Ontario Provincial Elections 2011-Renee's Relieved

As my homegirl and her family carve their Thanksgiving turkey today my favorite Canadian blogger will probably be exhaling and saying a few thank you Lawdy's.

She's relieved that Liberal Dalton McGuinty is still her home province's Premier despite being down by 20 points in the polls a few months ago.

We discuss a wide range of topics during our phone conversations.  One thing I kept filed away in the back of my mind was something she told me during one of our Canadian political discussions we had in the wake of the federal election back in May and in the months leading up to her provincial one.

Ontarians will usually vote the opposite way of what happens federally, and  that bit of Canadian political wisdom Renee told me held true to form.

Despite a record low turnout in the October 6 election of 49.2% and the Liberals losing 17 seats to fall to 53 MPP's from their starting point of 70, McGuinty and the Liberals still fell just one seat shy of securing a majority in the 107 seat provincial parliament.

He will head back to Queen's Park with the Liberals  third successive electoral victory in hand and form a minority government. Tim Hudak and the Progressive Conservatives picked up 2 seats with Andrea Horwath and the NDP going on a mini Orange Crush provincial wave.   They picked up seven seats to increase their total to 17 MPP's.

McGuinty can also thank the voters in the Toronto metro area for keeping his Liberals in power, along with the urban voters in Mississauga, Brampton, Ottawa, London, Windsor and Thunder Bay. 

The Conservatives picked up their 37 total seats in rural areas and a riding in the city of Barrie but were shut out in those larger urban cities and the GTA.  

Torontonians aren't happy with their Conservative mayor Rob Ford and that may have caused enough of a backlash to keep the GTA provincial ridings in Liberal and NDP hands.

McGuinty has four years to change those lukewarm voter perceptions and make good on the campaign promise of a college tuition cut, or else the voters in Canada's most populous province may not be so forgiving and turn over power to Hudak or Horwath the next time  

Breathe Renee and enjoy your turkey.  You won't have a Conservative one as your premier..