Ontario Election Results &
The State of Democracy

Sustainable Simcoe North
— by Madeleine Fournier of Green Orillia

Well, another provincial election has come and gone in Ontario, and we are back where we started with Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) securing another majority government. It was a $189 million snap election—one that Ontario didn’t need and taxpayers didn’t ask for (that money could have been far better spent on much-needed funding for housing, healthcare, and education). Plus, Ford already had a majority government, so why call an election? 

His justification was that Ontario needed a strong leader to respond to Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canadian imports. But the real reason likely lies in a blatant attempt to distract from the scandals surrounding his administration—most notably, the criminal investigation into his shady Greenbelt land swap plan. The investigation has raised serious ethical concerns about transparency and corruption, with evidence that Ford’s government favoured well-connected developers over the public interest.

Now, Ontarians face four more years of cuts to public services, unresponsive MPPs, backroom deals, treaty violations, and environmental destruction under the Ford government. Highways carving through protected land, unchecked urban sprawl, expansion of gas plants, and gutted environmental protections will only worsen Ontario’s ecological crisis. 

The recent election in Ontario also reinforced a troubling trend: Doug Ford’s PCs refusing to engage in public debates. Just like in 2022, Ford and his candidates avoided local debates, skipped media interviews, and stuck to carefully staged campaign events where they wouldn’t face tough questions. Across Ontario, voters were left wondering: Why won’t the PCs defend their record? This strategy is no accident, but a deliberate effort to control the narrative, avoid scrutiny, dodge accountability, and sidestep democracy itself. 

Something equally alarming happened this election: a wave of municipal mayors publicly endorsing Doug Ford and the PCs. Their motivations likely stem from political strategy, funding promises, and personal alignment with Ford’s policies. Among them was Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac joining the trend. His endorsement appeared on Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop’s social media on February 21, with Dunlop prominently thanking him at the top of the post.

Such endorsements raise serious ethical concerns about municipal neutrality and the integrity of local governance. Mayors are elected to represent all residents, not to act as campaigners for provincial parties. By publicly backing Ford, they risk politicizing municipal leadership, creating conflicts of interest, and undermining public trust. It also raises questions about whether endorsements are made in exchange for provincial funding or political favours, reinforcing a perception that municipalities aligned with the ruling party get preferential treatment. This troubling trend threatens to blur the line between municipal and provincial governance, making local politics increasingly partisan and eroding democracy at the community level. 

Finally, I would be remiss not to talk about the state of so-called democracy under our First Past the Post (FPTP) system—a winner-takes-all model that routinely distorts election results and silences millions of voters. Under FPTP, the candidate with the most votes wins in each riding, even if they don’t have majority support, meaning most votes do not contribute to electing a representative at all. This system leads to false majorities, where a party can win complete control of the government with less than 50% of the vote, leaving the majority of Ontarians without meaningful representation. For example, in this past election, Doug Ford’s PCs won a “majority” government with just 43% of the popular vote, meaning that a majority of Ontarians—over 57%—did not vote for him, yet he still holds nearly all the power. 

FPTP also discourages voter turnout by making people feel like their voices don’t matter. This was evident in the 2022 Ontario election, which saw the lowest voter turnout in provincial history at just 43%, and again in the 2025 election, which recorded the second-lowest turnout at 45.4%. In fact, when you factor in the low voter turnout, Doug Ford’s PC’s may have won a majority government with only 43% of the popular vote, but that actually represents only about 18% of eligible voters—meaning fewer than one in five Ontarians actively supported the government now holding nearly all the power. 

With a federal election right around the corner, we are likely to see the same issues persist. This is why I amplify the growing calls for electoral reform, specifically a mixed-member proportional representation system, which would ensure that every vote truly counts, that election results reflect the will of the people, and that we finally break free from a system where we are forced to vote strategically instead of for the candidates who truly represent us. Fair Vote Canada is a national organization that has been advocating for electoral reform in Canada for decades. Locally, the group Make Every Vote Count Simcoe County has been gathering to consider alternatives to the current electoral system. Read the news article here to learn more and get in touch about supporting this initiative. 

Green Orillia is a grassroots organization focused on climate action, social justice, advocacy, education, democracy, and community resilience in Orillia and area. We operate on Anishinaabeg Williams Treaty Territory. Follow Green Orillia on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, join the Facebook Discussion Group, sign up for the e-newsletter, or check out the website. Get in touch at greenorillia@gmail.com.