1975 Ontario general election

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 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.

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

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

Abolished ridings New 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

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1976)[2]
Candidates PC Lib LL NDP Comm Ind Ltn SC NAL Total
3 66 64 2 66 198
4 41 41 41 19 5 9 6 2 164
5 15 15 15 11 7 6 5 1 75
6 2 2 2 2 3 1 12
7 1 1 1 1 2 1 7
Total 125 123 2 125 33 17 15 13 3 456

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

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
— March 1975 [7] 30 — 42 — —
Election 1971 June 9, 1977 44.5 27.1 27.8 0.6

Results

Summary

Main article: Results of the 1975 Ontario general election by riding
Elections to the 30th Parliament of Ontario (1975)[2]
Political party Party leader MPPs Votes
Candidates 1971 1975 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Progressive Conservative Bill Davis 125 78 51 27Decrease 1,192,592 272,721Decrease 36.07% 8.43Decrease
New Democratic Stephen Lewis 125 19 38 19Increase 956,904 63,025Increase 28.94% 1.79Increase
Liberal Robert Nixon 123 20 35 15Increase 1,125,615 211,873Increase 34.04% 6.29Increase
Liberal–Labour 2 – 1 1Increase 9,066 9,066Increase 0.27% Returned
Communist William Stewart 33 – – – 9,120 7,500Increase 0.28% 0.23Increase
Libertarian Terry Coughlin 15 – – – 4,437 4,437Increase 0.13% New
Social Credit Alcide Hamelin 13 – – – 4,146 2,942Increase 0.13% 0.09Increase
Independent 17 – – – 4,093 12,866Decrease 0.12% 0.40Decrease
North American Labour 3 – – – 424 424Increase 0.01% New
Total 456 117 125 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
Seats and popular vote by party
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
█ Progressive Conservative
51 / 125
36.07%
 -8.43
 
█ New Democratic
38 / 125
28.94%
 1.79 1.79
 
█ Liberal/Liberal-Labour
36 / 125
34.31%
 6.56 6.56
 
█ Independent
0 / 125
0.12%
 -0.40
 
█ Other
0 / 125
0.56%
 0.48 0.48
 

Synopsis of results

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 4,923 38.57% 398 3.12% 72.02% 4,525 3,315 4,923 – – 12,763
Algoma—Manitoulin PC PC 5,452 40.79% 1,127 8.43% 72.28% 5,452 3,589 4,325 – – 13,366
Brampton New PC 16,432 43.66% 5,608 14.90% 72.11% 16,432 9,906 10,824 65 410 37,637
Brantford PC NDP 12,012 39.06% 2,450 7.97% 72.65% 9,063 9,562 12,012 – 115 30,752
Brant—Oxford—Norfolk Lib Lib 14,358 55.52% 7,934 30.68% 69.71% 6,424 14,358 4,721 – 358 25,861
Brock New PC 10,978 48.31% 5,067 22.30% 65.69% 10,978 5,911 5,836 – – 22,725
Burlington South New PC 17,093 45.83% 5,751 15.42% 69.50% 17,093 11,342 8,859 – – 37,294
Cambridge New NDP 11,255 38.14% 1,593 5.40% 66.96% 8,595 9,662 11,255 – – 29,512
Carleton PC PC 12,653 38.87% 676 2.08% 68.68% 12,653 11,977 7,769 157 – 32,556
Carleton East PC NDP 11,982 36.02% 281 0.84% 66.58% 9,579 11,701 11,982 – – 33,262
Carleton-Grenville New PC 12,759 53.80% 7,027 29.63% 68.88% 12,759 5,226 5,732 – – 23,717
Chatham—Kent PC PC 10,146 43.73% 2,819 12.15% 61.68% 10,146 7,327 5,728 – – 23,201
Cochrane North PC PC 9,987 61.74% 6,220 38.45% 66.45% 9,987 2,423 3,767 – – 16,177
Cochrane South NDP NDP 11,073 47.87% 1,292 5.59% 68.42% 9,781 1,958 11,073 114 205 23,131
Cornwall New NDP 11,958 51.05% 2,682 11.45% 70.41% 9,276 2,191 11,958 – – 23,425
Dufferin—Simcoe PC PC 14,201 45.88% 1,691 5.46% 68.52% 14,201 12,510 3,585 – 655 30,951
Durham East PC NDP 12,893 42.26% 2,229 7.31% 70.16% 10,664 6,696 12,893 – 258 30,511
Durham North PC PC 11,206 39.28% 111 0.39% 74.12% 11,206 11,095 6,230 – – 28,531
Durham West PC NDP 11,356 38.99% 1,314 4.51% 72.71% 7,579 10,042 11,356 – 149 29,126
Elgin PC PC 11,880 43.98% 1,829 6.77% 71.27% 11,880 10,051 5,084 – – 27,015
Erie Lib Lib 9,556 45.27% 2,650 12.55% 69.35% 4,646 9,556 6,906 – – 21,108
Essex North Lib Lib 9,550 44.05% 1,872 8.64% 67.73% 4,451 9,550 7,678 – – 21,679
Essex South Lib Lib 9,517 41.34% 2,122 9.22% 67.05% 7,395 9,517 6,108 – – 23,020
Fort William PC NDP 9,173 36.59% 953 3.80% 64.61% 8,220 7,444 9,173 – 230 25,067
Frontenac—Addington PC Lib 10,372 44.63% 1,415 6.09% 70.78% 8,957 10,372 3,368 545 – 23,242
Grey PC Lib 11,686 45.02% 277 1.07% 73.81% 11,409 11,686 2,863 – – 25,958
Grey—Bruce Lib Lib 14,193 55.39% 5,964 23.28% 75.71% 8,229 14,193 3,202 – – 25,624
Haldimand—Norfolk PC Lib 13,976 45.36% 1,955 6.35% 71.99% 12,021 13,976 4,814 – – 30,811
Halton—Burlington New Lib 10,998 39.14% 463 1.65% 72.75% 10,535 10,998 6,567 – – 28,100
Hamilton Centre NDP NDP 8,114 38.43% 586 2.78% 56.70% 5,256 7,528 8,114 – 214 21,112
Hamilton East NDP NDP 14,415 47.89% 5,736 19.06% 64.10% 6,407 8,679 14,415 – 601 30,102
Hamilton Mountain PC PC 12,769 38.80% 1,727 5.25% 72.64% 12,769 8,921 11,042 – 177 32,909
Hamilton West PC Lib 10,583 38.34% 542 1.96% 66.04% 10,041 10,583 6,978 – – 27,602
Hastings—Peterborough PC PC 10,912 47.89% 2,341 10.27% 71.01% 10,912 8,571 2,969 – 335 22,787
Huron—Bruce Lib Lib 16,276 65.70% 10,393 41.95% 73.52% 5,883 16,276 2,613 – – 24,772
Huron—Middlesex New Lib 11,893 54.04% 3,795 17.24% 76.12% 8,098 11,893 2,018 – – 22,009
Kenora PC PC 9,584 52.42% 4,060 22.21% 67.40% 9,584 3,174 5,524 – – 18,282
Kent—Elgin Lib Lib 12,793 56.57% 5,232 23.13% 70.31% 7,561 12,793 2,262 – – 22,616
Kingston and the Islands PC PC 9,442 37.82% 203 0.81% 65.01% 9,442 9,239 6,161 – 124 24,966
Kitchener Lib Lib 13,036 44.83% 4,710 16.20% 63.50% 8,326 13,036 7,327 – 392 29,081
Kitchener—Wilmot New Lib 9,929 40.71% 1,745 7.16% 64.38% 6,275 9,929 8,184 – – 24,388
Lake Nipigon NDP NDP 7,114 59.38% 4,014 33.51% 66.78% 1,766 3,100 7,114 – – 11,980
Lambton PC PC 11,042 51.53% 1,836 8.57% 73.00% 11,042 9,206 1,180 – – 21,428
Lanark PC PC 11,641 56.58% 5,799 28.18% 72.17% 11,641 5,842 3,092 – – 20,575
Leeds PC PC 13,913 58.21% 8,197 34.29% 70.69% 13,913 4,274 5,716 – – 23,903
Lincoln PC Lib 8,995 42.84% 1,094 5.21% 69.87% 7,901 8,995 4,100 – – 20,996
London Centre New Lib 11,572 40.37% 2,569 8.96% 61.12% 9,003 11,572 7,878 213 – 28,666
London North PC Lib 13,689 44.65% 2,282 7.44% 66.71% 11,407 13,689 5,560 – – 30,656
London South PC Lib 14,496 40.94% 559 1.58% 64.25% 13,937 14,496 6,971 – – 35,404
Middlesex New PC 10,092 44.97% 869 3.87% 72.34% 10,092 9,223 3,125 – – 22,440
Mississauga East New PC 9,973 39.05% 1,335 5.23% 64.95% 9,973 8,638 6,499 432 – 25,542
Mississauga North New PC 11,001 35.55% 385 1.24% 67.33% 11,001 9,332 10,616 – – 30,949
Mississauga South New PC 11,870 43.04% 3,144 11.40% 69.04% 11,870 8,726 6,981 – – 27,577
Muskoka PC PC 7,061 43.97% 1,376 8.57% 68.73% 7,061 3,200 5,685 – 111 16,057
Niagara Falls PC Lib 10,594 37.80% 172 0.61% 65.02% 10,422 10,594 7,013 – – 28,029
Nickel Belt NDP NDP 10,243 60.09% 6,209 36.42% 72.60% 4,034 2,770 10,243 – – 17,047
Nipissing Lib Lib 15,483 54.35% 8,244 28.94% 69.44% 7,239 15,483 5,110 658 – 28,490
Northumberland PC PC 13,328 44.58% 3,001 10.04% 72.44% 13,328 10,327 6,241 – – 29,896
Oakville New PC 12,933 45.84% 3,759 13.32% 74.29% 12,933 9,174 6,011 – 97 28,215
Oshawa PC NDP 14,638 58.94% 7,787 31.35% 63.27% 6,851 3,202 14,638 – 146 24,837
Ottawa Centre NDP NDP 11,658 41.07% 2,680 9.44% 62.19% 8,978 7,500 11,658 – 250 28,386
Ottawa East Lib Lib 14,900 60.96% 9,899 40.50% 53.08% 5,001 14,900 4,543 – – 24,444
Ottawa South PC PC 14,767 43.15% 3,668 10.72% 67.88% 14,767 8,360 11,099 – – 34,226
Ottawa West PC PC 14,889 44.34% 5,063 15.08% 66.10% 14,889 9,826 8,861 – – 33,576
Oxford PC PC 17,776 50.72% 5,181 14.78% 71.77% 17,776 12,595 4,676 – – 35,047
Parry Sound PC PC 8,154 44.56% 966 5.28% 66.77% 8,154 7,188 2,957 – – 18,299
Perth Lib Lib 17,865 63.36% 10,478 37.16% 65.17% 7,387 17,865 2,945 – – 28,197
Peterborough PC NDP 16,154 39.53% 505 1.24% 71.23% 15,649 8,979 16,154 – 83 40,865
Port Arthur NDP NDP 12,213 49.74% 4,618 18.81% 66.36% 7,595 4,499 12,213 – 247 24,554
Prescott and Russell PC PC 11,006 43.93% 2,045 8.16% 68.85% 11,006 8,961 5,085 – – 25,052
Prince Edward—Lennox PC PC 9,628 44.32% 733 3.37% 74.37% 9,628 8,895 3,200 – – 21,723
Quinte PC Lib 12,440 43.07% 659 2.28% 67.95% 11,781 12,440 4,663 – – 28,884
Rainy River Lib LL 5,892 51.58% 2,657 23.26% 64.77% 3,235 5,892[a 3] 2,295 – – 11,422
Renfrew North PC Lib 7,058 35.41% 183 0.92% 70.90% 6,875 7,058 6,001 – – 19,934
Renfrew South PC PC 13,886 54.20% 5,819 22.71% 75.49% 13,886 8,067 3,267 – 401 25,621
St. Catharines PC PC 10,064 34.74% 794 2.74% 59.77% 10,064 9,270 9,215 – 419 28,968
Sarnia Lib Lib 16,275 57.69% 7,502 26.59% 63.97% 8,773 16,275 2,957 – 204 28,209
Sault Ste. Marie PC PC 14,415 42.46% 945 2.78% 70.91% 14,415 5,835 13,470 – 232 33,952
Simcoe Centre PC PC 13,557 39.52% 1,929 5.62% 69.48% 13,557 9,116 11,628 – – 34,301
Simcoe East PC PC 11,622 39.48% 1,140 3.87% 69.35% 11,622 7,334 10,482 – – 29,438
Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry New PC 10,833 52.54% 3,851 18.68% 68.99% 10,833 6,982 2,804 – – 20,619
Sudbury NDP NDP 12,258 38.35% 2,278 7.13% 74.53% 9,549 9,980 12,258 – 175 31,962
Sudbury East NDP NDP 18,765 58.84% 9,476 29.71% 74.04% 3,837 9,289 18,765 – – 31,891
Temiskaming PC NDP 8,713 44.07% 1,544 7.81% 68.53% 7,169 3,546 8,713 175 170 19,773
Victoria—Haliburton PC Lib 10,907 43.53% 1,023 4.08% 70.64% 9,884 10,907 3,707 – 556 25,054
Waterloo North Lib Lib 12,409 47.49% 5,265 20.15% 64.40% 7,144 12,409 6,576 – – 26,129
Welland PC NDP 9,994 36.88% 1,115 4.11% 71.26% 8,879 8,000 9,994 – 223 27,096
Wellington—Dufferin—Peel PC PC 12,110 40.61% 712 2.39% 69.50% 12,110 11,398 6,313 – – 29,821
Wellington South Lib Lib 15,654 50.69% 7,886 25.54% 68.36% 7,063 15,654 7,768 252 145 30,882
Wentworth NDP NDP 14,847 58.73% 9,577 37.89% 68.32% 5,270 5,162 14,847 – – 25,279
Wentworth North PC Lib 13,242 40.56% 1,977 6.06% 72.56% 11,265 13,242 8,140 – – 32,647
Windsor—Riverside NDP NDP 13,273 47.85% 2,479 8.94% 61.67% 3,671 10,794 13,273 – – 27,738
Windsor—Sandwich NDP NDP 10,624 49.73% 3,067 14.36% 58.25% 2,732 7,557 10,624 265 184 21,362
Windsor—Walkerville Lib Lib 12,517 53.28% 5,672 24.14% 63.52% 3,979 12,517 6,845 – 153 23,494
York Centre Lib Lib 14,913 40.96% 1,830 5.03% 69.10% 13,083 14,913 8,140 – 275 36,411
York North PC PC 12,891 39.65% 2,525 7.77% 68.40% 12,891 10,366 9,256 – – 32,513
Armourdale PC Lib 14,526 43.90% 2,702 8.17% 68.91% 11,824 14,526 6,169 – 567 33,086
Beaches—Woodbine PC NDP 11,462 45.58% 2,886 11.48% 66.65% 8,576 4,914 11,462 – 195 25,147
Bellwoods PC NDP 4,935 38.38% 494 3.84% 64.90% 3,234 4,441 4,935 – 247 12,857
Don Mills PC PC 14,007 46.59% 5,933 19.74% 60.68% 14,007 7,981 8,074 – – 30,062
Dovercourt PC NDP 6,083 42.10% 1,465 10.14% 63.87% 4,618 3,174 6,083 96 477 14,448
Downsview Lib NDP 8,091 36.90% 68 0.31% 65.70% 5,814 8,023 8,091 – – 21,928
Eglinton PC PC 16,679 50.97% 5,894 18.01% 68.94% 16,679 10,785 4,706 – 551 32,721
Etobicoke Lib NDP 9,016 37.62% 1,256 5.24% 67.04% 7,191 7,760 9,016 – – 23,967
High Park—Swansea NDP NDP 10,172 39.84% 1,844 7.22% 68.77% 8,328 6,540 10,172 – 493 25,533
Humber PC PC 17,739 44.51% 3,337 8.37% 71.58% 17,739 14,402 7,710 – – 39,851
Lakeshore NDP NDP 14,271 51.01% 7,625 27.26% 65.74% 6,281 6,646 14,271 175 602 27,975
Oakwood New NDP 7,388 39.25% 1,418 7.53% 59.66% 4,637 5,970 7,388 558 271 18,824
Oriole New PC 12,297 38.71% 239 0.75% 68.00% 12,297 12,058 7,413 – – 31,768
Parkdale NDP NDP 7,158 41.71% 1,559 9.08% 63.23% 3,816 5,599 7,158 292 298 17,163
Riverdale NDP NDP 9,133 50.27% 4,268 23.49% 59.48% 4,865 3,754 9,133 96 319 18,167
St. Andrew—St. Patrick PC PC 8,054 36.66% 429 1.95% 62.57% 8,054 5,951 7,625 – 339 21,969
St. David PC PC 10,536 40.27% 2,493 9.53% 66.43% 10,536 7,141 8,043 – 442 26,162
St. George PC Lib 11,042 42.10% 2,465 9.40% 60.70% 8,577 11,042 6,029 – 582 26,230
Scarborough Centre PC PC 10,399 41.15% 1,037 4.10% 64.13% 10,399 5,042 9,362 – 469 25,272
Scarborough East PC PC 12,645 42.59% 3,836 12.92% 66.94% 12,645 8,809 7,850 – 383 29,687
Scarborough—Ellesmere New NDP 10,573 39.00% 1,347 4.97% 67.73% 9,226 7,019 10,573 – 295 27,113
Scarborough North PC PC 16,512 43.41% 2,677 7.04% 70.03% 16,512 13,835 7,241 – 447 38,035
Scarborough West NDP NDP 15,815 57.39% 8,603 31.22% 70.20% 7,212 4,393 15,815 – 135 27,555
Wilson Heights New Lib 11,379 42.26% 2,640 9.81% 61.95% 8,739 11,379 6,441 – 366 26,925
York East PC PC 14,487 47.42% 5,496 17.99% 66.05% 14,487 8,991 5,919 – 1,152 30,549
York Mills PC PC 17,365 46.46% 4,075 10.90% 70.81% 17,365 13,290 6,720 – – 37,375
York South NDP NDP 13,282 48.47% 6,218 22.69% 67.30% 7,064 6,445 13,282 – 609 27,400
York West PC PC 13,871 38.70% 1,356 3.78% 71.33% 13,871 12,515 9,454 – – 35,840
Yorkview NDP NDP 13,406 52.40% 5,320 20.79% 63.02% 3,498 8,086 13,406 – 594 25,584
  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

Party candidates in 2nd place[2]
Party in 1st place Party in 2nd place Total
PC Lib NDP
Progressive Conservative 17 34 51
New Democratic 20 18 38
Liberal 30 5 35
Liberal–Labour 1 1
Total 51 22 52 125
Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party[2]
Parties 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
█ Progressive Conservative 51 51 23
█ New Democratic 38 22 65
█ Liberal 35 52 36
█ Liberal–Labour 1 1
█ Communist 26 7
█ Libertarian 12 3
█ Social Credit 10 2
█ Independent 9 5
█ North American Labour 2 1
Resulting composition of the 28th Legislative Assembly[2]
Source Party
PC NDP Lib LL Total
Seats retained Incumbents returned 34 15 14 63
Open seats held 5 4 2 11
Held by previous incumbent from other riding 1 1
Incumbent changed to Liberal-Labour 1 1
Seats changing hands Incumbents defeated 9 7 16
Open seats gained 5 6 11
Byelection gain held 1 1
Ouster of third-party byelection gain 1 1
New ridings New MPPs 3 3 3 9
Previously incumbent in other riding 8 1 2 11
Total 51 38 35 1 125

MPPs elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows:

  PC
  Liberal
  NDP
  Liberal-Labour

See also

References

  1. ^ The Representation Act, 1975, S.O. 1975, c. 13
  2. ^ a b c d e f "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