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Wave of blue sweeps across Ontario, Saunderson re-elected in Simcoe-Grey

March 6, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

A wave of blue swept across Ontario on Thursday, Feb. 27, during the provincial election, as Premier Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives won their third straight majority government.

This was the first time since 1959 in Ontario that a party has won three consecutive majorities.

Ford said the snap election was called to combat continued threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he will place heavy tariffs against Canadian products.

At his election headquarters in Toronto, Ford told his supporters, “This election, we asked the people for a mandate. A strong mandate that outlives and outlasts the Trump administration. A mandate to do whatever it takes to protect Ontario. Well friends, the people have spoken. They’re ready to stand up for Canada.”

The Progressive Conservatives won 80 seats in the election.

The New Democratic Party will return as the official opposition after winning 27 seats.

In third place, the Liberals had a disappointing evening winning only 14 seats in the province.

Liberal Party leader Bonnie Crombie, failed to win her seat in Mississauga East-Cooksville, losing to PC Silvia Gualtieri.

Crombie said she plans to stay on as party leader. However, that is an unlikely scenario given she doesn’t have a seat in provincial parliament.

Locally, incumbent Brian Saunderson was re-elected to represent Simcoe-Grey as a member of the Progressive Conservatives.

Saunderson received 53.55 per cent of the vote. This will be his second term in provincial office. 

“This was an election about protecting Ontario, and I think you’re going to see that’s going to be front and centre in the agenda,” Saunderson said to supporters after arriving at Bear Resort in Collingwood on election night. “I just want to say to the residents of Simcoe-Grey: thank you for this endorsement. My commitment to you is to continue the work of the last two and a half years, and continue to champion the residents and advocate for our interests at Queen’s Park.”

Along with protecting Ontario, Saunderson said his government will work toward making progress in jobs, affordability, and housing.

“These are all critical issues that are affecting every one of us and if we have a step backward because of what’s happening with the tariffs south of the border, that’s going to be a very big issue for us,” Saunderson said. “We will survive this and we will grow. We will sustain.” 

He added, “When the chips are down, we’re bigger – we’re a bigger country in terms of our heart, our determination, and our will to survive. And we will not be cowed. We will continue to protect Ontario and we will continue to champion Canada and this is what this day means because we have a renewed mandate to do all of that and I’m looking forward to getting back to Queen’s Park.”

The election results for Simcoe-Grey were:

• PC Party of Ontario – Brian Saunderson – 30,572 votes          
• Ontario Liberal Party – Ted Crysler – 18,549 votes 
• Ontario NDP – Benten Tinkler – 3,264  
• Green Party of Ontario – Allan Kuhn – 3,154    
• New Blue Party – David Ghobrial – 1,554   
• Voter turnout was 44.53 per cent.

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