Voters react to Liberal sweep in Toronto and Peel

How will the election results impact the GTA? Toronto was painted red in the 2019 federal election as the Liberals swept the GTA, taking 49 of a possible 55 seats.

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals swept up much of the GTA ridings during Monday night’s federal election, shutting out the Conservatives and the NDP in Toronto, Brampton and Mississauga.

“I was expecting it, I guess,” one Toronto man said Tuesday morning. “I wasn’t expecting the entire city of Toronto to go blindly red, but that’s what happened.”

As the results rolled in, it became apparent the blackface scandal and the SNC Lavalin controversy did little to hurt Justin Trudeau in the GTA.

The Liberals won all 25 Toronto seats, all five Brampton ridings, and all six ridings in Mississauga. At the end of the day, the Liberals took 157 seats, 13 short of what they needed for a majority.

Across Canada though, the Liberal government lost 20 seats while the Conservatives gained 26 seats.

“I bet my kids early yesterday evening that it would be a Liberal minority and that proved to be correct,” John McAndrews, political scientist at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, told CTV News Toronto.

“I would say I’m a little surprised by how strong the Liberals showed both here in Toronto and nationally, so it’s a strong minority government in terms of seat share, as opposed to popular vote share.”

At this point, McAndrews said it’s too early to say what caused the decline in the Liberals’ standings, adding that his colleagues are already out in the field surveying voters about how they cast their ballots.

He adds in Ontario, however, there is some indication the “Doug Ford factor” may have come into play.

“It’s a little early to say for sure but some surveys would suggest that was a factor for some people.”

CTV News Toronto spoke to a number of voters Tuesday morning to gauge their response to the election results – a reaction that proved to be mixed, but relatively mild.

“I have to say I’m pretty satisfied with the outcome of the election,” one man said.

“I was hopefully going for more NDP,” another man said. “I guess I’m glad it’s Liberal because it may not be everything that I want, but it’s a compromise.”

One woman, who said she voted for Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives, said she is concerned about tax hikes. Nonetheless, she is resigned to the results of the election.

“I think, you know, Canadians obviously had their say. It wasn’t necessarily the outcome I was hoping for, but I think, overall, we’re in good hands still.”

Many considered the voter-rich GTA the most important place for Scheer to make gains in this election. However, the Conservatives actually lost about five points in the region.