1975 Ontario general election

The 1975 Ontario general election was held on September 18, 1975, to elect the 125 members of the 30th Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Members of Provincial Parliament, or "MPPs") of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

1975 Ontario general election

 1971
September 18, 1975
1977 

125 seats in the 30th Legislative Assembly of Ontario
63 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Robert Nixon-c1971
Leader Bill Davis Stephen Lewis Robert Nixon
Party Progressive Conservative New Democratic Liberal
Leader since February 12, 1971 October 4, 1970 January 6, 1967
Leader's seat Brampton Scarborough West Brant—Oxford—Norfolk
Last election 78 19 20
Seats won 51 38 36
Seat change Decrease27 Increase19 Increase16
Popular vote 1,192,592 956,904 1,125,615
Percentage 36.07% 28.94% 34.04%
Swing Decrease8.43pp Increase1.79pp Increase6.29pp


Premier before election

Bill Davis
Progressive Conservative

Premier after election

Bill Davis
Progressive Conservative

The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, led by Bill Davis and campaigning under the slogan, "Your Future. Your choice.", won a tenth consecutive term in office but lost its majority in the legislature for the first time since the 1945 election. The PC party lost 27 seats from its result in the previous election.

The social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Stephen Lewis with the slogan "Tomorrow starts today", doubled its representation in the legislature, and became the Official Opposition on the strength of a campaign which called for rent control in Ontario and highlighted horror stories of individuals victimized by bad landlords who imposed exorbitant rent increases. The campaign forced Davis' Tories to promise to implement rent controls shortly before the election.

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Robert Nixon, won 16 additional seats, but lost the role of Official Opposition to the NDP. One member of its caucus was elected as a Liberal-Labour candidate.

Expansion of Legislative Assembly

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An Act passed in May 1975[1] provided for an increase from 117 to 125 MPPs in the next Assembly:

Abolished ridingsNew ridings
Drawn from parts of other ridings
Reorganization of ridings
Division of ridings
Renaming of ridings
Consequential renaming of ridings on the creation of the Regional Municipality of Durham
  1. from part of Lincoln
  2. from parts of London North and London South
  3. from parts of Scarborough North, Scarborough West and Scarborough Centre
  4. from part of Downsview

Campaign

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Riding contests, by number of candidates (1976)[2]
Candidates PC Lib LL NDP Comm Ind Ltn SC NAL Total
3 6664266198
4 414141195962164
5 15151511765175
6 22223112
7 1111217
Total 1251232125331715133456

Among the independent candidates, there were 12 from the Social Credit League of Ontario who were not officially recognized as such as the party did not qualify for official party status under the Election Finances Reform Act, 1975.[3][4][5][6]

Opinion polls

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Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level
Polling firm Last day
of survey
Source PCO ONDP OLP Other ME Sample
Election 1975 September 18, 1975 36.07 28.94 34.04 0.95
N/a March 1975 [7] 30 N/a 42 N/a N/a
Election 1971 June 9, 1977 44.5 27.1 27.8 0.6

Results

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Summary

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[2]

Elections to the 30th Parliament of Ontario (1975)
Political party Party leader MPPs Votes
Candidates 1971 1975 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Progressive Conservative Bill Davis 125785127Decrease1,192,592272,721Decrease36.07%8.43Decrease
New Democratic Stephen Lewis 125193819Increase956,90463,025Increase28.94%1.79Increase
Liberal Robert Nixon 123203515Increase1,125,615211,873Increase34.04%6.29Increase
Liberal–Labour 211Increase9,0669,066Increase0.27%Returned
Communist William Stewart 339,1207,500Increase0.28%0.23Increase
Libertarian Terry Coughlin 154,4374,437Increase0.13%New
Social Credit Alcide Hamelin134,1462,942Increase0.13%0.09Increase
Independent 174,09312,866Decrease0.12%0.40Decrease
North American Labour 3424424Increase0.01%New
Total 456117 125 3,306,397 100.00%
Rejected ballots 17,937 122Decrease
Voter turnout 3,310,776 13,558Increase 67.82 5.71Decrease
Registered electors 4,503,142 398,635Increase

Vote and seat summaries

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Seats and popular vote by party
PartySeatsVotesChange (pp)
 Progressive Conservative
51 / 125
36.07%
-8.43
 
 New Democratic
38 / 125
28.94%
1.79
 
 Liberal/Liberal-Labour
36 / 125
34.31%
6.56
 
 Independent
0 / 125
0.12%
-0.40
 
 Other
0 / 125
0.56%
0.48
 

Synopsis of results

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Results by riding - 1975 Ontario general election[2]
Riding Winning party Turnout
[a 1]
Votes
Name[a 2] 1971 Party Votes Share Margin
#
Margin
%
PC Lib/LL NDP Ind Other Total
 
Algoma PC NDP 4,92338.57%3983.12%72.02%4,5253,3154,92312,763
Algoma—Manitoulin PC PC 5,45240.79%1,1278.43%72.28%5,4523,5894,32513,366
Brampton New PC 16,43243.66%5,60814.90%72.11%16,4329,90610,8246541037,637
Brantford PC NDP 12,01239.06%2,4507.97%72.65%9,0639,56212,01211530,752
Brant—Oxford—Norfolk Lib Lib 14,35855.52%7,93430.68%69.71%6,42414,3584,72135825,861
Brock New PC 10,97848.31%5,06722.30%65.69%10,9785,9115,83622,725
Burlington South New PC 17,09345.83%5,75115.42%69.50%17,09311,3428,85937,294
Cambridge New NDP 11,25538.14%1,5935.40%66.96%8,5959,66211,25529,512
Carleton PC PC 12,65338.87%6762.08%68.68%12,65311,9777,76915732,556
Carleton East PC NDP 11,98236.02%2810.84%66.58%9,57911,70111,98233,262
Carleton-Grenville New PC 12,75953.80%7,02729.63%68.88%12,7595,2265,73223,717
Chatham—Kent PC PC 10,14643.73%2,81912.15%61.68%10,1467,3275,72823,201
Cochrane North PC PC 9,98761.74%6,22038.45%66.45%9,9872,4233,76716,177
Cochrane South NDP NDP 11,07347.87%1,2925.59%68.42%9,7811,95811,07311420523,131
Cornwall New NDP 11,95851.05%2,68211.45%70.41%9,2762,19111,95823,425
Dufferin—Simcoe PC PC 14,20145.88%1,6915.46%68.52%14,20112,5103,58565530,951
Durham East PC NDP 12,89342.26%2,2297.31%70.16%10,6646,69612,89325830,511
Durham North PC PC 11,20639.28%1110.39%74.12%11,20611,0956,23028,531
Durham West PC NDP 11,35638.99%1,3144.51%72.71%7,57910,04211,35614929,126
Elgin PC PC 11,88043.98%1,8296.77%71.27%11,88010,0515,08427,015
Erie Lib Lib 9,55645.27%2,65012.55%69.35%4,6469,5566,90621,108
Essex North Lib Lib 9,55044.05%1,8728.64%67.73%4,4519,5507,67821,679
Essex South Lib Lib 9,51741.34%2,1229.22%67.05%7,3959,5176,10823,020
Fort William PC NDP 9,17336.59%9533.80%64.61%8,2207,4449,17323025,067
Frontenac—Addington PC Lib 10,37244.63%1,4156.09%70.78%8,95710,3723,36854523,242
Grey PC Lib 11,68645.02%2771.07%73.81%11,40911,6862,86325,958
Grey—Bruce Lib Lib 14,19355.39%5,96423.28%75.71%8,22914,1933,20225,624
Haldimand—Norfolk PC Lib 13,97645.36%1,9556.35%71.99%12,02113,9764,81430,811
Halton—Burlington New Lib 10,99839.14%4631.65%72.75%10,53510,9986,56728,100
Hamilton Centre NDP NDP 8,11438.43%5862.78%56.70%5,2567,5288,11421421,112
Hamilton East NDP NDP 14,41547.89%5,73619.06%64.10%6,4078,67914,41560130,102
Hamilton Mountain PC PC 12,76938.80%1,7275.25%72.64%12,7698,92111,04217732,909
Hamilton West PC Lib 10,58338.34%5421.96%66.04%10,04110,5836,97827,602
Hastings—Peterborough PC PC 10,91247.89%2,34110.27%71.01%10,9128,5712,96933522,787
Huron—Bruce Lib Lib 16,27665.70%10,39341.95%73.52%5,88316,2762,61324,772
Huron—Middlesex New Lib 11,89354.04%3,79517.24%76.12%8,09811,8932,01822,009
Kenora PC PC 9,58452.42%4,06022.21%67.40%9,5843,1745,52418,282
Kent—Elgin Lib Lib 12,79356.57%5,23223.13%70.31%7,56112,7932,26222,616
Kingston and the Islands PC PC 9,44237.82%2030.81%65.01%9,4429,2396,16112424,966
Kitchener Lib Lib 13,03644.83%4,71016.20%63.50%8,32613,0367,32739229,081
Kitchener—Wilmot New Lib 9,92940.71%1,7457.16%64.38%6,2759,9298,18424,388
Lake Nipigon NDP NDP 7,11459.38%4,01433.51%66.78%1,7663,1007,11411,980
Lambton PC PC 11,04251.53%1,8368.57%73.00%11,0429,2061,18021,428
Lanark PC PC 11,64156.58%5,79928.18%72.17%11,6415,8423,09220,575
Leeds PC PC 13,91358.21%8,19734.29%70.69%13,9134,2745,71623,903
Lincoln PC Lib 8,99542.84%1,0945.21%69.87%7,9018,9954,10020,996
London Centre New Lib 11,57240.37%2,5698.96%61.12%9,00311,5727,87821328,666
London North PC Lib 13,68944.65%2,2827.44%66.71%11,40713,6895,56030,656
London South PC Lib 14,49640.94%5591.58%64.25%13,93714,4966,97135,404
Middlesex New PC 10,09244.97%8693.87%72.34%10,0929,2233,12522,440
Mississauga East New PC 9,97339.05%1,3355.23%64.95%9,9738,6386,49943225,542
Mississauga North New PC 11,00135.55%3851.24%67.33%11,0019,33210,61630,949
Mississauga South New PC 11,87043.04%3,14411.40%69.04%11,8708,7266,98127,577
Muskoka PC PC 7,06143.97%1,3768.57%68.73%7,0613,2005,68511116,057
Niagara Falls PC Lib 10,59437.80%1720.61%65.02%10,42210,5947,01328,029
Nickel Belt NDP NDP 10,24360.09%6,20936.42%72.60%4,0342,77010,24317,047
Nipissing Lib Lib 15,48354.35%8,24428.94%69.44%7,23915,4835,11065828,490
Northumberland PC PC 13,32844.58%3,00110.04%72.44%13,32810,3276,24129,896
Oakville New PC 12,93345.84%3,75913.32%74.29%12,9339,1746,0119728,215
Oshawa PC NDP 14,63858.94%7,78731.35%63.27%6,8513,20214,63814624,837
Ottawa Centre NDP NDP 11,65841.07%2,6809.44%62.19%8,9787,50011,65825028,386
Ottawa East Lib Lib 14,90060.96%9,89940.50%53.08%5,00114,9004,54324,444
Ottawa South PC PC 14,76743.15%3,66810.72%67.88%14,7678,36011,09934,226
Ottawa West PC PC 14,88944.34%5,06315.08%66.10%14,8899,8268,86133,576
Oxford PC PC 17,77650.72%5,18114.78%71.77%17,77612,5954,67635,047
Parry Sound PC PC 8,15444.56%9665.28%66.77%8,1547,1882,95718,299
Perth Lib Lib 17,86563.36%10,47837.16%65.17%7,38717,8652,94528,197
Peterborough PC NDP 16,15439.53%5051.24%71.23%15,6498,97916,1548340,865
Port Arthur NDP NDP 12,21349.74%4,61818.81%66.36%7,5954,49912,21324724,554
Prescott and Russell PC PC 11,00643.93%2,0458.16%68.85%11,0068,9615,08525,052
Prince Edward—Lennox PC PC 9,62844.32%7333.37%74.37%9,6288,8953,20021,723
Quinte PC Lib 12,44043.07%6592.28%67.95%11,78112,4404,66328,884
Rainy River Lib LL 5,89251.58%2,65723.26%64.77%3,2355,892[a 3]2,29511,422
Renfrew North PC Lib 7,05835.41%1830.92%70.90%6,8757,0586,00119,934
Renfrew South PC PC 13,88654.20%5,81922.71%75.49%13,8868,0673,26740125,621
St. Catharines PC PC 10,06434.74%7942.74%59.77%10,0649,2709,21541928,968
Sarnia Lib Lib 16,27557.69%7,50226.59%63.97%8,77316,2752,95720428,209
Sault Ste. Marie PC PC 14,41542.46%9452.78%70.91%14,4155,83513,47023233,952
Simcoe Centre PC PC 13,55739.52%1,9295.62%69.48%13,5579,11611,62834,301
Simcoe East PC PC 11,62239.48%1,1403.87%69.35%11,6227,33410,48229,438
Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry New PC 10,83352.54%3,85118.68%68.99%10,8336,9822,80420,619
Sudbury NDP NDP 12,25838.35%2,2787.13%74.53%9,5499,98012,25817531,962
Sudbury East NDP NDP 18,76558.84%9,47629.71%74.04%3,8379,28918,76531,891
Temiskaming PC NDP 8,71344.07%1,5447.81%68.53%7,1693,5468,71317517019,773
Victoria—Haliburton PC Lib 10,90743.53%1,0234.08%70.64%9,88410,9073,70755625,054
Waterloo North Lib Lib 12,40947.49%5,26520.15%64.40%7,14412,4096,57626,129
Welland PC NDP 9,99436.88%1,1154.11%71.26%8,8798,0009,99422327,096
Wellington—Dufferin—Peel PC PC 12,11040.61%7122.39%69.50%12,11011,3986,31329,821
Wellington South Lib Lib 15,65450.69%7,88625.54%68.36%7,06315,6547,76825214530,882
Wentworth NDP NDP 14,84758.73%9,57737.89%68.32%5,2705,16214,84725,279
Wentworth North PC Lib 13,24240.56%1,9776.06%72.56%11,26513,2428,14032,647
Windsor—Riverside NDP NDP 13,27347.85%2,4798.94%61.67%3,67110,79413,27327,738
Windsor—Sandwich NDP NDP 10,62449.73%3,06714.36%58.25%2,7327,55710,62426518421,362
Windsor—Walkerville Lib Lib 12,51753.28%5,67224.14%63.52%3,97912,5176,84515323,494
York Centre Lib Lib 14,91340.96%1,8305.03%69.10%13,08314,9138,14027536,411
York North PC PC 12,89139.65%2,5257.77%68.40%12,89110,3669,25632,513
Armourdale PC Lib 14,52643.90%2,7028.17%68.91%11,82414,5266,16956733,086
Beaches—Woodbine PC NDP 11,46245.58%2,88611.48%66.65%8,5764,91411,46219525,147
Bellwoods PC NDP 4,93538.38%4943.84%64.90%3,2344,4414,93524712,857
Don Mills PC PC 14,00746.59%5,93319.74%60.68%14,0077,9818,07430,062
Dovercourt PC NDP 6,08342.10%1,46510.14%63.87%4,6183,1746,0839647714,448
Downsview Lib NDP 8,09136.90%680.31%65.70%5,8148,0238,09121,928
Eglinton PC PC 16,67950.97%5,89418.01%68.94%16,67910,7854,70655132,721
Etobicoke Lib NDP 9,01637.62%1,2565.24%67.04%7,1917,7609,01623,967
High Park—Swansea NDP NDP 10,17239.84%1,8447.22%68.77%8,3286,54010,17249325,533
Humber PC PC 17,73944.51%3,3378.37%71.58%17,73914,4027,71039,851
Lakeshore NDP NDP 14,27151.01%7,62527.26%65.74%6,2816,64614,27117560227,975
Oakwood New NDP 7,38839.25%1,4187.53%59.66%4,6375,9707,38855827118,824
Oriole New PC 12,29738.71%2390.75%68.00%12,29712,0587,41331,768
Parkdale NDP NDP 7,15841.71%1,5599.08%63.23%3,8165,5997,15829229817,163
Riverdale NDP NDP 9,13350.27%4,26823.49%59.48%4,8653,7549,1339631918,167
St. Andrew—St. Patrick PC PC 8,05436.66%4291.95%62.57%8,0545,9517,62533921,969
St. David PC PC 10,53640.27%2,4939.53%66.43%10,5367,1418,04344226,162
St. George PC Lib 11,04242.10%2,4659.40%60.70%8,57711,0426,02958226,230
Scarborough Centre PC PC 10,39941.15%1,0374.10%64.13%10,3995,0429,36246925,272
Scarborough East PC PC 12,64542.59%3,83612.92%66.94%12,6458,8097,85038329,687
Scarborough—Ellesmere New NDP 10,57339.00%1,3474.97%67.73%9,2267,01910,57329527,113
Scarborough North PC PC 16,51243.41%2,6777.04%70.03%16,51213,8357,24144738,035
Scarborough West NDP NDP 15,81557.39%8,60331.22%70.20%7,2124,39315,81513527,555
Wilson Heights New Lib 11,37942.26%2,6409.81%61.95%8,73911,3796,44136626,925
York East PC PC 14,48747.42%5,49617.99%66.05%14,4878,9915,9191,15230,549
York Mills PC PC 17,36546.46%4,07510.90%70.81%17,36513,2906,72037,375
York South NDP NDP 13,28248.47%6,21822.69%67.30%7,0646,44513,28260927,400
York West PC PC 13,87138.70%1,3563.78%71.33%13,87112,5159,45435,840
Yorkview NDP NDP 13,40652.40%5,32020.79%63.02%3,4988,08613,40659425,584
  1. including spoilt ballots
  2. order is as given in EO reports
  3. T. Patrick Reid was elected as a Liberal in 1971
  = open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
  = incumbent had switched allegiance
  = incumbency arose from byelection gain
  = previously incumbent in another riding
  = Liberal-Labour candidate
  = other incumbents renominated
  = multiple candidates

Analysis

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Party candidates in 2nd place[2]
Party in 1st placeParty in 2nd placeTotal
PCLibNDP
Progressive Conservative 173451
New Democratic 201838
Liberal 30535
Liberal–Labour 11
Total 512252125
Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party[2]
Parties1st2nd3rd4th5th
 Progressive Conservative 515123
 New Democratic 382265
 Liberal 355236
 Liberal–Labour 11
 Communist 267
 Libertarian 123
 Social Credit 102
 Independent 95
 North American Labour 21
Resulting composition of the 28th Legislative Assembly[2]
SourceParty
PC NDP Lib LL Total
Seats retainedIncumbents returned 34151463
Open seats held 54211
Held by previous incumbent from other riding 11
Incumbent changed to Liberal-Labour 11
Seats changing handsIncumbents defeated 9716
Open seats gained 5611
Byelection gain held 11
Ouster of third-party byelection gain 11
New ridingsNew MPPs 3339
Previously incumbent in other riding 81211
Total 5138351125

MPPs elected by region and riding

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Party designations are as follows:

  PC
  Liberal
  NDP
  Liberal-Labour

See also

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References

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  1. The Representation Act, 1975, S.O. 1975, c. 13
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1975 general election results". Elections Ontario. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  3. The Election Finances Reform Act, 1975, S.O. 1975, c. 12
  4. "125 seats in legislature: Record 454 candidates nominated for 125 Ontario seats". The Globe and Mail. September 5, 1975. p. 40.
  5. Williamson, Robert (September 19, 1975). "Elected: PCs, 51; NDP, 38; Lib, 36: AFTER 30 YEARS, TORY MINORITY Lewis will head official Opposition". The Globe and Mail. p. C1.
  6. "Leader didn't know: Socreds don't qualify as a party for election". The Globe and Mail. August 14, 1975. p. 4.
  7. "Ontario budget holds key". The Citizen. March 31, 1975. p. 7.

Further reading

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