Freshly re-elected leader Dalton McGuinty swept into office for a third time on Thursday evening, winning 53 seats in legislature.

"My friends, it's time to move forward together, to pull together with an Ontario Liberal government," he told a crowd of supporters shortly after his victory was declared.

But it's a bittersweet victory for McGuinty who campaigned on the hopes of a "three-peat" Liberal majority, which he needed one more seat to achieve.

Ontario hasn't had a minority government in close to three decades. Liberal David Peterson held the last one between 1985 and 1987.

It's unclear how the province's freshly split legislature will move forward, but at his victory party Thursday McGuinty appeared confident in his ability to carry out the Liberal mandate.

Amid chants of "four more years, four more years," he took a moment to congratulate his rivals PC Leader Tim Hudak and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath for "fighting hard" in their campaigns.

In the fresh minority government situation, McGuinty must work with opposition parties to get legislation passed.

Possibility of forced co-operation

While a power struggle seems inevitable, a political science professor said the split legislature could force parties to co-operate in the next session. Continued...