The 1995 Ontario general election was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the
36th 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 writs for the election were drawn up on April 28, 1995.
The governing
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 ...
, led by Premier
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 ...
, was defeated by voters, who were angry with the actions of the Rae government, such as its unpopular hiring quotas and the
Social Contract
In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is an idea, theory, or model that usually, although not always, concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Conceptualized in the Age of Enlightenment, it ...
legislation in 1993. These policies caused the NDP to lose much of its base in
organized labour
The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
, further reducing support for the party. At the
1993 federal election, the NDP tumbled to less than seven percent support, and lost all 11 of its federal seats in Ontario. By the time the writs were drawn up for the 1995 provincial election, it was obvious that the NDP would not be reelected.
Riding name change
Acts were passed in 1991 and 1993, providing for the following name changes to ridings:
:*
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry to
S-D-G & East Grenville.
:*
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 ...
to
Grey—Owen Sound
Grey 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 ...
.
:*
York North
York North was a federal riding in Ontario, Canada, that was in the House of Commons of Canada from Confederation in 1867 until 2004.
The federal riding was eliminated in 2003 when it was redistributed between two new ridings of Newmarket� ...
to
York—Mackenzie
York North was a federal riding in Ontario, Canada, that was in the House of Commons of Canada from Confederation in 1867 until 2004.
The federal riding was eliminated in 2003 when it was redistributed between two new ridings of Newmarket� ...
.
Campaign
The
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world.
The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
under
Lyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leade ...
had been leading in the polls for most of the period from 1992 to 1995, and were generally favoured to benefit from the swing in support away from the NDP. However, the party hurt its credibility through a series of high-profile policy reversals in the period leading up to the election. The most notable of these occurred when McLeod withdrew Liberal support from the
Equality Rights Statute Amendment Act
The ''Equality Rights Statute Amendment Act'', (formally ''An Act to Amend Ontario Statutes to Provide for the Equal Treatment of Persons in Spousal Relationships''), commonly known as Bill 167, was a proposed law in the Canadian province of Ont ...
(Bill 167) introduced by the NDP government in 1994, which would have provided
same-sex couples
A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...
with rights and obligations mostly equal to those of opposite-sex
common law couples and introduced a form of
civil union
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...
s. Her decision was seen as cynical and opportunistic in light of the Liberals' earlier rural by-election loss in the socially conservative riding of
Victoria—Haliburton. This gave the McLeod Liberals a reputation for "flip-flopping" and inconsistency while offending its socially progressive supporters.
The
Progressive Conservative Party, led by
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 ...
, found success with its
Common Sense Revolution
The phrase Common Sense Revolution (CSR) has been used as a political slogan to describe conservative platforms with a main goal of reducing taxes while balancing the budget by reducing the size and role of government. It has been used in places ...
campaign to cut personal income taxes, social assistance (welfare) rates, and government spending dramatically. Roughly half of his party's seats came from the more affluent regions of 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), especially the suburban belt surrounding Metro Toronto, often called the '905' for its telephone area code.
In addition, by presenting himself as a
populist
Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
, representing "ordinary Ontarians" over "special interests", Harris was able to build Tory support among working-class voters. Although there were regional variations, many working-class voters shifted directly from the NDP to the Tories during the election, enabling the latter to win formerly NDP ridings such as
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
and
Oshawa
Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...
.
The televised party leaders' debate is often regarded as the turning point of the campaign. During the event, McLeod further alienated many voters with an overly aggressive performance. Harris used his time to speak directly to the camera to convey his party's Common Sense Revolution platform, virtually ignoring all questions asked of him by Rae and McLeod and avoiding getting caught up in their debate. Since Liberal support was regarded by many political insiders as soft and unsteady, many voters who were previously leaning to the Liberals shifted to the Progressive Conservatives after the debate.
Opinion polls
During the 35th Parliament of Ontario
Results
Summary
The
Progressive Conservatives won a majority while the Liberals finished with less support than they had in the
1990 election. The NDP, despite improving their standing in some Northern Ontario ridings, were heavily defeated, falling to 17 seats and third party status. The New Democrats would remain the third party until
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
when they returned to Official Opposition status. McLeod and Rae resigned their party leadership posts not long after the campaign. It was also the worst result for an incumbent Ontario governing party up to that time and would remain so until 2018 when the NDP finally surpassed the then-governing Liberals.
One independent candidate was elected:
Peter North in the riding of
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 ...
. North had been elected in 1990 as a New Democrat, but left the NDP and declared his intention to run as a Progressive Conservative. The PC Party did not accept him as a candidate, however.
At least five unregistered parties fielded candidates in this election, appearing on the ballot as independents:
:*The
Reform Association of Ontario
The Reform Party of Ontario (RPO) (PRO; ) was a minor political party in Ontario, Canada. Until the 1999 Ontario general election, 1999 provincial election, the party ran one candidate each election in order to keep the party's name in the posses ...
ran fifteen candidates. Their leader was Kimble Ainslie. An article of ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' for August 19, 1995 indicates that the party won 6,400 votes.
:*John Steele campaigned as a candidate of the
Communist League
The Communist League ( German: ''Bund der Kommunisten)'' was an international political party established on 1 June 1847 in London, England. The organisation was formed through the merger of the League of the Just, headed by Karl Schapper, and th ...
.
:*The
Ontario Renewal Party
The following riding results occurred during the 2003 Ontario general election held on October 2, 2003.
Ottawa
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Nepean—Carleton (provincial electoral district), Nepean—Carleton
,
, Rod Vanier 20,878 (35.65%)
, , ...
ran a number of candidates under the leadership of Diane Johnston. This was the
Marxist–Leninist party under a different name.
:*Amani Oakley and Joe Flexer ran as "Independent Labour" candidates in Toronto with the support of dissident or former members of the
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is Ontario’s provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. The ...
and with the support of
OPSEU
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU; ) is a trade union representing public sector employees in the province of Ontario, Canada. It claims a membership of approximately 180,000 members. OPSEU was established in 1975 as the successo ...
in the case of Oakley and the
Canadian Auto Workers
The National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada, commonly known as the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), was one of Canada's largest labour unions. In 2013, it merged with the Communications, Energy and Paperwork ...
in the case of Flexe
:*
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 ...
's
Abolitionist Party ran at least two candidates.
Overall
, -
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Political party
! rowspan=2 , Party leader
! colspan=4 , MPPs
! colspan=4 , Votes
, -
! Candidates
!
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
!1995
!±
!#
! ±
!%
! ± (pp)
, style="text-align:left;",
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 ...
, 130 , , 20 , , 82 , , 62 , , 1,870,110 , , 925,546 , , 44.97% , , 21.46
, style="text-align:left;",
Lyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leade ...
, 130 , , 36 , , 30 , , 6 , , 1,291,326 , , 10,808 , , 31.05% , , 1.35
, style="text-align:left;",
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 ...
, 130 , , 74 , , 17 , , 57 , , 854,163 , , 655,343 , , 20.54% , , 17.03
, , , 60 , , – , , 1 , , 1 , , 33,077 , , 19,770 , , 0.80% , , 0.46
, style="text-align:left;",
Donald Pennell
, 55 , , – , , – , , – , , 61,657 , , 49,174 , , 1.48% , , 1.28
, style="text-align:left;",
Ron Parker
, 68 , , – , , – , , – , , 18,326 , , 18,326 , , 0.44% , , ''New''
, style="text-align:left;",
Frank de Jong
Frank de Jong (born October 16, 1955) is a Canadian politician and environmentalist. He joined the Green Party of Ontario in 1987 and became the party's first official leader in 1993 – a position he held until November 14, 2009, when he was ...
, 37 , , – , , – , , – , , 14,108 , , 15,989 , , 0.34% , , 0.41
, style="text-align:left;", John Shadbolt
, 18 , , – , , – , , – , , 6,085 , , (18,528 , , 0.15% , , 0.47
, style="text-align:left;", Jack Plant
, 12 , , – , , – , , – , , 4,532 , , 1,483 , , 0.11% , , 0.04
, style="text-align:left;",
, 6 , , – , , – , , – , , 3,971 , , 71,902 , , 0.10% , , 1.79
, style="text-align:left;",
Darrell Rankin
Darrell T. Rankin (born February 14, 1957) is a Canadian peace activist and former communist politician. He was briefly the leader of the Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) in 1995, and formerly led the Communist Party of Canada (Manitoba) fro ...
, 5 , , – , , – , , – , , 1,015 , , 124 , , 0.02% , , –
, -
! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Total
, 651, , 130
! " colspan="2", 130
! " colspan="2", 4,158,370
! " colspan="2", 100.00%
, -
, colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Rejected ballots
, 42,152
, 10,423
, colspan="2",
, -
, colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Voter turnout
, 4,200,522
, 129,868
, 63.00
, 1.45
, -
, colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Registered electors
, 6,667,798
, 351,849
, colspan="2",
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 (1995 vs 1990)
Analysis
MPPs elected by region and riding
Party designations are as follows:
;Northern Ontario
;Ottawa Valley
;Saint Lawrence Valley
;Central Ontario
;Georgian Bay
;Hamilton/Halton/Niagara
;Midwestern Ontario
;Southwestern Ontario
;Peel/York/Durham
;Metropolitan Toronto
Byelections
Due to resignations, five by-elections were held between the 1995 and
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
elections.
, -
, style="background:whitesmoke;",
York South
York South was an electoral district (or "riding") in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1979.
The riding is notable for the 1942 federal by-election in which newly elected Conservative leader ...
May 23, 1996
, ,
,
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...
7,774
,
,
Rob Davis5,093
,
,
David Miller6,656
,
, David Milne (Ind)
151
George Dance (Lbt)
77
Kevin Clarke (Ind)
70
, ,
,
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 ...
''resigned February 29, 1996''
, -
, style="background:whitesmoke;",
OrioleSeptember 4, 1997
, ,
,
David Caplan
David Richard Caplan (November 15, 1964 – July 24, 2019) was a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who represented the ridings of Oriole (provincial electoral district), Oriole ...
9,954
,
,
Barbara Greene
Barbara Greene (born 1 September 1945) is a former Canadian politician. She served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. She was previously a municipal politician in North York ...
5,163
,
, Jim Kafieh
1,700
,
, Bernadette Michael (Ind)
132
Shelly Lipsey (G)
96
, ,
,
Elinor Caplan
Elinor Caplan (born May 20, 1944) is a businesswoman and former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1997, and was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 20 ...
''resigned May 5, 1997''
, -
, style="background:whitesmoke;",
Ottawa West
Ottawa West was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1997 and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1908 to 1926 and from 1955 to 1999. It c ...
September 4, 1997
, ,
,
Alex Cullen11,438
,
, Chris Thompson
7,217
,
, Katrina Prystupa
2,573
,
,
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)
201
Gene Villeneuve (G)
96
, ,
,
Bob Chiarelli
Roberto Chiarelli (born September 24, 1941) is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who served from 1987 to 1997 and again from 2010 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Ottawa West and Otta ...
''resigned May 5, 1997''
, -
, style="background:whitesmoke;",
Windsor—RiversideSeptember 4, 1997
,
, Gary McNamara
8,494
,
, Fran Funero
3,028
, ,
,
Wayne Lessard9,308
,
, Steve Harvey (G)
329
, ,
,
Dave Cooke
Dave Cooke (born August 1, 1952) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was an Ontario New Democratic Party, NDP member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, provincial legislature from 1977 to 1997, and was a senior cabinet minister i ...
''resigned May 5, 1997''
, -
, style="background:whitesmoke;",
Nickel BeltOctober 1, 1998
,
, Frank Madigan
4,173
,
, Gerry Courtemanche
3,836
, ,
,
Blain Morin
Blain Kevin Morin (born September 30, 1960) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Ontario New Democratic Party, New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1998 to 1999 who was elected in a by-election. He rep ...
5,537
,
,
, ,
,
Floyd Laughren
Floyd Laughren (born October 3, 1935) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 who represented the northern Ontario riding of Nickel Belt. He served in c ...
''resigned February 28, 1998''
See also
*
Politics of Ontario
The Province of Ontario is governed by a unicameral legislature, the Parliament of Ontario, composed of the Lieutenant Governor and the Legislative Assembly, which operates in the Westminster system of government. The political party that wins ...
*
List of Ontario political parties
*
Premier of Ontario
The premier of Ontario () is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typically sits as a member of Provincia ...
*
Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)
The leader of the Official Opposition () is the leader of the largest political party in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that is not in government and is typically the second-largest party. The position is formally titled the leader of His ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ontario General Election, 1995
1995 elections in Canada
1995 in Ontario
1995
1995 was designated as:
* United Nations Year for Tolerance
* World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War
This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
June 1995 in Canada