Liberals appear poised to regain official party status. Here is what that means

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie speaks at her party's election party.

Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives may have clinched a third-straight majority in the Ontario election but it appears as though the Liberal party is nonetheless poised to regain official party status.

In order to meet the threshold of official party status in Ontario—when legislature recognizes parliamentary caucuses of political parties—parties need to have a minimum of 12 seats, for about 10 per cent of the number seats in the assembly.

The Liberals are currently leading or elected in 14 ridings across Ontario.

“People counted us out. They said the Ontario Liberal Party was dead. Tonight, you proved them wrong. The Ontario Liberal Party is back to official party status,” Crombie told supporters on Thursday night.

CTV News political analyst Scott Reid says the threshold for official party status is “entirely arbitrary,” as it is dependent on what the legislature decides. In 2018, Ford’s Conservatives decided to push the threshold up from eight seats. It was during this same election that the Liberals, helmed by Kathleen Wynne at the time, fell one seat short of official party status, after previously holding majority government.

This time around the Liberals appear poised to gain six seats compared to 2022, though Crombie was defeated in her riding of Mississauga East-Cooksville.

What can the Liberals do in the house now?

Crombie said on Thursday that while the result isn’t what the party was looking for, the gains the Liberals were able to make could be a “building block” going forward.

Obtaining that official party status, Reid says, is virtuous for a caucus as it acts as a financial lifeline.

“It allows you access to additional resources, to hire staff, to hire a full research department, to have a communications bureau. All of these are aspects of official party status, and that additional staffing, that additional budget, permits you to be a far more effective political entity,” Reid explained.

“(It) means you don’t have to scrape by based on the meager droppings of members' budgets and whatever party coffers can send your way.”

The legislative assembly’s internal economy board proportionally distributes money among all official parties which, per the Legislative Assembly Act, can then be used toward things like research and staff salaries.

Now that the Liberals appear to have regained official party status they will get their funding back, as well as regain several privileges within the house.

Reid likened it to having a VIP ticket versus general admission at a concert, as those parties with official status do not have to fight for a spot, which is already far from the action.

“You get designated questions in question period. You have access to legislative committees. You have access to library resources,” Reid said.

Reid also pointed to the psychological impact a party faces when forced to act as an independent in the house.

“They don’t have designations on legislative committees, they don’t have standing and question period,” Reid said. “It’s demoralizing, and demotivating, and it sends the signal to the electorate this party is not the prime time.”

Now that the Liberals appear to have retained this status again, Reid says Ontario could see a tremendous boost in morale among Liberal members of the legislature.

“You’ll see them start to prepare themselves for the possibility of actually taking down the government and regaining like they will become an opposition in full,” Reid said, “and when official party status is combined with winning the second-most number of seats in the house and being the official opposition, there is a presumption that you’re next man up when it comes to the football game of Ontario politics.”

With files from The Canadian Press