TORONTO - Ontario's Liberals will remain firmly in the middle of the road, Premier Dalton McGuinty vowed Tuesday, despite federal election results showing voters moving away from the centre.

In Monday's federal election, the Conservatives surged to a majority while the NDP captured a record number of seats and the Liberals stumbled to a disappointing third-place showing.

McGuinty dismissed suggestions the federal Liberal vote collapsed because voters want parties to clearly define their differences, and said he would stick to that centre ground that has historically served the party well in Ontario.

"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. "We've been very deliberate in our efforts to try and govern for all Ontarians, to try to find that middle ground."

McGuinty congratulated Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and said Ontario would continue to press the Conservatives for more funding for immigration and new energy projects as well as a firm commitment to improve medicare.

"I look forward to working with that government the same way we have in the past," he said. "We bring a tremendous amount of good will and a determination to find common ground and to find a way to move Ontario further forward."

Ontario's political parties all tried to put their best spin on how the election results -- especially the Conservatives' breakthrough in Toronto -- might impact the provincial vote on Oct. 6.

The Progressive Conservatives were buoyed by Harper's ability to lead their federal cousins to a majority government, taking 31 of 46 seats in the greater Toronto area in the process.

Breaking the Liberal stronghold on the Toronto area will be a big help in the fall election, Provincial PC leader Tim Hudak said 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 reporters.

Liberal candidates "were shown the door by Ontario voters," said Hudak. He predicted provincial voters would support him this fall for the same reasons he believes so many turned to the federal Conservatives -- promises of lower taxes and smaller government.

"Just the themes that helped Prime Minister Harper win a majority government, and all those seats in Ontario, are themes that the Ontario PCs will continue to talk about for change in October from Dalton McGuinty's high taxes and runaway spending," said Hudak.

Harper's Conservatives won 73 seats in the vote-rich province -- 21 more than they held when the government was dissolved -- while the New Democrats claimed 22 seats and the Liberals won just 11.

There's a long-standing theory that Ontario voters like to have governments of different political stripes at Queen's Park and in Ottawa, which would mean the Conservative majority should be good news for McGuinty's Liberals as they seek a third term.

However, Liberal campaign co-chair Greg Sorbara, a veteran MPP and former finance minister, noted "there are lots of theories," and said his party would have to earn a third term in office this fall.

"We're not going to win in October simply because the Conservatives won last night," said Sorbara. "We're going to win in October because of the record that we've established over eight years and our determination to complete the work that we started."

The Liberals also downplayed any suggestion the federal Liberal vote collapse Monday could happen to the provincial Liberal vote this fall.

"They are very different organizations, very different missions and we'll see that as the campaign emerges," said Sorbara. "I wouldn't establish very much relationship between what happened yesterday and our mission."

Ontario's New Democrats, several sporting orange ties, were also beaming Tuesday after their federal cousins' best-ever showing in a federal election, insisting the momentum from Jack Layton's campaign will help them this fall.

"There's a great sense of optimism, a great sense of momentum and excitement around the NDP," said Leader Andrea Horwath. "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."

Hudak and the Tories have been leading the Liberals in public opinion polls as McGuinty and his governing party seek their third consecutive majority this fall.