NDP Mike Mantha pleased to return to Queen's Park

Incumbent New Democrat Mike Mantha finished the Ontario election night with a convincing victory in the Algoma-Manitoulin riding.

Nonetheless, he was concerned with the low voter turnout overall, just over 46 per cent.

Mantha said it's an indication the voters were not very engaged in the month-long campaign and the strong PC majority gained by the Doug Ford conservatives is the result.

"We need to figure out how to inspire Ontarians because if there's one thing that was evident throughout the campaign with a low voter turnout is that people weren't inspired," Mantha observed.

"As a caucus, we're going to be 30 plus strong and we have to find ways to get more people engaged because a large percentage of the voters stayed home. 

"As a party, we didn't inspire people to be looking at us," he concluded.

PC candidate Cheryl Fort finished a strong second in Algoma-Manitoulin, trailing Mantha by over 2,500 votes.

As for her party's platform, she said it contained a lot of things which benefitted northern Ontario.

"It's inclusive for the entire province. I'm glad to see the results tonight. This has been an exciting adventure all around," said Fort.

She plans to run for the PC's again in Algoma Manitoulin in the next Ontario election, in another four years.