The results are in, and they’re ugly

Wednesday night’s provincial election results gave Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals another majority government despite garnering only 42.2 per cent of the vote. In Kingston and the Islands, incumbent Liberal MPP John Gerretsen received 47.2 per cent of the vote to keep his seat and continue his 12-year presence in politics.

Only 36.7 per cent of Ontarians were in favour of adopting the mixed member proportional system (MMP), so the current first-past-the-post system (FPTP) will remain in place. Voter turnout overall was a mere 49.3 per cent.

Both the results of the election and referendum were predictable but nonetheless disappointing. After an uninspiring campaign, Gerretsen was re-elected despite his presumptuous attitude throughout the past several weeks and his demonstrably out-of-touch attitude towards issues important to most Kingstonians.

Gerretsen’s victory indicates that most of the Kingston population is driven to uphold the status quo rather than endorse a candidate that shakes things up.

Gerretsen is an example of why students are so disenchanted with voting—his purported concern for students seems nothing more than a façade; he’s quite comfortable in his position and unmotivated to prove himself to his constituents.

The referendum’s outcome was similarly unsatisfactory, as Ontarians voted to keep the FPTP instead of opting for MMP. The ballot’s wording alone could easily incline people to be wary of an alternative and instead stick to what they know, which is what the vast majority of voters did.

What’s puzzling is that the numbers from the election—which saw notable increase in support for smaller parties—imply that Ontarians would benefit from a system like MMP, which has greater proportional representation and would have given those less-mainstream parties a greater role.

Elections Ontario deserves some blame for its desultory and confusing education campaign. Advertising was minimal and voters essentially had to go digging if they wanted sufficient information.

Another election, another pathetic turnout and a disproportional legislative assembly formed. Gerretsen needs to stop pretending to care and needs to start using his position in an influential way. And as for the low turnout and the rejection of MMP, Ontarians now risk hypocrisy should they criticize their government and its power, and that’s just sad.

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