# Ontario (provincial electoral district)

Ontario was a provincial riding in the Canadian province of Ontario. Called Ontario South until 1933, it was active from 1867 to 1975. For its entire existence, the riding contained parts of or all of Ontario County, a now-defunct county which comprised most, but not all, of the contemporary Regional Municipality of Durham, including the municipalities of Ajax, Oshawa, Pickering and Whitby. After 1955, however, a separate riding called Oshawa was created to serve the city of Oshawa, Ajax and parts of Pickering and Whitby, while the Ontario riding continued to serve the more rural areas in the county. In 1966 a new Ontario South was created to represent Ajax, Pickering and Whitby. The remainder of the riding was divided into the new ridings of Durham West, Durham East and Durham—York in 1975.

## Members of the Legislative Assembly

| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| Ontario South |||||
| 1st | 1867–1871 | William McGill | Liberal |
| 2nd | 1871–1875 | Abram Farewell | Liberal |
| 3rd | 1875–1879 | Nicholas W. Brown | Conservative |
| 4th | 1879–1883 | John Dryden | Liberal |
| 5th | 1883–1886 | John Dryden | Liberal |
| 6th | 1886–1890 | John Dryden | Liberal |
| 7th | 1890–1894 | John Dryden | Liberal |
| 8th | 1894–1898 | John Dryden | Liberal |
| 9th | 1898–1898 | Charles Calder | Conservative |
| 9th | 1898–1902 | John Dryden | Liberal |
| 10th | 1902–1905 | John Dryden | Liberal |
| 11th | 1905–1908 | Charles Calder | Conservative |
| 12th | 1908–1911 | Charles Calder | Conservative |
| 13th | 1911–1914 | W. E. N. Sinclair | Liberal |
| 14th | 1914–1919 | Charles Calder | Conservative |
| 15th | 1919–1923 | W. E. N. Sinclair | Liberal |
| 16th | 1923–1926 | W. E. N. Sinclair | Liberal |
| 17th | 1926–1929 | W. E. N. Sinclair | Liberal |
| 18th | 1929–1934 | W. E. N. Sinclair | Liberal |
| Ontario |||||
| 19th | 1934–1937 | W. E. N. Sinclair | Liberal |
| 20th | 1937–1943 | Gordon Daniel Conant | Liberal |
| 21st | 1943–1945 | Arthur Henry Williams | Co-operative Commonwealth |
| 22nd | 1945–1948 | Thomas Kelso Creighton | Progressive Conservative |
| 23rd | 1948–1951 | T.D. Thomas | Co-operative Commonwealth |
| 24th | 1951–1955 | T.D. Thomas | Co-operative Commonwealth |
| 25th | 1955–1959 | Matthew Dymond | Progressive Conservative |
| 26th | 1959–1963 | Matthew Dymond | Progressive Conservative |
| 27th | 1963–1967 | Matthew Dymond | Progressive Conservative |
| 28th | 1967–1971 | Matthew Dymond | Progressive Conservative |
| 29th | 1971–1975 | Matthew Dymond | Progressive Conservative |
| Merged into Durham West, Durham East and Durham North after 1975 |||||

## Election results (1934-1963)

1934 Ontario general election :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Liberal | W. E. N. Sinclair | 11,409 | 56.63 |
| Conservative | Ernest L. Marks | 6,363 | 31.58 |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Andrew Glen | 2,375 | 11.79 |
1937 Ontario general election :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Liberal | Gordon Daniel Conant | 9,834 | 44.13 |
| Conservative | Grant L. Bird | 7,775 | 34.89 |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Finley M. Dafoe | 4,598 | 20.63 |
| Socialist Labour | E. G. Forest | 79 | 0.35 |
1943 Ontario general election :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Arthur Henry Williams | 8,745 | 44.07 |
| Liberal | Jacob C. Anderson | 5,575 | 28.09 |
| Progressive Conservative | George Hart | 5,525 | 27.84 |
1945 Ontario general election :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Progressive Conservative | Thomas Kelso Creighton | 9,130 | 35.49 |
| Liberal | W. H. Gifford | 8,051 | 31.30 |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Arthur Henry Williams | 7,693 | 29.90 |
| Labour | W. R. Cambers | 852 | 3.31 |
1948 Ontario general election :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Tommy Thomas | 11,758 | 42.23 |
| Progressive Conservative | Thomas Kelso Creighton | 9,027 | 32.42 |
| Liberal | Wilfred E. Dunn | 7,058 | 25.35 |
1951 Ontario general election :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Tommy Thomas | 12,054 | 40.17 |
| Progressive Conservative | Michael Starr | 9,876 | 32.92 |
| Liberal | Walter C. Thomson | 7,806 | 26.02 |
| Independent | Evelyn M. Bateman | 268 | 0.89 |
1955 Ontario general election :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Progressive Conservative | Matthew Dymond | 7,248 | 49.97 |
| Liberal | Thomas Harris | 5,366 | 36.99 |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Roy Scott | 1,892 | 13.04 |
1959 Ontario general election :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Progressive Conservative | Matthew Dymond | 9,018 | 59.67 |
| Liberal | Thomas Harris | 4,196 | 27.76 |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Thomas Edwards | 1,900 | 12.57 |
1963 Ontario general election :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Progressive Conservative | Matthew Dymond | 9,903 | 60.29 |
| Liberal | Samuel Hollingsworth | 4,298 | 26.17 |
| New Democratic | Thomas Edwards | 2,224 | 13.54 |