Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak today issued the following statement on the five by-elections resulting from the resignations of Dalton McGuinty and four Liberal MPPs who had been Cabinet Ministers
“Voters sent the Liberals a strong message today: We deserve a government that will get our fiscal house in order to create jobs. Ontario is on the wrong track now, but we can turn the corner. Voters clearly said they want a change in direction for a better Ontario.
“I congratulate Ontario’s newest Conservative MPP Doug Holyday for his election victory in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Doug has represented Etobicoke for 30 years and for 30 years he has put taxpayers first. He cleaned up the mess at Toronto City Hall and now we need him to help clean up an even bigger mess at Queen’s Park. On behalf of our Ontario PC Caucus I want to welcome Doug to our team at Queen’s Park where he will work to bring Ontario out of its current jobs and spending crisis stronger than before.
“Everyone knows what the Liberals tried to do by scheduling these votes in the middle of summer before a long weekend. They went out of their way to find a way not to hear what the people of Ontario had to say and escape an opportunity for voters to hold them accountable. They wanted to get the by-elections out the way before the Auditor General’s report on the gas plant scandal came out. Voters saw through all of this and said enough is enough. The Liberal vote collapsed in every riding today.
“We overcame the Liberals in their safest seat in an urban riding that had been held by high-profile Cabinet Ministers for a decade. The first Toronto seat to go PC since 1999 – it is the first of many to come. Even in the Liberal heartland, Kathleen Wynne has lost the confidence of voters because she lacks a plan to swiftly deal with Ontario’s growing jobs and debt crisis. It is clear that from Dalton McGuinty to Kathleen Wynne nothing has changed. Ontario is facing some big problems and everyday we delay dealing with them those problems gets worse. Because the Liberal-NDP coalition has proven unable to confront these problems, and in fact made them worse, the only way to put Ontario on right path is to change the team that leads it.
“Voters have said they agree with our vision for Ontario. A place where people have good jobs to go to. A place where hard work is rewarded with more take-home pay, and where government lives within its means.
“I also want to congratulate Ali Chahbar [London West], Ken Kirupa [Scarborough-Guildwood], Robert de Verteuil [Windsor Tecumseh] and Matt Young [Ottawa South] and their teams for running strong and spirited campaigns. I’m proud of them for tackling Liberal strongholds and succeeding in greatly increasing our share of the vote. In fact, our hard-working Ontario PC Candidates came in second in all of the ridings.
“We all look forward to building on the momentum of today’s gains and bringing change to the whole province with our plan for a better Ontario. Ontario families want better than what they have now – and we’re prepared to deliver more jobs, prosperity and hope starting now.”
CONTACT: Alan Sakach alan.sakach@ontariopc.net
By-election Quick Facts
Tonight’s victory in Etobicoke-Lakeshore is the first time Ontario PCs won a seat in Toronto since 1999.
The Ontario PC Party received more votes in total today than any other party:
Ontario PC Party - 54,368 votes
Liberal - 47,213 votes
NDP - 45,941 votes
The Liberal vote collapsed in all ridings. They went from first to third in Windsor. These ridings were in Liberal heartlands, held by the former premier and 4 cabinet ministers.
The last time the Ontario PC won a seat in a by-election not already held by our Party was in 1994 (Victoria-Haliburton). That achievement preceded Mike Harris' first majority government.
Ontario PC share of the vote increased over 2011 in four of five ridings:
Etobicoke-Lakeshore rose to 46.6 from 29.24 per cent
London West rose to 32.7 from 29.49 per cent
Ottawa South rose to 38.7 from 33.43 per cent
Scarborough-Guildwood rose to 30.8 from 28.65 per cent
