The 1990 Ontario general election was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The governing

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...

led by Premier

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Back ...

was unexpectedly defeated. Although the Peterson government, and Peterson himself, were very popular, he was accused of opportunism in calling an election just three years into his mandate. In a shocking upset, the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

(NDP), led by

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

, won a majority government. This marked the first time the NDP had won government east of

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, and to date the only time the NDP formed the government in Ontario. Not even the NDP expected to come close to winning power. Rae had already made plans to retire from politics after the election; however, the NDP managed to take many seats in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

(GTA) from the Liberals, and Rae himself represented York South, in

Metro Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an Regional municipality, upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and vill ...

. They also did better than ever before, or in some cases since, in many other cities and rural areas. The NDP finished only five points ahead of the Liberals in the popular vote, but due to the nature of the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

electoral system, which ignores the popular vote and awards power based on the number of ridings won, the NDP's gains in the GTA decimated the Liberal caucus. The Liberals lost 59 seats, the second-worst defeat for a governing party in Ontario. At the time, it was the Liberals' worst showing in an Ontario election. Peterson himself was heavily defeated in London Centre by NDP challenger Marion Boyd, losing by 8,200 votes, one of the few times a provincial premier has lost their own seat. Although

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. Taking the PC ...

' Progressive Conservative Party was unable to overcome voter distrust of the federal Progressive Conservative government of

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

, his party managed to make a net gain of four seats. Although Harris was from northern Ontario, the Tories were particularly weak in that region, placing fourth, behind the Liberals, NDP, and the right-wing Confederation of Regions Party (CoR) in six northern Ontario ridings (Algoma, Cochrane South, Nickel Belt, Sudbury, Sudbury East, and Sault Ste. Marie). The CoR also placed ahead of the Progressive Conservatives in the Renfrew North and Cornwall ridings in eastern Ontario. Although they received only 1.9% of the vote provincewide, they managed 7.8% in the 33 ridings in which they actually fielded a candidate. The

Green Party of Ontario The Green Party of Ontario (GPO; ) is a political party in Ontario, Canada. The party is led by Mike Schreiner. Schreiner was elected as Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada), MPP for the riding of Guelph (provincial electoral district), Gue ...

placed third, ahead of the NDP, in Parry Sound riding, where former Liberal leadership candidate Richard Thomas was the party's candidate.

Riding name change

Before the election, an Act was passed, changing the name of Prince Edward—Lennox to

Prince Edward—Lennox—South Hastings A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fema ...

Opinion polls

During the 34th Parliament of Ontario

Results

, - ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Political party ! rowspan=2 , Party leader ! colspan=5 , MPPs ! colspan=3 , Votes , - ! Candidates !

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

! Dissol. !1990 !± !# !% ! ± (pp) , style="text-align:left;",

, 130 , 19 , 19 , 74 , 55 , 1,509,506 , 37.6% , 11.9 , style="text-align:left;",

, 130 , 95 , 93 , 36 , 59 , 1,302,134 , 32.4% , 14.9 , style="text-align:left;",

, 130 , 16 , 17 , 20 , 4 , 944,564 , 23.5% , 1.2 , style="text-align:left;", Donald Pennell , 68 , – , – , – , – , 110,831 , 2.8% , 1.5 , style="text-align:left;", Dean Wasson , 33 , – , – , – , – , 75,873 , 1.9% , style="text-align:center;", ''New'' , style="text-align:left;", Katherine Mathewson , 40 , – , – , – , – , 30,097 , 0.8% , 0.7 , style="text-align:left;", James Stock , 45 , – , – , – , – , 24,613 , 0.6% , 0.2 , style="text-align:left;", Robert Metz , 10 , – , – , – , – , 6,015 , 0.1% , , style="text-align:left;", Elizabeth Rowley , 4 , – , – , – , – , 1,139 , – , 0.1 , style="text-align:left;", , 15 , – , – , – , – , 13,307 , 0.3% , , colspan="3", , 1 , colspan="5", , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Total , 615 , 130 , 130 , 130 , , 4,018,079 , 100.00% , , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="8" style="text-align:left;", Blank and invalid ballots , 52,575 , colspan="2", , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="8" style="text-align:left;", Total ballots cast , 4,070,654 , colspan="2", , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="8" style="text-align:left;", Registered voters / turnout , 6,315,949 , 64.5% , 1.8

Synopsis of results

: = open seat : = turnout is above provincial average : = winning candidate was in previous Legislature : = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature : = incumbent had switched allegiance : = incumbency arose from byelection gain : = previously incumbent in another riding : = other incumbents renominated : = previously an MP in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

: = multiple candidates

Comparative analysis for ridings (1990 vs 1987)

MPPs elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows: Two-tone colour boxes indicate ridings that turned over from the 1987 election, eg: ;Northern Ontario ;Ottawa Valley ;Saint Lawrence Valley ;Central Ontario ;Georgian Bay ;Hamilton/Halton/Niagara ;Midwestern Ontario ;Southwestern Ontario ;Peel/York/Durham ;Metropolitan Toronto

Summary analysis

Seats changing hands

Of the 130 seats, 20 were open because of MPPs who chose not to stand for reelection, and voters in 63 seats changed allegiance from the previous election in 1987. The following seats changed allegiance from 1987: ;Liberal to NDP *

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

* Chatham—Kent * Cochrane North *

Don Mills Don Mills is a mixed-use neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed in the 1950s and 1960s to be a self-supporting "new town" and was at the time located outside Toronto proper in the suburb of North York. Consisting of residenti ...

* Dovercourt *

Downsview Downsview is a neighbourhood in the north end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the district of North York. The area takes its name from the Downs View farm established around 1842 near the present-day intersection of Keele Street and Wils ...

* Durham Centre * Durham West * Durham—York *

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * Elgin, Manit ...

* Essex—Kent *

Fort York Fort York is an early 19th-century military fortification in the Fort York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort housed members of the British and Canadian militaries and defended the entrance to Toronto Harbour. The fort featu ...

* Frontenac—Addington *

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

* Halton North * Hamilton Centre * High Park—Swansea * Huron * Kingston and the Islands * Kitchener *

Kitchener—Wilmot Kitchener—Wilmot was a provincial electoral Riding (division), riding in Ontario, Canada. It existed from 1975 to 1999, when it was abolished when ridings were redistributed to match their federal counterpart. It consisted of areas around Kitchene ...

* Lambton * Lincoln * London Centre *

London South London South was an electoral riding in Ontario, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

* Muskoka—Georgian Bay *

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

* Niagara South *

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

* Oakwood * Ottawa Centre *

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

* Port Arthur * Prince Edward—Lennox—South—Hastings * Scarborough Centre * Scarborough East * Scarborough—Ellesmere * Simcoe Centre * St. Andrew—St. Patrick * St. Catharines—Brock * Sudbury * Victoria—Haliburton * Wentworth East * Wentworth North * Windsor—Sandwich * Windsor—Walkerville * York East * Yorkview ;Liberal to PC * Dufferin—Peel * Etobicoke West *

Grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

London North London North was a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It was first created for the 1926 provincial election when the London riding was divided in two sections, and then eliminated prior to the 1934 provincial election when the ci ...

* Oakville South *

Waterloo North Waterloo North was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It was created by the ...

* Willowdale * York Mills ;PC to NDP * Cochrane South * Durham East * Hastings—Peterborough *

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes, ...

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:

Post-election changes

Party affiliation switches

Tony Rizzo (NDP) became an independent MPP on October 10, 1990, after questions were raised about labour practices in his bricklaying firms. He would later rejoin the NDP caucus. Dennis Drainville (NDP) became an independent MPP on April 28, 1993, as a protest against the Rae government's plans to introduce

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s to the province. He later resigned his seat in the legislature, resulting in a by-election. Will Ferguson (NDP) became an independent MPP on April 30, 1993, following accusations relating to the Grandview scandal. He later rejoined the NDP caucus on June 21, 1994, having been cleared of all charges. John Sola (L) became an independent MPP on May 11, 1993, after making comments about Canadian Serbs that most regarded as racist. Peter North (NDP) became an independent MPP on October 27, 1993, claiming he had lost confidence in the Rae government. He tried to join the Progressive Conservatives, but was rebuffed.

Byelections

Due to resignations, five by-elections were held between the 1990 and

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elections. , - , style="background:whitesmoke;", Brant—Haldimand
March 5, 1992 , , , Ronald Eddy
9,565 , , David Timms
4,758 , , Christopher Stanek
2,895 , , Donald Pennell (FCP)
2,056
Ella Haley (G)
759
Janice Wilson (Ind)
250 , , , Robert Nixon
''resigned July 31, 1991'' , - , style="background:whitesmoke;",

April 1, 1993 , , Murad Velshi
5,583 , , , David Johnson
9,143 , , Chandran Mylvaganam
1,513 , , Diane Johnston (Ind Renewal)
498
Denise Mountenay (FCP)
383
Bernadette Michael (Ind)
206
David Pengelly (F)
161
Sat Khalsa (G)
141 , , , Margery Ward
''died January 22, 1993'' , - , style="background:whitesmoke;", St. George—St. David
April 1, 1993 , , , Tim Murphy
8,750 , , Nancy Jackman
6,518 , , George Lamony
1,451 , , Louis Di Rocco (FCP)
347
Phil Sarazen (G)
209
Judith Snow (Ind Renewal)
119
Ed Fortune (Ind)
107
Robert Smith (Ind)
72
John Steele (Comm League)
57 , , , Ian Scott
''resigned September 8, 1992'' , - , style="background:whitesmoke;", Essex South
December 2, 1993 , , , Bruce Crozier
12,736 , , Joan Flood
3,295 , , David Maris
1,100 , , Joyce Ann Cherry (FCP)
1,060
Michael Green (G)
132

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 112 el ...

(Ind)
84 , , , Remo Mancini
''resigned May 10, 1993'' , - , style="background:whitesmoke;", Victoria—Haliburton
March 17, 1994 , , Sharon McCrae
9,571 , , , Chris Hodgson
11,941 , , Art Field
1,378 , , Ron Hawkrigg (Lbt)
252
Bradley Bradamore (Ind)
217

(Ind)
123 , , , Dennis Drainville
''resigned September 27, 1993''

Vacancies

In addition, four seats were vacant in the final months of the legislature, as the sitting members resigned and by-elections were not held to replace them before the 1995 election: * Bruce — Murray Elston (L) resigned October 31, 1994 * Kitchener — Will Ferguson (NDP) resigned October 8, 1994 * Markham — Don Cousens (PC) resigned September 30, 1994 * St. Andrew—St. Patrick — Zanana Akande (NDP) resigned August 31, 1994

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ontario General Election, 1990 1990 elections in Canada 1990 Ontario general election 1990 in Ontario September 1990 in Canada General elections in Ontario