ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

'People are grumpy, they opted for a pragmatic alternative': Pollster on Ford's win, impact on federal parties

Share

The impact of Ontario’s election night result that led to a decisive victory for the Progressive Conservatives will no doubt reverberate beyond provincial politics into the backrooms of federal party headquarters, says pollster Nik Nanos.

Nanos, of Nanos Research, said the federal Liberal Party will be worryingly evaluating its provincial counterparts’ dismal performance and what that means for federal support in Ontario.

“If you're a federal Liberal organizer, you got to be looking at this and thinking, you know, the brand is on its back heels in Ontario. The party doesn't even have party status. People are grumpy and they opted for a pragmatic alternative,†he said on the latest Trend Line episode.

The Ontario Liberal Party earned only 23.6 per cent of votes and eight seats, and leader Steven Del Duca . He later announced he’d be stepping down.

Nanos said the Ontario election outcome wasn’t settling for Jagmeet Singh and the federal NDP, either.

“Jagmeet Singh, on a personal basis, his brother lost one of those Brampton seats…that's not just a setback for the party in Ontario, but that's also a setback for Jagmeet Singh on a on a personal basis because it's his brother,†he said.

The Ontario NDP held onto 23.7 per cent of the votes and 31 seats, but Andrea Horwath, who also announced she’d be stepping aside.

And while it was a good night for Conservatives, voter turnout hit an all-time low, with just about 43.5 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot, according to preliminary Elections Ontario results.

“I think what happened in this particular election is that for the Liberals and the New Democrats, they ran uninspiring campaigns and people were just not motivated to come out and vote,†Nanos said.

There are takeaways, he says, for the party’s federal leadership contenders.

“Most voters are not ideological, they want pragmatic decisions and decision-making from their elected officials. That's what I think Ontarians believe that they're getting with Doug Ford,†he said.

“Maybe this is a little bit of a wakeup call that if you want to have traction to win in Ontario, look at what Doug Ford is doing.â€

With a file from CTV News Toronto's Katherine DeClerq.

Nanos Research: Ontario Election Ballot Tracking

IN DEPTH

Opinion

opinion

opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster

A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?

opinion

opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

Stay Connected