Dalton McGuinty's Liberals just won the first back-to-back Liberal majority government since Mitch Hepburn won 70 years ago. The Liberals took 71 ridings, 17 more than the 54 needed for a majority in the 107-seat legislature, and left just 25 seats for John Torys' Progressive Conservatives.
Here are my final thoughts about the 2007 Ontario election.
The 416 Rejects the Right (Again)
Stephen Harper may be our Prime Minister, but he doesn't hold a single seat in Toronto, Canada's largest city. Federally, Toronto is a sea of Liberal red with a little NDP orange sprinkled in for good measure. The same is true provincially as every Toronto-based MPP this morning is a member of the Liberal party except for a few NDPers. Ever since we gave Mike Harris a majority in the mid-90s we've completely rejected every party right of the Liberals.
I Batted .500
In my riding, I batted .500. The MPP candidate I voted for won handidly as Cheri DiNovo got 18,186 votes to Sylvia Watson's 11,900. For the third election in a row, Parkdale-High Park has gone NDP orange and I'm stating to refer to the place as Orange County.
I only batted .500, however, because I was on the losing end of the referendum on electoral reform. My fellow Ontarians voted heavily for the existing first-past-the-post system over a proposed mixed member proportional (MMP) system. I saw that coming, though.
My Wife Ends a Lengthy Streak
For as long as I've known her, my wife has blindly voted Liberal in every single federal and provincial election. Last night, for the first time in her life, she voted for a member of a different party. I successfully sold her on the Radical Reverend.
How the Hell Did This Happen?
If you had told me two months ago Dalton McGuinty would win a big majority in this election, I would have laughed in your face. Does anybody actually like this guy? I can't remember a time when an administration was so disliked and so victorious. How many Ontarians went to the polls last night and held their nose as they voted?
John Tory couldn't even win his own seat and despite appearing to be a good leader on paper, never captured our fancy. He's missing that intangible quality that successful politicians seem to have. He may be a smart businessman but he just scored a key own-goal in crunch time. Dalton owes him a Coke.
