Marit Stiles and the Ontario New Democratic Party are poised to hang onto Official Opposition status in Ontario’s legislature, Global News projects.
Stiles’ electoral victory – both in the Toronto riding of Davenport and for the NDP – maintains a somewhat status quo in the legislature with Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives securing another majority government. As of 9:45 p.m. Eastern, the NDP were leading or elected in 25 seats. Before dissolution last month, the NDP had 28 seats in the legislature.
The party successfully held off Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals, who were hoping to make significant gains for the first time since the 2018 election, when they were decimated after 15 years in government.
The sudden winter campaign was Stiles’ first as leader of the NDP. In 2023, she took over from Andrea Horwath, now mayor of Hamilton. Horwath stepped down after the 2022 race after her party lost a significant number of seats to Doug Ford, who made rare gains after four years in government.
Crombie, who became Liberal leader in 2023, helped her party gain seats and official party status. The party was leading or elected in 13 ridings as of 9:45 p.m. Eastern. She is also trailing to the PC candidate in Mississauga East—Cooksville, where she is seeking election.
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Before dissolution, the Liberals had just nine seats in the legislature. Parties require 12 seats to make official party status, which comes with additional funding and debate rights within the legislature.
Meanwhile, Mike Schriener’s Green Party is leading or elected in two ridings. Schriener also secured reelection in Guelph.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats were used by Ford as his primary reason to call the snap election at the end of January. Ford, who has served as premier for nearly seven years, said the threat meant that he needed a new, stronger mandate than the 79 seats he had at dissolution.
The call Ford’s opponents scrambling.
While Ford focused on Trump, Crombie’s team put together a campaign with health care at its core, promising to connect everyone in the province with a family doctor.
Meanwhile, Stiles and the NDP picked affordability and pledged to introduce a grocery rebate. Schreiner kept his activity to a few seats where his Green Party stood a good chance of expanding its caucus.
At the beginning of the campaign, polling conducted for Global News by Ipsos Global Affairs put Ford in a commanding position with a massive 26-point advantage over both the Liberals and the NDP. That poll had the PCs at 50 per cent, the Liberals at 24, the NDP at 20 and the Greens at six per cent.
Towards the end of the campaign, another poll conducted by Ipsos showed Ford holding onto the lead he had at the start of the campaign.
The poll showed the PCs at 48 per cent and the Liberals at 28 per cent. The NDP were at 16 per cent and the Greens at eight.
— with files from Isaac Callan
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