The people of Ontario have put Dalton McGuinty on a much shorter leash.
—PC Leader Tim Hudak
(10/07/11) Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty won re-election last night, although his Liberal party lost the majority they held heading into Thursday's election.
Polls indicated voters were most concerned about the economy, health care, and taxes in the face of economic uncertainty and a ballooning deficit. Lucy Martin has more.
Fifty-four was last night's magic number. That's how many seats any party
had to capture to control the provincial parliament in this scheduled election.
Dalton McGuinty's Liberals had held a solid 70 seats. But as of this
morning, they hold just 53. McGuinty made the best of it in his victory speech
on CBC:
“We have, in fact succeeded
in our goal of electing an experienced Liberal government.”
But McGuinty must now govern
cautiously to avoid being outvoted by the other two parties combined.
Progressive Conservative Tim
Hudak led his party to a 12-seat jump.
Hudak's concession speech
acknowledged that he fell short of pre-election expectations, losing the lead
he'd once held in opinion polls:
“And although the result is
not the one that we'd hoped for, we do accept it.”
But Hudak's second place
showing will have an impact.
“It is very clear that the
people of Ontario have put Dalton McGuinty on a much shorter leash,” said
Hudack.
This was McGuinty's third
win since becoming Premier in 2003. The New Democratic Party, lead by Andrea
Horwath, also made gains, picking up 7 seats overall.
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