You ask how it was that the NDP lost Windsor Tecumseh but held onto Oshawa and Niagara Centre. Its simple, they had no incumbent in the former and they had two popular MPPs running for re-election in the latter two. Similarly you ask how the NDP could have won St. Paul's but lost Beaches-East York. Again, i think its all about incumbency. Jill Andrew had a pretty high profile and was able to stick "re-elect" on her signs. I'll bet that if Rima Berns-McGown had run again for the NDP in BEY she would have won - but she decided to quit at the last minute and while by all accounts the NDP candidate was very good - she was not a "name" while the Liberals ran a well-known former city councillor.
Obviously there are many idiosyncrasies in any election. Who would have predicted that Bisson would lose but that the NDP would gain TB-Superior North from the Liberals! I suspect that in Timmins you had the combination of the Tories running a popular mayor and showering the riding with pork barrel promises and then Bisson is completely sidelined with a heart attack and bypass surgery and people probably just decided he was past his best before date
You ask how it was that the NDP lost Windsor Tecumseh but held onto Oshawa and Niagara Centre. Its simple, they had no incumbent in the former and they had two popular MPPs running for re-election in the latter two. Similarly you ask how the NDP could have won St. Paul's but lost Beaches-East York. Again, i think its all about incumbency. Jill Andrew had a pretty high profile and was able to stick "re-elect" on her signs. I'll bet that if Rima Berns-McGown had run again for the NDP in BEY she would have won - but she decided to quit at the last minute and while by all accounts the NDP candidate was very good - she was not a "name" while the Liberals ran a well-known former city councillor.
Then explain Gilles Bisson losing by 40
Obviously there are many idiosyncrasies in any election. Who would have predicted that Bisson would lose but that the NDP would gain TB-Superior North from the Liberals! I suspect that in Timmins you had the combination of the Tories running a popular mayor and showering the riding with pork barrel promises and then Bisson is completely sidelined with a heart attack and bypass surgery and people probably just decided he was past his best before date