As Ontario's election gets underway and parties lob attacks at one another, the cast members stepping away from provincial politics have not exactly been spared from parting shots.

Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government has taken some lumps at the hands of the opposition parties over the number of MPPs who chose not to seek re-election, deciding instead to retire or move on to the next phase of their careers.

Twelve sitting Liberal representatives, most with a decade or more in office, chose to step aside ahead of the Oct. 6 election. Bruce Crozier, who passed away suddenly in June after announcing his own retirement, would have been the 13th.

While candidate turnover is a feature of every election, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak has painted it as a sign that the Liberal government is running out of steam. During a recent speech in Toronto, Hudak contrasted the exiting Liberals against the fresh, new candidates representing his own party.

Earlier this summer NDP MPP Peter Kormos, himself set for retirement, called the exodus evidence that the "Liberal locomotive is running out of steam."

Pollster Nik Nanos says that regardless of the reason for the turnover it could create the perception that things have grown stale.

"For Dalton McGuinty, I think he has to show that there is something new," Nanos said last month. "For Tim Hudak, he is new, he has that particular narrative. But for the Liberals they have to have some kind of narrative that says ‘we are not tired.'

"That's what the Liberals are fighting right now, at least in terms of a certain set of voters. They have to fight a narrative that their time is not up."

MPP Kathleen Wynne, vice-chair of the Liberal campaign team, says that there is nothing uncommon about the number of retiring MPPs. After eight years in a majority government, a number of veteran members have decided to step down, giving the party a chance to invigorate itself with fresh blood.

All but one of the Liberals not seeking re-election are veteran MPPs who sat through the party's eight-year majority reign; many of them were already Queen's Park veterans when McGuinty became premier in 2003.

"There will always be that kind of exchange but what is important is that we get good people and attract good candidates. We have fabulous people who have joined the team; we have a wonderful slate of candidates," Wynne told CTVNews.ca.

"If there weren't retirements you could as a citizen level the accusation that there was no new blood. You need both. We need people who have been around, and our members will be missed. But we will have new people with new ideas and that breathes new life into the party."

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said the issue of MPPs stepping down is unlikely to disappear if McGuinty's opponents think they can score points by bringing it up in debates and public appearances.

Where the issue is going to weigh most heavily are in the affected ridings, he said, some of which have been voting in the same candidate for several elections.

"Incumbents have a distinct advantage. In those ridings some people will vote for the same party," but not in every case, Wiseman said.

Wiseman also pointed out that the number of Liberal MPPs who are not seeking reelection is not as shocking when you consider the party held a massive number of seats at Queen's Park.

In fact, the Liberal turnover is not out of step percentage-wise with the number of retirees from the Conservative and NDP parties:

  • 12 of 70 Liberal MPPs are not seeking re-election (17 per cent)
  • four of 25 Progressive Conservative MPPs are not up for re-election (16 per cent)
  • two of 10 New Democrat MPPs are not seeking re-election (20 per cent)

Another two seats previously held by the Liberals are currently vacant: Crozier passed away in June after announcing his own retirement plans and Peter Fonseca stepped down in March to run in the federal election.

But McGuinty's team can use all the experience it can get its hands on this time around. The Liberals are trailing the Conservatives in the polls and poised to lose the crown after two consecutive majority governments.

A Nanos Research poll conducted in mid-August found Hudak's party holds 42.1 per cent support, with McGuinty's Liberals trailing at 37.6 per cent. The NDP held 16.2 per cent support.

Meantime, the two parties seeking to unseat the Liberals are watching some of their own veterans pass on the torch.

Three of the four Progressive Conservative incumbents not running for re-election have been in office for decades. Only Joyce Savoline, elected provincially in 2007 after decades in municipal politics, has been at Queen's Park less than 25 years.

Norm Sterling has represented the Tories in Carleton since 1977. In March, the party backed Jack MacLaren instead, leaving the 39-year veteran off the ballot.

Ontario's New Democrat roster is similarly missing some veteran names, with two long-time party stalwarts stepping down.

The outspoken Kormos, who has served since 1988, and former party leader Howard Hampton are the only NDP incumbents not seeking re-election.

List of retiring MPPs:

Liberals

  • Wayne Arthurs (Pickering – Scarborough East); First elected in 2003
  • Jim Brownell (Stormont – Dundas – South Glengarry); First elected in 2003
  • David Caplan (Don Valley East); First elected in 1997
  • Aileen Carroll (Barrie); First elected in 2007
  • Bruce Crozier (Essex), deceased; First elected in 1993
  • Pat Hoy (Chatham-Kent – Essex); First elected in 1995
  • Jean-Marc Lalonde (Glengarry – Prescott – Russell); First elected in 1995
  • Steve Peters (Elgin – Middlesex – London); First elected in 1999
  • Gerry Phillips (Scarborough – Agincourt); First elected in 1987
  • Sandra Pupatello (Windsor West); First elected in 1995
  • David Ramsay (Timiskaming – Cochrane); First elected in 1985
  • Tony Ruprecht (Davenport); First elected in 1981
  • Monique Smith (Nipissing); First elected in 2003

Progressive Conservatives

  • Gerry Martiniuk (Cambridge); First elected in 1995
  • Bill Murdoch (Bruce – Grey – Owen Sound); First elected in 1990
  • Joyce Savoline (Burlington); First elected in 2007
  • Norm Sterling (Carleton – Mississippi Mills); First elected in 1977

New Democratic Party

  • Peter Kormos (Welland); First elected in 1988
  • Howard Hampton (Kenora – Rainy River); First elected in 1987