Catherine Fife, NDP big winners in Ontario byelections

It's time for the 'now what' game in Ontario politics.

On Thursday, Premier Dalton McGuinty failed in his bid to regain a Liberal majority at Queen's Park after winning only one of two by-elections — the Liberals won in Vaughn but lost in Kitchener-Waterloo to the NDP candidate Catherine Fife.

As a consequence of these results, pundits, analysts, and politicos are left with the question: Now what?

'Now what' for McGuinty who orchestrated the two by-elections in order to put an end to a dysfunctional minority legislature?

The Toronto's Star's Martin Regg Cohn wonders if the writing is on the wall for the Grits.

"Ontarians have twice voted against a Liberal majority, first in last October's general election and again in Thursday's decisive byelections," he wrote.

"The two ridings at stake were microcosms of Ontario's urban-suburban battlegrounds that should have been bedrock Liberal. These are seats the party must win and hold."

More importantly, after 9 years in office does McGuinty have any more fight in him or will he be inclined to join Jean Charest, his Liberal counterpart in Quebec, in the political pasture?

'Now what' for Tim Hudak whose Progressive Conservative party goes from 37 seats to 36?

In the near-term, we can expect the Tories to prop-up the Liberals in the legislature because, clearly, they're not ready to win an election.

Some, like the Toronto Sun's Christina Blizzard, are even suggesting that "the two byelections could turn into bye-bye elections" for Hudak.

"[The results] reflect poorly on Hudak's ability to unite the party," she wrote.

"Coming hard on the heels of his inability to win last fall's general election, it raised serious questions about his leadership and caused grumblings within the ranks."

And finally, 'now what' for Andrea Horwath and the NDP?

Horwath's party kept the Liberal government alive in the spring by supporting their budget.

With her big win in Kitchener-Waterloo, will she try to force an election thinking her party can form the next government?

McGuinty forced the byelections in Ontario hoping to achieve some political certainty for his party and for Queen's Park. The only thing that is clear from Thursday's results, however, is that Ontario's political landscape remains unclear.

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