Sylvia Jones re-elected as wave of blue swept Ontario

March 6, 2025 · 0 Comments

Written By PAULA BROWN

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Dufferin-Caledon voters have spoken and Conservative politician, Sylvia Jones, has been elected for her sixth consecutive term as MPP of Dufferin-Caledon.

Jones was re-elected after securing 52.1 per cent or 26,072 of cast votes in Dufferin-Caledon during the provincial election last Thursday (Feb. 27). Runner-up Michael Dehn of the Liberal Party had 25.2 per cent, Green Party candidate Sandy Brown had 12.3 per cent, and NDP candidate George Nakitsas received 6. 3 per cent of the votes.

New Blue candidate Kris Eggleton, Ontario Moderate Party candidate Alexey Cherkashov, and independent candidate Jeffrey Halsall all received 2 per cent or less of the vote.

Jones said she wanted to thank all the volunteers who knocked on doors for her during her campaign.

“We can’t do it without volunteers,” said Jones on election night. “When you put different people together for a common goal, we do amazing things.”

Jones and supporters gathered at the Orangeville Legion on the 27th to watch election results come in.

Jones said the day after an election is when you get to work and start thinking about the next campaign. She said she loves Dufferin-Caledon and that the riding feels like her “extended family.”

Jones thanked the staff at her constituency office for their “great service” and added that “it is reflected on me and I felt that during this campaign.”

With her sixth-consecutive victory, Jones continues her hold on the riding she has represented at Queen’s Park since 2007. She also served as Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Health Minister from June 2022 to Jan. 2025, following the dissolving of provincial legislature by Premier Doug Ford.

The Progressive Conservatives won 80 seats, followed by the NDP with 27 seats, 14 seats for the Liberal Party, and two for the Green Party. In the 2022 election, the Progressive Conservatives won 83 seats, so they gave up three, but still maintain a strong majority government. This is the third consecutive majority government win for the Conservatives. The last time Ontario Conservatives won three in a row was 54 years ago, from 1963 to 1971.

The Citizen spoke with local candidates following the election results last week. They each commented on how they think their campaign went and the results of the election.

Michael Dehn (Liberal)

Dehn said there was some good support shown for his campaign and that it was encouraging to see — the Liberals got around 3,000 more votes than they did in the last election in Dufferin-Caledon.

Dehn received 12,606 votes or 25.2 per cent in last week’s provincial election.

He said the team surrounding him during the election was fantastic, including campaign manager Jeff Rohner-Tensee and CFO James Hodder. Dehn also thanked Dmytro Basmat, Josh Loeffler, Bob Gordanier, Winston Uytenbogaart, Lynda McDougall and all others who helped in his campaign.

“I want to fix broken things, that’s why I ran, I think the team genuinely saw how sincere I was and they got behind me and supported me,” said Dehn.

Dehn said he’s looking forward to discussions with the local riding association about the future. He remains passionate about solving common problems across Dufferin-Caledon like road safety, and wants to improve social services.

“Making sure we have health care for everyone, food for everyone, and that our roads are safe is important,” said Dehn. “Those are some of the major local issues that the Province has neglected so far.”