unseated PC Doug Holyday
- Halton - Liberal Indira Naidoo-Harris unseated PC Ted Chudleigh
- Newmarket - Aurora-Liberal Chris Ballard defeated new PC candidate Jane Twinney
- Northumberland - Quinte West - Liberal Lou Rinaldi unseated PC Rob Milligan
- Oshawa - NDP Jennifer French unseated PC Jerry Ouellette
- Sudbury - NDP Joe Comino defeated new Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier
- Thornhill - Liberal Sandra Yeung Racco unseated PC Gila Martow
- Trinity - Spadina - Liberal Han Dong unseated NDP Rosario Marchese
- Windsor West - NDP Lisa Gretzky unseated Liberal Teresa Piruzza
OMSSA member delegates will note that former OMSSA member, Teresa Piruzza, lost her seat in Windsor West.
What next for you and your Association?
The spring budget promised a number of important things for OMSSA and its member delegates including:
- The $42m Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative (CHPI) mitigation funding becoming permanent bringing the total CHPI funding to $294m annually.
- Creating a new $50m fund over 5 years under the Poverty Reduction Strategy, that will focus on local solutions to local issues.
During the election campaign Premier Wynne reiterated these commitments and also included moving forward on reintroducing the Child Care Modernization Act, wage enhancements, mental health initiatives and continued implementation of cornerstone policies such as full day kindergarten and social assistance transformation as well as a number of other key issues captured in our election chart.
As OMSSA member delegates know, prior to the election call, OMSSA was concerned with the indication of government intentions concerning the provision of employment program and services and the future role of CMSMs and DSSABs in social assistance and employment services.
OMSSA reached out to the three main parties during the campaign in partnership with the Ontario Welfare Administrators Association and the Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association to discuss each party's position on the role of local leadership in the provision of employment programs and services. As a result, we will be meeting with the NDP later in the spring and connected with the liberal party to explore conversations on this matter.
OMSSA will continue to seek clarification on the government's intentions in this area as well as continuing our advocacy to ensure that CMSMs and DSSABs have the tools and resources needed to fulfill your roles and obligations.
Once the government convenes we will be reaching out to new Minister's and staff alike to build their understanding of our priorities and build on the strong partnership we have developed to continue our influence on policy development and implementation considerations.
OMSSA, working with its 47 Leads, networks and policy tables will build our positions, messages and advocacy to not only support the work of CMSMs and DSSABs but to ensure that the provincial government and our partner ministries receive the best advice possible to inform their policy priorities, efforts and design.
For your information, here is a list of those elected across Ontario's 107 ridings.
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