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. 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. • 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. 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. 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.
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.