At the end of a four-week snap election campaign, votes have been cast and counted resulting in a legislature that is a near carbon copy of the one dissolved at the end of January.
On Jan. 28, Premier Doug Ford triggered an election campaign more than a year ahead of schedule, saying he needed a larger mandate from the electorate to inject tens of billions into the economy if U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs.
By the end of the election night on Thursday, however, it was almost like the campaign hadn’t happened. The Progressive Conservatives were elected and leading in 80 seats compared to the 79 they had at dissolution, while the NDP was official opposition with 27 seats compared to 28 they held a month earlier.
The Liberals saw the biggest gains of the night moving to 14 seats from nine— mainly absorbing seats previously held by independents. The Greens kept the two ridings they had at the end of January and independent …