1987 Ontario general election

The 1987 Ontario general election was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by Premier David Peterson, was returned to power with their first majority government in half a century, and the second-largest majority government in the province's history. Peterson had successfully managed to govern with a minority in the Legislature by obtaining the co-operation of the Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Bob Rae, in a confidence and supply agreement. It was through the NDP's support that Peterson was able to form a government, even though the Progressive Conservative Party had won a slightly larger number of seats in the previous election.

The PC Party, led by Larry Grossman, campaigned on a platform of tax cuts to stimulate the economy. Its support continued to slide, as voters opted for the change that the Liberal-NDP arrangement provided, with Grossman losing his own seat. The PCs fell to 16 seats and third place in the legislature, their worst showing in an election in half a century.

The NDP was unable to convince the bulk of voters that it should be given credit for the success of the Liberal government that it had supported. It nevertheless did receive more votes and a larger proportion of the vote than in the previous election, although the party lost six seats due to the first-past-the-post electoral system. The party became the Official Opposition for the second time in its history.

Expansion of the Legislature An Act was passed in 1986, providing for the Legislative Assembly to increase from 125 members to 130. The following changes were made:

Abolished ridings New ridingsNew ridings Durham Centrefrom parts of Durham East and Durham West Lawrencefrom parts of York South, Downsview, Wilson Heights and Armourdale Mississauga Westfrom part of Mississauga North Muskoka—Georgian Bayformed from Muskoka and part of Simcoe East Nepeanfrom part of Carleton Ottawa—Rideaufrom parts of Carleton and Carleton East Scarborough—Agincourtfrom part of Scarborough NorthMerger of ridings Lanark Renfrew South Lanark—Renfrew St. David St. George St. George—St. DavidReorganization of ridings Armourdale Willowdale parts to Wilson Heights and York Mills Bellwoods Fort York part to Dovercourt Brant—Oxford—Norfolk Haldimand—Norfolk Brant—Haldimand Norfolk part to Oxford Carleton-Grenville Leeds Leeds—Grenville part to Carleton part to Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Dufferin—Simcoe Wellington—Dufferin—Peel Wellington South Dufferin—Peel Guelph Simcoe West Wellington Durham—York York Centre York North Durham—YorkWhitchurch-Stouffville transferred from York North Markhamwithdrawn from York North York Centreconsolidation of part of Vaughan formerly in York North York North Essex North Chatham—Kent Kent—Elgin Essex-Kent Chatham—Kent part to Elgin Etobicoke York West Etobicoke—Rexdale Etobicoke West Grey—Bruce Huron—Bruce Huron—Middlesex Bruce Huron part to Grey part to Middlesex Halton—Burlington Oakville Halton Centre Halton North Oakville SouthDivision of ridings Brampton Brampton North Brampton SouthRenaming of ridings Brock St. Catharines—Brock Erie Niagara South Grey Grey-Owen Sound Humber Etobicoke—Humber Lakeshore Etobicoke—Lakeshore Wentworth Wentworth East

Opinion polls During campaign period + Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level Polling firmLast day of survey Source OLP ONDP PCO Other SampleElection 1987September 10, 198747.325.724.72.3Angus ReidSeptember 2, 1987482723EnvironicsAugust 20, 19874828241Leader's debate held (August 17, 1987)EnvironicsAugust 17, 19875526191Angus ReidAugust 11, 1987542717Election called (August 1, 1987)

During the 33rd Parliament of Ontario + Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level Polling firmLast day of survey Source OLP ONDP PCO Other SampleEnvironicsJune 21, 19874923281EnvironicsMarch 16, 19875024260Angus ReidMarch 4, 1987572122EnvironicsNovember 19864721302EnvironicsNovember 5, 19854723301EnvironicsAugust 11, 19854723291Election 1985May 2, 198537.923.637.11.4

Results

|style="text-align:left;"|David Peterson | 130 || 48 || 95 || 47 || 1,788,214 || 410,249 || 47.34% || 9.44

|style="text-align:left;"|Bob Rae | 130 || 25 || 19 || 6 || 970,813 || 105,306 || 25.70% || 1.90

|style="text-align:left;"|Larry Grossman | 130 || 52 || 16 || 36 || 931,473 || 411,571 || 24.66% || 12.28

|style="text-align:left;"|Donald Pennell | 36 || – || – || – || 48,110 || 48,110 || 1.27% ||New

| || 19 || – || – || – || 13,632 || 12,096 || 0.36% || 0.35

|style="text-align:left;"|Kaye Sargent | 25 || – || – || – || 13,514 || 683 || 0.36% || –

|style="text-align:left;"|Robert Metz | 9 || – || – || – || 4,735 || 3,152 || 0.13% || 0.08

|style="text-align:left;"|Gordon Massie | 9 || – || – || – || 3,422 || 274 || 0.09% || 0.01

| || 7 || – || – || – || 3,398 || 1,947 || 0.09% || 0.06 |- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total |495||125 ! " colspan="2"|130 ! " colspan="2"|3,777,311 ! " colspan="2"| 100.00% |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Rejected ballots | 26,658 | 224 | colspan="2"| |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Voter turnout | 3,803,969 | 141,836 | 62.70 | 1.15 |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Registered electors | 6,067,378 | 117,083 | colspan="2"|

Vote and seat summaries

+ Seats and popular vote by party Party Seats Votes Change (pp)

Synopsis of results

1987 Ontario general election

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