1990 Ontario general election

The 1990 Ontario general election was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada. The governing Ontario Liberal Party led by Premier David Peterson 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 (NDP), led by Bob Rae, won a majority government. This marked the first time the NDP had won government east of Manitoba, 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 (GTA) from the Liberals, and Rae himself represented York South, in Metro Toronto. 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 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' Progressive Conservative Party was unable to overcome voter distrust of the federal Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, 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 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.

Results
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=5 | MPPs ! colspan=3 | Votes ! Candidates !1987 ! Dissol. !1990 !± !# !% ! ± (pp)


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


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


 * style="text-align:left;"|Mike Harris
 * 130
 * 16
 * 17
 * 20
 * 4
 * 944,564
 * 23.5%
 * 1.2


 * style="text-align:left;"|Donald Pennell
 * 68
 * 110,831
 * 2.8%
 * 1.5
 * 110,831
 * 2.8%
 * 1.5
 * 1.5


 * style="text-align:left;"|Dean Wasson
 * 33
 * 75,873
 * 1.9%
 * style="text-align:center;"|New
 * 75,873
 * 1.9%
 * style="text-align:center;"|New
 * style="text-align:center;"|New


 * style="text-align:left;"|Katherine Mathewson
 * 40
 * 30,097
 * 0.8%
 * 0.7
 * 30,097
 * 0.8%
 * 0.7
 * 0.7


 * style="text-align:left;"|James Stock
 * 45
 * 24,613
 * 0.6%
 * 0.2
 * 24,613
 * 0.6%
 * 0.2
 * 0.2


 * style="text-align:left;"|Robert Metz
 * 10
 * 6,015
 * 0.1%
 * 6,015
 * 0.1%
 * 6,015
 * 0.1%


 * style="text-align:left;"|Elizabeth Rowley
 * 4
 * 1,139
 * 0.1
 * 1,139
 * 0.1
 * 1,139
 * 0.1
 * 0.1


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 15
 * 13,307
 * 0.3%
 * 13,307
 * 0.3%
 * 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
 * }
 * 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
 * = multiple candidates

MPPs elected by region and riding
Party designations are as follows:

{{legend|#EA6D6A|Liberal}} {{legend|#F4A460|NDP}} {{legend|#9999FF|PC}}

Two-tone colour boxes indicate ridings that turned over from the 1987 election, eg:

{{legend|#F4A460| Algoma: Bud Wildman}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Algoma—Manitoulin: Mike Brown}}
 * Northern Ontario

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Fort William: Lyn McLeod}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Kenora: Frank Miclash}} {{legend|#F4A460| Lake Nipigon: Gilles Pouliot}} {{legend|#F4A460| Nickel Belt: Floyd Laughren}} {{legend|#9999FF| Nipissing: Mike Harris}}

{{legend|#F4A460| Rainy River: Howard Hampton}} {{legend|#F4A460| Sault Ste. Marie: Tony Martin}}

{{legend|#F4A460| Sudbury East: Shelley Martel}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Timiskaming: David Ramsay}}

{{legend|#9999FF| Carleton: Norm Sterling}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Carleton East: Gilles Morin}} {{legend|#9999FF| Lanark—Renfrew: Leo Jordan}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Nepean: Hans Daigeler}}
 * Ottawa Valley

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Ottawa East: Bernard Grandmaître}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Ottawa South: Dalton McGuinty}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Ottawa West: Bob Chiarelli}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Ottawa—Rideau: Yvonne O'Neill}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Prescott and Russell: Jean Poirier}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Renfrew North: Sean Conway}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Cornwall: John Cleary}}
 * Saint Lawrence Valley

{{legend|#9999FF| Leeds—Grenville: Bob Runciman}} {{legend|#9999FF| Stormont—Dundas and Glengarry: Noble Villeneuve}}


 * Central Ontario

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Northumberland: Joan Fawcett}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Quinte: Hugh O'Neil}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Bruce: Murray Elston}}
 * Georgian Bay

{{legend|#9999FF| Parry Sound: Ernie Eves}}

{{legend|#9999FF| Simcoe East: Al McLean}} {{legend|#9999FF| Simcoe West: Jim Wilson}}

{{legend|#9999FF| Burlington South: Cam Jackson}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Halton Centre: Barbara Sullivan}}
 * Hamilton/Halton/Niagara

{{legend|#F4A460| Hamilton East: Bob Mackenzie}} {{legend|#F4A460| Hamilton Mountain: Brian Charlton}} {{legend|#F4A460| Hamilton West: Richard Allen}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| St. Catharines: Jim Bradley}}

{{legend|#F4A460| Welland—Thorold: Peter Kormos}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Brant—Haldimand: Robert Nixon}}
 * Midwestern Ontario

{{legend|#F4A460| Cambridge: Mike Farnan}}

{{legend|#9999FF| Wellington: Ted Arnott}}


 * Southwestern Ontario

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Essex South: Remo Mancini}}

{{legend|#F4A460| Windsor—Riverside: Dave Cooke}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Brampton North: Carman McClelland}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Brampton South: Bob Callahan}}
 * Peel/York/Durham

{{legend|#9999FF| Markham: Don Cousens}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Mississauga East: John Sola}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Mississauga North: Steven Offer}} {{legend|#9999FF| Mississauga South: Margaret Marland}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Mississauga West: Steve Mahoney}} {{legend|#F4A460| Oshawa: Allan Pilkey}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| York Centre: Greg Sorbara}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| York North: Charles Beer}}

{{legend|#F4A460| Beaches—Woodbine: Frances Lankin}}
 * Metropolitan Toronto

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Eglinton: Dianne Poole}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Etobicoke—Humber: Jim Henderson}} {{legend|#F4A460| Etobicoke—Lakeshore: Ruth Grier}} {{legend|#F4A460| Etobicoke—Rexdale: Ed Philip}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Lawrence: Joseph Cordiano}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Oriole: Elinor Caplan}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Parkdale: Tony Ruprecht}} {{legend|#F4A460| Riverdale: Marilyn Churley}} {{legend|#EA6D6A| Scarborough—Agincourt: Gerry Phillips}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Scarborough North: Alvin Curling}} {{legend|#F4A460| Scarborough West: Anne Swarbrick}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| St. George—St. David: Ian Scott}}

{{legend|#EA6D6A| Wilson Heights: Monte Kwinter}}

{{legend|#F4A460| York South: Bob Rae}}

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
 * Chatham—Kent
 * Cochrane North
 * Don Mills
 * Dovercourt
 * Downsview
 * Durham Centre
 * Durham West
 * Durham—York
 * Elgin
 * Essex—Kent
 * Fort York
 * Frontenac—Addington
 * Guelph
 * Halton North
 * Hamilton Centre
 * High Park—Swansea
 * Huron
 * Kingston and the Islands
 * Kitchener
 * Kitchener—Wilmot


 * Lambton
 * Lincoln
 * London Centre
 * London South
 * Middlesex
 * Muskoka—Georgian Bay
 * Niagara Falls
 * Niagara South
 * Norfolk
 * Oakwood
 * Ottawa Centre
 * Oxford
 * Perth
 * Peterborough
 * 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
 * London North
 * Oakville South
 * Waterloo North
 * Willowdale
 * York Mills


 * PC to NDP
 * Cochrane South
 * Durham East
 * Hastings—Peterborough
 * Sarnia

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:

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 casinos 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 1995 elections.

March 5, 1992 9,565 4,758 2,895 2,056 Ella Haley (G) 759 Janice Wilson (Ind) 250 resigned July 31, 1991 April 1, 1993 5,583 9,143 1,513 498 Denise Mountenay (FCP) 383 Bernadette Michael (Ind) 206 David Pengelly (F) 161 Sat Khalsa (G) 141 died January 22, 1993 April 1, 1993 8,750 6,518 1,451 347 Phil Sarazen (G) 209 Judith Snow (Ind Renewal) 119 Ed Fortune (Ind) 107 Robert Smith (Ind) 72 John Steele (Comm League) 57 resigned September 8, 1992 December 2, 1993 12,736 3,295 1,100 1,060 Michael Green (G) 132 John Turmel (Ind) 84 resigned May 10, 1993 March 17, 1994 9,571 11,941 1,378 252 Bradley Bradamore (Ind) 217 John Turmel (Ind) 123 resigned September 27, 1993
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Brant—Haldimand
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Brant—Haldimand
 * Ronald Eddy
 * Ronald Eddy
 * David Timms
 * David Timms
 * Christopher Stanek
 * Christopher Stanek
 * Donald Pennell (FCP)
 * Donald Pennell (FCP)
 * Robert Nixon
 * Robert Nixon
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Don Mills
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Don Mills
 * Murad Velshi
 * Murad Velshi
 * David Johnson
 * David Johnson
 * Chandran Mylvaganam
 * Chandran Mylvaganam
 * Diane Johnston (Ind Renewal)
 * Diane Johnston (Ind Renewal)
 * Margery Ward
 * Margery Ward
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|St. George—St. David
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|St. George—St. David
 * Tim Murphy
 * Tim Murphy
 * Nancy Jackman
 * Nancy Jackman
 * George Lamony
 * George Lamony
 * Louis Di Rocco (FCP)
 * Louis Di Rocco (FCP)
 * Ian Scott
 * Ian Scott
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Essex South
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Essex South
 * Bruce Crozier
 * Bruce Crozier
 * Joan Flood
 * Joan Flood
 * David Maris
 * David Maris
 * Joyce Ann Cherry (FCP)
 * Joyce Ann Cherry (FCP)
 * Remo Mancini
 * Remo Mancini
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Victoria—Haliburton
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Victoria—Haliburton
 * Sharon McCrae
 * Sharon McCrae
 * Chris Hodgson
 * Chris Hodgson
 * Art Field
 * Art Field
 * Ron Hawkrigg (Lbt)
 * Ron Hawkrigg (Lbt)
 * Dennis Drainville
 * Dennis Drainville
 * }

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