The Liberals in Ontario suffered a disastrous night on Thursday, barely escaping from the status of a minivan, as their leader Stephen Del Duca lost in his hometown and announced his departure.
CTV News predicts that Del Duca’s Liberals will remain the third party in the 43rd provincial parliament, with Doug Ford winning a second term with a majority as prime minister by a significant margin.
The NDP under Andrea Horvat will remain the official opposition to the province, CTV News projects.
Speaking to supporters in Vaughan, Del Duca said it was time to pack it.
“I have no doubt that the women and men we have chosen will do their part, more than their role, to develop a new progressive movement in this province,” he said. “However, this will be a movement that will be led by a new leader – earlier this evening I informed the chairman of our party about his intention to resign.
He said he had asked party President Brian Jones to hold a leadership race “when it is reasonable”.
The Liberals’ performance is a slight improvement over four years ago, when they won just seven seats and were unable to secure the access and privileges that come with official party status in Queen’s Park.
They are elected or run in eight positions.
Del Duca lost to incumbent PC contender Michael Tibolo in Von Woodbridge, who also defeated Del Duca in the same 2018 race.
Tibolo defeated Del Duca by 3,858 votes.
Grits appear to have performed below the average suggested by the latest research.
Del Duca was first elected to a provincial office in 2012 and was Minister of Transport and Economic Development in the Win government between 2014 and 2018.
He became the party’s leader in a race in 2020, quickly overshadowed by the arrival of COVID-19 in Canada.
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