TORONTO, Feb. 28, 2025 – Doug Ford and his Ontario Progressive Conservative Party achieved a landslide majority victory in yesterday’s early provincial election. As of late Thursday night, the conservatives had won 80 seats, with Marit Stiles’ NDP party continuing as official opposition with 27 seats while Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals, although they gained seats finished third with 14. Mike Schreiner and his Green Party retained their two ridings, while independent Bobbi Ann Brady was re-elected.
This marks the third straight term that Ford’s conservatives have won a majority and they took one more seat than in the previous election of 2022. Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals gained 5 seats but the former mayor of Mississauga lost narrowly in her own riding of Misssisauga – Cooksville to Silvia Gualtieri.
Ford Tough
In his victory speech at the Toronto Congress Centre Thursday night, Doug Ford continued to emphasize his stronger Ontario mandate under the dark shadow of Trump’s tariffs and 51st state threats.
“Again, I’m very grateful to the people of Ontario, and we’re going to make sure we protect the people of Ontario, and protect their families and their jobs and businesses,” said Premier Ford. “I’ll fight tooth and nail against Donald Trump, I’ll promise you that.”
“Make no mistake, Canada won’t start a fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win one,” emphasized Ford.
“The people said yes”
Ford then elevated into a very powerful, almost preacher-like posture within his inspirational speech, with what surely will go down as “The People Said, Yes” moment.
“This election, we asked the people for a mandate to make Ontario the most competitive place in the G7 to invest, create jobs and do business. The people said yes. We we asked the people for a mandate to unleash the awesome economic potential of the Ring of Fire. The people said yes. We asked the people for a mandate to build up our economy by tearing down internal trade barriers. And the people said yes.”
The re-elected Premier, Doug Ford also thanked his family, his team and the other election candidates.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart
“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for being here, for sharing this incredible moment with me to the thousands of volunteers right across this province who braved the cold, who knocked on over 2 million doors tonight.”
“I also want to thank Marit Stiles, Bonnie Crombie, Mike Schreiner, and every single person who put their name on a ballot. We can disagree on policy, but there’s no question, no question at all. Each one of them loves our province, and each one of them loves Canada, the greatest country on Earth.”
“The Ontario Liberal Party is Back”
Meanwhile, defeated Ontario Liberal leader, Bonnie Crombie, looked the positives in last night’s results, exclaiming that the Ontario Liberal Party is back and that this election has been a building block for the party.
“People counted us out. They said the Ontario Liberal Party was dead. Tonight, you proved them wrong. The Ontario Liberal Party is back to official party status, and that’s a big milestone. But it gets better: we increased our share of the votes substantially, to 30 per cent. … So this is a building block for us. It is a momentum that we can continue to push forward and to grow.”
— Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie
Reaction from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Meanwhile, Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the results of the provincial election in Ontario:
“On behalf of the Government of Canada, I congratulate Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario on their re-election.
“At this crucial time, we must work together to defend Canadian interests, protect workers and businesses, and grow our economy. This includes making progress on the top-of-mind priorities of Ontarians and all Canadians – creating good-paying jobs, building more homes, and investing in health care and affordable child care.
“Together, we can build stronger communities and a stronger, fairer province and country for everyone.”
by Terry Lankstead
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