Last Wednesday was a historic moment for Ontario as Premier Dalton McGuinty was re-elected in a sweeping victory for the Ontario Liberal party, marking the first time in 70 years that the provincial party has had a back-to-back majority win.
The Liberal victory was won with 42.2 per cent of the vote, a three per cent drop in support since the last election in 2003, which was mirrored by a corresponding loss in numbers for the Progressive Conservatives. PC leader John Tory lost his own Toronto riding, and the party claimed only 26 seats to the Liberals' 71, while the New Democratic Party trailed with only 10. The election also saw record-low voter turnouts: 52.8 per cent of those eligible voted, down from 54.7 per cent.
The losses in PC and Liberal support resulted in gains for the New Democratic Party and the Green Party, which each acquired substantial percentage increases in voter support. The Green Party had an unprecedented eight per cent gain which tripled their popular vote from the last election, though they have yet to win their first seat in the legislature.
The referendum on electoral reform was a huge failure as a result of a weak publicity campaign, apathetic voters and media and the incredibly high percentage threshold required for passage. The proposed reform for a mixed-member proportional representation electoral system was intended to mirror the proportion of votes received in the elected body, and aimed to have members elected by geographic constituency deducted from party totals in order to maintain this proportionality.
University of Victoria Assistant Professor of political science Dennis Pilon was concerned about the inadequacy of the public education campaign.
"If you're going to make a decision about something, it should be an informed decision... I think that any public debate should be conducted with an interest in fairness," he said. "When the polling shows that very few people actually understand what the issue is about, that says to me that there's something wrong."
2008 Woodie Awards
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