Ontario general election, 1987

Ontario general election, 1987
1985 ←
 September 10, 1987
 → 1990
130 seats in the 35th Legislative Assembly of Ontario
66 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader David Peterson Bob Rae Larry Grossman
Party Liberal New Democrat Ontario PC
Leader's seat London Centre York South St. Andrew—St. Patrick
(lost re-election)
Last election 48 25 52
Seats won 95 19 16
Seat change +47 -6 -36
Popular vote 1,788,214 970,813 931,476
Percentage 47.3% 25.7% 24.7%
Swing +9.4% +1.9% -12.3%
Map of the 1987 election, showing the ridings and their popular vote
Premier before election

David Peterson
Liberal

 Elected Premier

David Peterson
Liberal

The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with their first majority government in half a century, and the second-largest majority government in the province's history. Peterson had successfully managed to govern with a minority in the Legislature by obtaining the co-operation of the Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Bob Rae. It was through the NDP's support that Peterson was able to form a government, even though the Progressive Conservative Party had won a slightly larger number of seats in the previous election.

The PC Party, led by Larry Grossman, campaigned on a platform of tax cuts to stimulate the economy. Its support continued to slide, however, as voters decided that they liked the change that the Liberal-NDP arrangement brought and Grossman even lost his own seat. The NDP was unable to convince voters that it should be given credit for the success of the Liberal government that it had supported. Despite losing six seats, it became Official Opposition for the second time ever. The PCs fell to 16 seats and third place in the legislature, their worst showing in an election in half a century.

Contents

Results

Party Party Leader # of
candidates		 Seats Popular Vote
1985 Elected % Change # % % Change
     Liberal David Peterson   48 95 +97.9% 1,788,214 47.3% +9.4%
     New Democratic Bob Rae   25 19 -24.0% 970,813 25.7% +1.9%
     Progressive Conservative Larry Grossman   52 16 -69.2% 931,476 24.7% -12.3%
     Family Coalition Donald Pennell 36 - - - 48,110 1.3% +1.3%
     Libertarian Kaye Sargent   - - - 13,514 0.4% -
     Freedom Robert Metz - - - - 4,735 0.1% -
     Communist Gordon Massie - - - - 3,422 0.1% -
     Green   - - - - 3,398 0.1% -
     Independent - - - - 13,632 0.4% -0.3%
Total   125 130 4.0% 3,777,311 100% -
Preceded by
1985 election		 List of Ontario general elections Succeeded by
1990 election

Riding results

Algoma:

Algoma—Manitoulin:

Beaches—Woodbine:

Brampton North:

Brampton South:

Brantford:

Brant—Haldimand:

Bruce:

Burlington South:

Cambridge:

Carleton:

Carleton East:

Chatham—Kent:

Cochrane North:

Cochrane South:

Cornwall:

Don Mills:

Dovercourt:

Downsview:

Dufferin—Peel:

Durham Centre:

Durham East:

Durham West:

Durham—York:

Eglinton:

Elgin:

Essex—Kent:

Essex South:

Etobicoke—Humber:

Etobicoke—Lakeshore:

Etobicoke—Rexdale:

Etobicoke West:

Fort William:

Fort York:

Frontenac—Addington:

Grey—Owen Sound:

Guelph:

Halton Centre:

Halton North:

Hamilton Centre:

Hamilton East:

Hamilton Mountain:

Hamilton West:

Hastings—Peterborough:

High Park—Swansea:

Huron:

Kenora:

Kingston and the Islands:

Kitchener:

Kitchener—Wilmot:

Lake Nipigon:

Lambton:

Lanark—Renfrew:

Lawrence:

Leeds—Grenville:

Lincoln:

London Centre:

London North:

London South:

Markham:

Middlesex:

Mississauga East:

Mississauga North:

Mississauga South:

Mississauga West:

1987 Ontario provincial election : Muskoka–Georgian Bay edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal Ken Black 12,645 43.45
     Progressive Conservative George Beatty 9,396 32.39
     New Democratic Party Dan Waters 7,059 24.26
Total valid votes 29,100 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 320
Turnout 29,420 65.17
Electors on the lists 45,146

Nepean:

Niagara Falls:

Niagara South:

Nickel Belt:

Nipissing:

Norfolk:

Northumberland:

Oakville South:

Oakwood:

Oriole:

Oshawa:

Ottawa Centre:

Ottawa East:

Ottawa—Rideau:

Ottawa South:

Ottawa West:

Ontario general election, 1987
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Liberal Bob Chiarelli 16,343
     Progressive Conservative Derek Insley 9,951
     New Democrat Paul Weinzweig 4,403
     Family Coalition Lynn McPherson 1,689

Oxford:

Parkdale:

Parry Sound:

Perth:

Peterborough:

Port Arthur:

Prescott and Russell:

Prince Edward—Lennox:

Quinte:

Rainy River:

Renfrew North:

Riverdale:

St. Andrew—St. Patrick:

St. Catharines:

Party Candidate Votes %
     Liberal (x)Jim Bradley 17,584 63.30
     New Democratic Party Rob West 5,566 20.04
     Progressive Conservative Chuck Bradley 4,258 15.33
     Communist Eric Blair 369 1.33
Total valid votes 27,777 100.00

St. Catharines—Brock:

St. George—St. David:

Sarnia:

Sault Ste. Marie:

Scarborough—Agincourt:

Scarborough Centre:

Scarborough East:

Scarborough—Ellesmere:

Scarborough North:

Scarborough West:

Simcoe Centre:

Simcoe East:

Simcoe West:

Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry & East Grenville:

Sudbury:

Sudbury East:

Timiskaming:

Victoria—Haliburton:

Waterloo North:

Welland—Thorold:

Wellington:

Wentworth East:

Wentworth North:

Willowdale:

Wilson Heights:

Windsor—Riverside:

Windsor—Sandwich:

Windsor—Walkerville:

York Centre:

York East:

York Mills:

York—Mackenzie:

York South:

Yorkview:

Byelections after 1987

Dianne Cunningham (PC) 13858
Elaine Pensa (L) 10356
Diane Whiteside (NDP) 6799
Brenda Rowe (FCP) 1419
Barry Malcolm (F) 548
John Turmel 115
Peter Kormos (NDP) 13933
Mike Lottridge (L) 9819
Brian O'Brine (PC) 4574
Barry Fitzgerald (F) 260
John Turmel 187

Dalton McGuinty, Sr., MPP for Ottawa South, died on March 16, 1990. No byelection was held; the seat was vacant until the 1990 election in September.

See also

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