The PCs won a strong majority government but failed to pick up seats in Niagara. Pictured: Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff. Photo Credit: Sam Oosterhoff/X.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has won another majority government, with the Progressive Conservatives winning 80 seats throughout the province, enough for a third-straight strong majority mandate.
Ford called the snap election in late January, asking Ontarians for a new majority mandate to respond to the Trump administration’s tariff threats, insisting he needed a new mandate to outlast the Trump administration and receive permission from voters to potentially spend tens of billions of dollars to respond to the impact of U.S. tariffs.
Locally, the PCs had high hopes of breaking through in Niagara. Prior to Thursday’s election, the Progressive Conservatives only held one of Niagara’s four seats. However, despite recruiting strong candidates, the PCs once again failed to break through in the region’s three NDP-held ridings.
In the one seat the PCs already held, Niagara West PC MPP Sam Oosterhoff easily won re-election with 50 per cent of the vote. Oosterhoff is currently also the Associate Minister of Energy and Electrification and will head back to Queen’s Park for a third full term.
In Niagara Centre, NDP MPP Jeff Burch held on, defeating Port Colborne Mayor and PC candidate Bill Steele. Burch won 42 per cent of the vote, compared to Steele’s 37 per cent. Burch has represented the riding since 2018. Steele was trying to win the riding for the PCs for the first time since 1971.
In neighbouring Niagara Falls, PC candidate Ruth-Ann Nieuwesteeg, who is currently a Niagara Falls city councillor, came up short in her bid to unseat NDP MPP Wayne Gates, who has represented the riding since 2014. Gates won 55 per cent of the vote to Nieuwesteeg’s 35 per cent. The PCs haven’t won the riding since Bart Maves was re-elected in 1999.
Gates made controversial remarks about the conflict in Gaza in the waning days of the campaign, leading local Muslim and Jewish leaders to endorse Nieuwesteeg. However, that seems to have failed to move the needle in the campaign’s final days.
In St. Catharines, Sal Sorrento, PC candidate and a St. Catharines regional councillor, fell short of defeating NDP MPP Jennie Stevens. Stevens has represented St. Catharines at Queen’s Park since 2018 and the riding hasn’t elected a PC MPP since 1975. Stevens won 42 per cent of the popular vote, compared to Sorrento’s 35 per cent.
The PCs had hoped for a watershed moment in Niagara Region, but the results instead led to a repeat of 2022. The PCs will still form a strong majority government, with representation in all regions of the province.
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He previously served as a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
