Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said his Liberal party would not change its tactics, despite federal election results that showed strong NDP and Conservative parties soundly punish its federal counterpart.
The Liberal Party of Canada was reduced to 35 seats nationwide in Monday's election, and a mere six seats inside its previous Toronto stronghold, as voters seemed to abandon the centrist party for those representing the left and right.
McGuinty dismissed the notion that the federal Liberals collapsed because voters wanted to clearly define their differences and said his provincial party would stay the course.
"We have rejected this business of having to go right or left, of having to divide and conquer of pitting one group of Ontarians against another," McGuinty told the Liberal caucus at Queen's Park on Tuesday. "We've been very deliberate in our efforts to try and govern for all Ontarians, to try to find that middle ground."
Ontario's Progressive Conservatives meantime celebrated their federal counterpart's success, having woken up on Tuesday to find the Conservatives in full control of the province's largest city.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made major inroads in Toronto and across Ontario in Monday's election, as he secured a majority government.
The federal Conservatives picked up nine of Toronto's 23 seats, a region they had been shut out of, and now hold 73 ridings across the province.
While congratulating Harper on his majority government, Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said the results were an indication that the province's voters were in tune with his own priorities.
"Our PC team is very pleased, and congratulates the prime minister for winning . . . about three quarters of the seats here in the GTA," Hudak told reporters on Tuesday. "I think that shows our message of making life more affordable, focusing government, carries here in Toronto and across the province as a whole."
Hudak told Queen's Park on Tuesday that Ontario can no longer afford the high electricity prices and HST imposed by the Liberals. He said "runaway spending Liberal candidates" were ousted in Monday night's vote.
Hudak had already been on the offensive against McGuinty in the lead-up to Ontario's own election, on Oct. 6. His party has been leading public opinion polls as McGuinty and the Liberals seek their third consecutive majority.
Many had predicted that the recent election of conservative Mayor Rob Ford would further buoy the provincial Conservatives.
McGuinty offered his own congratulations to Harper on Tuesday, telling Queen's Park that he would continue the working relationship shared by the two levels of government.
"I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Harper on the re-election of his government, On behalf of all of us, we look forward to working with Prime Minister Harper," he said.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was also celebrating the success of her federal counterparts, after Jack Layton led his party to new heights.
"There's a great sense of optimism, a great sense of momentum and excitement around the NDP," Horwath said. "I saw that before this election even took place in terms of what was happening in Ontario, but I think it was because Ontarians are seeing that the NDP is bringing forward the issues that are resonating with their concerns."
With files from The Canadian Press