TORONTO (Reuters) - The Progressive Conservative Party, led by populist Doug Ford, is on track to sweep to victory in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, ending 15 years of Liberal rule, Canadian networks projected on Thursday.

Ford’s party will win the majority of seats in the provincial legislature, giving Ford broad powers to pass legislation, the networks forecast.

“I’m very grateful to the people of Ontario,” said Ford as he spoke briefly to media outside his home in Toronto.

Ford, 53, is the brother of the late mayor of Toronto Rob Ford, who made international news in 2013 when he admitted to smoking crack cocaine.

“I do think there’s a bit of spillover from populism in the United States that could have washed over the Ontario election,” said Jonathan Rose, a professor at Queen’s University.

“It’s hard to believe that someone who has never held office other than as a municipal councillor ... is elected to lead the largest economy in a G7 country,” he added.

Blunt and combative with the media, Ford has drawn comparisons with U.S. President Donald Trump, although he has tried to appeal to voters in the immigrant communities that sway elections in many Toronto suburbs.

The contest in Canada’s industrial and manufacturing heartland became a fight between Ford and the left-leaning New Democratic Party after Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne, premier since 2013, dropped to a distant third in opinion polls.

Wynne is the first female premier and first openly gay premier the province has had.

With about a third of Canada’s population of 36 million, Ontario is the country’s economic engine and home to its biggest city, Toronto. It has one of the largest sub-sovereign debts in the world, at nearly C$350 billion ($272 billion) in March.

While seen as generally business friendly, the PC party never released a fully costed platform, and promised to cut taxes and find some C$6 billion in efficiencies without eliminating jobs, leaving some bond investors uncertain that they will improve the province’s fiscal health. [L1N1SH1OE]

As Canadian media projected a Ford victory, investors were seeking details of his economic policies.

Both the centrist Liberal party and the left-leaning New Democratic Party campaigned on expanding social services, especially childcare and health coverage.

Ford, who served on Toronto’s city council when his brother was mayor, has spent much of his life running the family’s label business.

His campaign was hit with a series of controversies, including allegations from his brother’s widow that he mismanaged the family business and separate accusations that he interfered with a party nomination fight. Ford denied both allegations.</s>TORONTO (Reuters) - The Progressive Conservative Party, led by populist Doug Ford, is on track to sweep to victory in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, ending 15 years of Liberal rule, Canadian networks projected on Thursday.

Ford’s party will win the majority of seats in the provincial legislature, giving Ford broad powers to pass legislation, the networks forecast.

“I’m very grateful to the people of Ontario,” said Ford as he spoke briefly to media outside his home in Toronto.

Ford, 53, is the brother of the late mayor of Toronto Rob Ford, who made international news in 2013 when he admitted to smoking crack cocaine.

“I do think there’s a bit of spillover from populism in the United States that could have washed over the Ontario election,” said Jonathan Rose, a professor at Queen’s University.

“It’s hard to believe that someone who has never held office other than as a municipal councillor ... is elected to lead the largest economy in a G7 country,” he added.

Blunt and combative with the media, Ford has drawn comparisons with U.S. President Donald Trump, although he has tried to appeal to voters in the immigrant communities that sway elections in many Toronto suburbs.

The contest in Canada’s industrial and manufacturing heartland became a fight between Ford and the left-leaning New Democratic Party after Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne, premier since 2013, dropped to a distant third in opinion polls.

Wynne is the first female premier and first openly gay premier the province has had.

With about a third of Canada’s population of 36 million, Ontario is the country’s economic engine and home to its biggest city, Toronto. It has one of the largest sub-sovereign debts in the world, at nearly C$350 billion ($272 billion) in March.

While seen as generally business friendly, the PC party never released a fully costed platform, and promised to cut taxes and find some C$6 billion in efficiencies without eliminating jobs, leaving some bond investors uncertain that they will improve the province’s fiscal health. [L1N1SH1OE]

As Canadian media projected a Ford victory, investors were seeking details of his economic policies.

Both the centrist Liberal party and the left-leaning New Democratic Party campaigned on expanding social services, especially childcare and health coverage.

Ford, who served on Toronto’s city council when his brother was mayor, has spent much of his life running the family’s label business.

His campaign was hit with a series of controversies, including allegations from his brother’s widow that he mismanaged the family business and separate accusations that he interfered with a party nomination fight. Ford denied both allegations.</s>The Ontario election 2018 results are in. After a long and all-too-dramatic campaign season, the votes have been counted and Doug Ford has emerged victorious.

Ford will be Ontario's next premier as the PC party cruised to a majority government. Early returns show the PC party winning 75 ridings, the NDP 40, The Liberal party six and the Green party one.

Any less than 8 ridings would cause the Liberal party to lose their official party status.

In a speech after the loss, outgoing premier Kathleen Wynne announced she will be stepping aside as party leader.

In his victory speech, Ford declared Ontario "open for business" and promised "an era of economic growth and prosperity the likes of which this province has never seen before."

The Progressive Conservative party leader, brother to late former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, only recently took the reigns of his party in the wake of a scandal involving former PC chief Patrick Brown.

Brown, who had been leading the party since 2005, stepped down in January amidst allegations of sexual conduct. He was subsequently expelled from the party by interim leader Vic Fedeli after trying (and failing) to get his old job back, twice.

Ford was named PC leader on March 10 after a short and chaotic race that started with an announcement from his mother's basement.

Since then, the 53-year-old Etobicoke native has established an impressive base of supporters, many of whom passionately defend our new Premier's populist political stylings.

Ford ran on a platform of lower taxes, more jobs, improved accountability, lower hydro rates and one dollar beers.

He also hired his own reporter to cover the campaign trail, routinely denied to speak with real journalists, had actors posing as supporters at a debate and got sued by his deceased brother's widow for $16.5 million last week.

Strategic voting campaigns in which electors were encouraged to cast their ballots for NDP candidates were shared widely online during this year's election.

The goal was to ensure that Ford didn't become Ontario's Premier. It didn't work.</s>TORONTO (Reuters) - The Progressive Conservative Party, led by populist Doug Ford, is on track to sweep to victory in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, ending 15 years of Liberal rule, Canadian networks projected on Thursday.

Ford’s party will win the majority of seats in the provincial legislature, giving Ford broad powers to pass legislation, the networks forecast.

“I’m very grateful to the people of Ontario,” said Ford as he spoke briefly to media outside his home in Toronto.

Ford, 53, is the brother of the late mayor of Toronto Rob Ford, who made international news in 2013 when he admitted to smoking crack cocaine.

“I do think there’s a bit of spillover from populism in the United States that could have washed over the Ontario election,” said Jonathan Rose, a professor at Queen’s University.

“It’s hard to believe that someone who has never held office other than as a municipal councillor ... is elected to lead the largest economy in a G7 country,” he added.

Blunt and combative with the media, Ford has drawn comparisons with U.S. President Donald Trump, although he has tried to appeal to voters in the immigrant communities that sway elections in many Toronto suburbs.

The contest in Canada’s industrial and manufacturing heartland became a fight between Ford and the left-leaning New Democratic Party after Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne, premier since 2013, dropped to a distant third in opinion polls.

Wynne is the first female premier and first openly gay premier the province has had.

With about a third of Canada’s population of 36 million, Ontario is the country’s economic engine and home to its biggest city, Toronto. It has one of the largest sub-sovereign debts in the world, at nearly C$350 billion ($272 billion) in March.

While seen as generally business friendly, the PC party never released a fully costed platform, and promised to cut taxes and find some C$6 billion in efficiencies without eliminating jobs, leaving some bond investors uncertain that they will improve the province’s fiscal health. [L1N1SH1OE]

As Canadian media projected a Ford victory, investors were seeking details of his economic policies.

Both the centrist Liberal party and the left-leaning New Democratic Party campaigned on expanding social services, especially childcare and health coverage.

Ford, who served on Toronto’s city council when his brother was mayor, has spent much of his life running the family’s label business.

His campaign was hit with a series of controversies, including allegations from his brother’s widow that he mismanaged the family business and separate accusations that he interfered with a party nomination fight. Ford denied both allegations.</s>TORONTO – The resounding defeat of Ontario’s Liberals in this week’s provincial election saw the party that previously held a majority slip below the number of seats required for official party status in the legislature. Here’s a look at what that means.

The broad collapse of Liberal support throughout the province meant the party claimed just seven seats. Current rules dictate that a party needs to have a minimum of eight elected members in order to qualify as an officially recognized party in the legislature.

READ MORE: Wynne hopes Ford changes rules to give Ontario Liberals official party status

No. The threshold for official party status has changed several times in the past and can do so again at the discretion of the government of the day. Premier-designate Doug Ford and his majority Progressive Conservative government could theoretically adjust the cutoff point and allow the Liberals to enjoy the numerous benefits of official party status.

VIDEO: Doug Ford speaks after being asked to form government by Lieutenant Governor

What are the benefits of official party status?

Money, for a start. The legislative assembly’s internal economy board sets aside funds each year to be distributed among official parties. The Legislative Assembly Act states that official parties can use those funds for research, staff salaries and other purposes the party caucus determines. As things stand now, the Liberals will not have access to any such funds.

But can they still operate as usual in the house?

No. Without official status, the Liberal Members of Provincial Parliament must operate as independents, which means they lose many privileges they were accustomed to in the past. The assembly’s standing orders state independent MPPs will be excluded from debates where time is supposed to be divided evenly between recognized parties. In debates without such conditions, independents may contribute if the house speaker calls on them.

Participation in question period is also heavily contingent on the speaker. Independent legislators can submit requests to ask a question, and the speaker will decide whether or not to recognize that member. The standing order specifies that the speaker must make sure independent members have the same level of opportunity to participate as members of official party caucuses other than party leaders. Independents are also not entitled to reply to ministerial statements, receive copies of government notices of motion or amendments to bills and other such documents.

So what can independent members still do?

Standing orders state that they can be appointed to standing committees, introduce private members’ bills, make comments or ask questions on other members’ speeches, put written questions on the order paper and raise points of order.</s>Kathleen Wynne has resigned as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party after her party’s defeat in the provincial election.

The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario won a majority mandate, Global News projects, meaning Doug Ford will be the new premier of Ontario.

“I have spoken to the party president and asked him to start the process of choosing an interim leader, and it is the right thing to do. There is another generation and I am passing the torch to that generation,” Wynne said as Ontario Liberal supporters cheered.

While Wynne will now longer serve as premier or party leader, did manage to retain her position as MPP from Don Valley West. She told supporters she was still determined to continue in Ontario politics.

“I know that tonight is not the result we were looking for, and no one feels that more sharply than I do. But this is not a moment where any of us should linger; we can’t stay here. I hope that you can feel very proud of what we have done together in the past, and absolutely determined to take on the task that lies ahead,” she said.

“We won’t get there with anger. We won’t get there with despair. So although I’ve lost this election tonight, I have not in any way lost my passion for continuing this work, continuing to find ways to make it all work better.”

Wynne admitted last weekend that her party would lose the election, but she continued to urge Ontarians to vote for their local Liberal candidate in order to prevent the PCs and the NDP from securing a majority government.

The Liberals are in danger of dropping to single-digit seats in the legislature, which would mean they lose official party status.</s>TORONTO (Reuters) - The Progressive Conservative Party, led by populist Doug Ford, is on track for a sweeping victory in Canada’s most populous province, Canadian networks projected on Thursday, as Ford declared the province is “open for business.”

Ford’s party will win the majority of seats in the province of Ontario’s legislature, ending 15 years of Liberal rule and giving him broad powers to pass legislation, the networks forecast.

“We have taken back Ontario. We have delivered a government that is for the people,” said Ford, promising economic growth and prosperity in a speech to supporters in Toronto.

“The party with the taxpayers’ money is over - it’s done.”

Ford, 53, is the brother of the late mayor of Toronto Rob Ford, who made international news in 2013 when he admitted to smoking crack cocaine.

Ford’s stronger than expected showing and the Liberals’ significant losses to the New Democrats may worry supporters of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal party, up for re-election in 2019.

CBC News projected the Progressive Conservative Party to win 76 out of the 124 seats in the province’s legislature, with the New Democrats in second place with 39 seats.

With about a third of Canada’s population of 36 million, Ontario is the country’s economic engine and home to its biggest city, Toronto. It has one of the largest sub-sovereign debts in the world, at nearly C$350 billion ($272 billion) in March.

“This election outcome addresses a number of key concerns in the business sector - a pause in minimum wage increases; a number of measures to address energy costs, most significantly scrapping the cap-and-trade program; and tax rate reductions,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Blunt and combative with the media, Ford has drawn comparisons with U.S. President Donald Trump, although he has tried to appeal to voters in the immigrant communities that sway elections in many Toronto suburbs.

“I do think there’s a bit of spillover from populism in the United States that could have washed over the Ontario election,” said Jonathan Rose, a professor at Queen’s University.

“It’s hard to believe that someone who has never held office other than as a municipal councillor ... is elected to lead the largest economy in a G7 country,” he added.

The contest in Canada’s industrial and manufacturing heartland became a fight between Ford and the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) after Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne, premier since 2013, dropped to a distant third in opinion polls.

Wynne, the first female premier and first openly gay premier the province has had, said she would resign as leader of the Liberal party.

While seen as generally business friendly, the PC party never released a fully costed platform, and promised to cut taxes and find some C$6 billion in efficiencies without eliminating jobs, leaving some bond investors uncertain that they will improve the province’s fiscal health. [L1N1SH1OE]

As Canadian media projected a Ford victory, investors were seeking details of his economic policies.

Both the centrist Liberal party and the left-leaning NDP campaigned on expanding social services, especially childcare and health coverage.

Ford, who served on Toronto’s city council when his brother was mayor, has spent much of his life running the family’s label business.

His campaign was hit with a series of controversies, including allegations from his brother’s widow that he mismanaged the family business and separate accusations that he interfered with a party nomination fight. Ford denied both allegations.</s>If recent polls are correct, the Liberals look poised to drop from the governing party in Ontario to losing their official party status.

As of June 5, according to the CBC News poll tracker, the Progressive Conservatives were at 37.6 per cent support, the NDP at 36.1 and the Liberals at 19.9 per cent.

As a result, seat projections were at 74 for the PCs, 48 for the NDP and two for the Liberals. That would be a stunning, though not unheard of, fall for a governing party that has been in power for 15 years.

But what does losing party status mean in Ontario? And how does a party stay relevant when it's been reduced to what looks like bystander status?

In this province, the standing orders of the legislature declare that any party with fewer than eight seats loses its status as a "recognized party" and, with that status, the funding for administrative staff and research activities that help inform the caucus's work.

The party also loses designated time to speak in the legislature and must instead be recognized by the speaker, who can make allowances to recognize MPPs to speak.

'Keep hammering on those key issues'

Strategist Lise Jolicoeur, a director at StrategyCorp and a former communications director to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, said Tuesday there are still ways a party can stay relevant when it's bringing fewer than eight members to a session of the legislature.

Members can ensure they get permission to speak during debates on key issues, so their voices are still heard by both their opponents and the public. She uses federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May as an example of a single member who is still a strong, vocal advocate for her issues.

"She is a strong voice, holds press conferences, does what she can to be heard," Jolicoeur said

And the party should focus on key issues, as well as on staying positive, she said.

"Keep hammering on those key issues that matter to people the most," she said. "Often what happens is you try to be everything for everybody and that's where you lose your momentum."

With the Liberals looking more and more likely to lose a large number of seats, polls suggest Thursday's vote will be a contest between PC Leader Doug Ford and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

The second component to coping with a resounding defeat is to fortify party ranks, work that would be going on as the remaining sitting members do what they can to make an impact in the legislature.

"The great thing about going down so much, there's no way to go but up afterwards," Jolicoeur told CBC Toronto. "It's also great to bring in fresh blood and new ideas and to re-invigorate the party."

As Jolicoeur noted, the 2018 Ontario Liberals wouldn't be the first party to face major losses a general election. In 2006, the federal Liberals went from minority government status to official opposition, before being kicked back down to third-party status in 2011. In the 1993 federal election, the governing Progressive Conservatives were trounced, winning just two seats.

"There's always opportunity when there's defeat, if you will," Jolicoeur said. "It's not surprising, of course not."

'Time and money' always needed

To Dennis Pilon, associate professor of political science at York University, dropping from recognized party status is a big deal on the funding front, but less so when it comes to the work the party is still able to do.

The MPPs that are elected will still be allowed to speak in the legislature, hold the government to account outside the legislature and advocate for constituents. But losing funding will have an impact on just how effective they can be.

"For parties to be up on policy, for them to be able to put forward new ideas, all that takes time and money to develop. So that's really the implication," Pilon told CBC Toronto.

"They would lack some of the funds that would allow them to perhaps drill down into the plans that the government puts forward."

But parties are also able to raise funds and seek the help of volunteers to do work, particularly outside the halls of the legislature.

"It's not like they don't have other options," Pilon said. "It's not like their name is going to be stripped off the ballot in future elections."

In fact, the size of the loss or victory by the new government is exaggerated by the first-past-the-post system, Pilon said. Even if the Liberals are reduced to a couple of seats, they still appear poised to receive as much as 20 per cent of voter support. He said that's not a bad place to begin rebuilding party support from.

"In a more mathematically accurate system, they would end up on election day with considerably more seats than what they are going to end up with in our system," Pilon said.

"So I think that's also something that people need to be aware of, is that the vote totals of the winning party are an exaggeration of their support, and the vote totals for the losing party are also an exaggeration of their defeat."</s>Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is thanking the people of Ontario for giving his party a majority government.

Speaking to supporters gathered at the Tory campaign headquarters, Ford says under his government, Ontario will enter a previously unseen period of economic prosperity.

Ford, whose favourite campaign slogan was “Help in on the way”, tells the cheering crowd “Help is here.”

He says “the party with the taxpayers’ money is over.”

And he promises to work to win the support of those who did not vote for him.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has won her seat in the provincial election.

Wynne admitted last weekend that her party would lose the election, but urged voters to elect enough Liberals to prevent the other parties from winning a majority government.

Wynne’s low personal approval ratings helped drive the Liberals way down in the polls.

Many of her cabinet ministers have been defeated.

The Liberals, who have been in government for the past 15 years, could drop to single-digit seats in the legislature, losing official party status.

Wynne has declined to say whether she’ll stay on as party leader, but many expect her to step down.

Many Liberal cabinet ministers have been defeated in the Ontario provincial election.

In Ottawa Centre, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi lost his seat, finishing second to New Democrat Joel Harden.

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault, a New Democrat turned Liberal, lost to the NDP’s Jamie West in the Sudbury riding.

Steven Del Duca, minister of economic development, lost his seat in the Vaughan-Woodbridge riding to Tory Michael Tibollo.

Christine Elliott, a three-time loser in bids to lead Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives, unseated Liberal Environment Minister Chris Ballard in the Newmarket-Aurora riding.

And Treasury Board President Eleanor McMahon lost to Tory Jane McKenna in the Burlington riding.

The Canadian Press is projecting a Progressive Conservative majority government in Ontario.

It’s a stunning victory for the party led by Doug Ford, whose campaign was heavy on populist promises but light on fiscal details.

The New Democrats, who had been neck and neck with the Tories in several polls before the election, will form the Official Opposition.

The election has also marked a stunning collapse for the Liberals, who governed the province for the last 15 years.

Ford positioned himself during the campaign as a defender of “the little guy,” promising to lower taxes, cut hydro rates and eliminate the province’s cap-and-trade-system.

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford has won in his riding in the west-Toronto suburb of Etobicoke North.

Ford was a city councillor for the area while his late brother Rob Ford was Toronto mayor, and the family has a long history in the community.

The 53-year-old politician was elected party leader in March after Patrick Brown stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations he denies.

Ford campaigned on a populist message of cutting taxes, lowering hydro rates and the price of gas, and putting more money into people’s pockets.

He did not release a fully costed platform, prompting his rivals to warn of massive cuts to public services under a Tory government.

The last few days of Ford’s campaign were dominated by news of a lawsuit against him from Rob Ford’s widow alleging mismanagement of the family business.

Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner has won his bid to become the first Green to hold a seat in the province’s legislature.

Schreiner finished third in his riding in Guelph, Ont., during the last election, narrowly behind the Progressive Conservative candidate.

The race was thrown open for this election when the incumbent and prominent Liberal Liz Sandals announced she would not run again.

Andrea Horwath has handily won in her Hamilton-Centre riding, which she has held since 2004.

The NDP leader has consistently polled as the most popular of the three party leaders vying to become the next premier of Ontario.

Her New Democrats saw a surge in the polls halfway through the campaign, triggering a wave of attacks from both the governing Liberals and the opposition Tories.

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford repeatedly slammed Horwath’s roster of candidates as radical and inexperienced.

Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne also painted New Democrats as radical ideologues and urged left-leaning voters to stop Horwath from forming a majority government.

Horwath’s campaign slogan was “Change for the better.”

Most of the polls have closed in Ontario and ballot counting has begun following a hotly contested race pitting Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives against Andrea Horwath’s New Democrats.

The governing Liberals, who have been in power for the past 15 years, are fighting for survival following Premier Kathleen Wynne’s stunning admission of defeat last week.

They will need at least eight seats to retain official party status.

The province used new technology in this election, and problems with some of the electronic vote tabulators caused delays in a few polling stations.

As a result, Elections Ontario has extended voting hours in seven locations.

Approximately 9.8 million people were registered to vote today, and more than 768,000 voted in advance polls.</s>Ontario PC leader Doug Ford has won the provincial election with a majority government, overtaking both NDP leader Andrea Horwath and incumbent Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Just 15 minutes after polls closed, the PCs had a commanding lead. Both CBC and CTV quickly called the election in favour of Ford.

See the latest results as they come in here.

Ford successfully channelled populist sentiment in Ontario and successfully galvanized voters’ anger towards the Liberals, who spent the last 15 years in power. Ford had banked on voters believing in his vision for change and pledges to cut government spending, slash taxes for the middle class and offer relief to minimum-wage workers.

What can we expect from Ford running the show?

In “Are you ready for Premier Doug Ford?” associate editor Shannon Proudfoot explored what would happen if the policy-averse leader of Ford Nation actually won the election. In an excerpt from Proudfoot’s piece, she writes:

“Those who worked with Ford in municipal politics describe a businessman with an unhealthy confidence in his own judgment and a disdain for painstaking policy construction; someone who is entertaining and charming, but also quick to anger and unwilling to compromise—a “one-man band” on the cusp of running Canada’s largest province. “I think Doug Ford is so underestimated in every way possible that a lot of people think, ‘Oh, this can’t happen, he can’t be elected premier.’ Or if he does get elected premier, he’ll tone it down, he’ll become more mainstream,” says John Filion, a Toronto city councillor who wrote a book on the Ford era. “And all of that is wrong.”

When it comes to how governing could work in Queen’s Park:

“If Ford and his party sweep into Queen’s Park with a majority, of course, he will have both the leadership position to impose his will and the votes to push things through the legislature—provided there is no mutiny from within. But Ford’s type of intransigent tribalism would make any workplace a little fraught, let alone one with the egos, competing interests and shifting allegiances of politics.

What changes can Ontario expect under Premier Doug Ford?

After mounting pressure from his opponents, the Ontario PCs released a more detailed look at Ford’s list of promises with less than a week left in the campaign. Although much of the platform didn’t contain detailed costs, it provides the most insight into what’s in store for Ontarians. Ford vowed to cut $6 billion from Ontario’s budget, slash middle-class income taxes by 20 per cent, add 15,000 new long-term beds, spend $1.9 billion over the next decade on mental health and addiction support, expand sales of beer, wine, cider and coolers into corner stores, replace the sex-ed curriculum and end Ontario’s Green Energy Act.

We listed some of the promises that Ford has made throughout the campaign broken down by category (For the full list click here):

In contrast to his opponents, Ford is the only leader campaigning on a promise to quickly balance the books and keep them that way.
• Ford vowed to cut $6 billion from Ontario’s budget without laying off any public employees but hasn’t specified which “inefficiencies” he’d eliminate
• Convene an “outside audit” to probe spending under the Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne at an estimated cost of $1 million and give more funding to the office of Ontario’s Auditor General

The PCs under Doug Ford have vowed to shrink government and cut taxes, but questions remain about how many platform policies from Patrick Brown’s “People’s Guarantee” will be adopted. So far, Ford has promised:
• Ford, who has pledged to scrap the Liberals’ planned minimum wage hike from $14 to $15 next year, would introduce an income tax credit for workers earning minimum wage so that anyone making less than $28,000 a year would pay no income tax.
• Cut corporate tax rates from 11.5 to 10.5 per cent in an effort to attract new businesses to Ontario
• Cut middle-class income taxes by 20 per cent for those earning $42,960 to $85,923 annually, but Ford unclear how it will be paid for

Doug Ford has said he’d fire the CEO of Hydro One. Since the utility’s privatization, however, that power no longer rests with the provincial government. Other highlights:
• Cut hydro bills by 12 per cent, on top of the Liberals’ 25 per cent promised cut and return all Hydro One dividends to Ontario families
• Use “retroactive legislation” to prevent executives and board members from receiving large payouts if their jobs are terminated

On the health care front, Ford and the Ontario PCs’ platform has promised to:
• Add 15,000 new long-term care beds over the next five years and 30,000 new beds over the next 10 years
• Spend $1.9 billion over the next decade on mental health and addiction support, estimated at approximately $190 million per year for a decade, with costs shared with federal government,

Doug Ford previously said he’d consider privatizing the sale and distribution of weed and alcohol but later softened his stance:
• He also said “we got to be super, super, super careful” in regulating the cannabis market
• Expand sales of beer, wine, cider and coolers into corner stores
• Lower the minimum price that beer can be sold for to $1 (plus deposit) per bottle, the level it was at prior to 2008.

Doug Ford has said he wants to “review the curriculum in all core subject areas thoroughly“:
• “Scrap Kathleen Wynne’s ideological sex-ed curriculum and replace it with one that is age-appropriate, and only after real consultation with parents occurs”
• “Scrap discovery math, and replace it with proven methods of teaching.”
• Expand the mandate of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario to include a complaints and investigations process to evaluate violations of free speech

Ford has said his platform will have neither a cap-and-trade system nor a carbon tax (despite the $10-billion hole it would leave in the Tory fiscal plan). Highlights:
• Repeal Ontario’s existing cap-and-trade system and oppose the federally-mandated minimum price on carbon emissions
• End Ontario’s Green Energy Act and Cancel energy projects initiated by the current Liberal government that are in the pre-construction phase
• Set up an emissions-reduction fund to invest in new emission-cutting technologies, though no detailed cost has been provided

Doug Ford laid out his infrastructure promises which include:
• Commit $5-billion more funds for subways, relief lines, a two-way GO Transit to Niagara Falls as part of existing plan to build a regional transportation system
• Open the question of Hamilton’s $1.3 billion LRT project to a vote, noting that even if voters reject the LRT, Hamilton would receive the money for other infrastructure projects
• Cut aviation fuel taxes on interprovincial flights to and from Northern Ontario, which Ford says will cost $11 million per year
• The Maclean’s-Pollara Ontario election poll shows Doug Ford and Andrea Horwath in photo finish
• How Doug Ford could help us get electoral reform
• Just how ‘pro-business’ is Doug Ford, really?
The Progressive Conservative Party of Doug Ford wins a sweeping victory, ending 15 years of Liberal Party rule in the province. The Liberal Party becomes a minority party (or third party) for the first time since its foundation and later first provincial election, has losing official party status.