CBC - Ontario Votes 2003

Ernie Eves' tenure as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party appeared uncertain Thursday as his government fell to Dalton McGuinty's Liberals.

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From the outset of this election campaign, Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty has promised to roll back tax cuts that have been promised but not yet implemented by the governing Tories. Indeed, the line "I won't raise your taxes, but I won't lower them either," was central to his first television ad of the campaign.

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The televised debate is the one venue for the leaders of the main parties to look each other in the eye, challenge their opponents, and pick apart promises.

Our political columnists and our election reporters have all filed their observations on the event, but we also heard from some members of the public.

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Candidates are knocking on doors and barking promises in two provincial election campaigns, one in Prince Edward Island, the other in Ontario.

A single Ontario MPP can represent the equivalent of the Island's entire population.

It gave us pause to think about comparing the county's largest province, with its smallest.

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The promises.

They're major touchstones by which a government is both chosen and judged.

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Under leader Frank de Jong, the Green Party of Ontario fielded candidates in almost every riding for the 2003 election.

Here's a numerological look at the Green Party, both in Ontario and abroad.
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The issue of electricity - how much we have, who makes it and who sells it - has been a thorn in the side of Ernie Eves throughout his term as leader of Ontario's Conservatives.
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Forget the pre-packaged campaign platforms and the media take on what's important in the provincial election. CBC is going door to door, finding out what Ontarians think the parties should be promising.
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When Ernie Eves became Tory leader in March 2002, he named a cabinet that consisted largely of Mike Harris-era veterans. Scandals and resignations subsequently forced the premier to shuffle the deck.

Here's a look at the people who have led government ministries during Eves' tenure.
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23 short stories about Ontario's premiers, from Confederation to present day.
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Until the lights went out, the Ontario election campaign of 2003 had been a painful, on-again-off-again debacle for Ernie Eves' ruling Tories.

It began in the winter, after Eves had spent a year offering olive branches and fat cheques to pretty much everyone the Tories had offended during the tenure of Mike Harris. Despite offers of cash and expressions of support for the province's educators and health-care providers, Eves couldn't catch a break.
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"Creating a useful crisis" was how then-education minister John Snobelen described the Tory plan to cut education spending when Mike Harris took office in 1995.

Snobelen is long gone from the Tory cabinet, banished to the backbenches and not seeking re-election, but the government he served was far more successful at the task than he likely ever imagined.
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When he unveiled his Common Sense Revolution in 1994, Mike Harris promised a "fundamental" change to the way government worked in Ontario. He promised to create jobs and fire up the province's economy with massive cuts to taxes and the "unnecessary" programs they funded.
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Although their ballots won't decide who represents them in Queen's Park, half a million Ontario high school students will be voting on election day.
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