Ontario Liberal leader Stephen Del Duca has announced his resignation Thursday night after failing to win the Von Woodbridge ride north of Toronto again in the provincial election.
CBC News predicts the current candidate of the Progressive Conservatives, Michael Tibolo, to be the winner. Tibolo removed Del Duca, a former minister in Kathleen Winn’s government, from that position in the 2018 Ontario election.
The news comes on a bitterly disappointing night for Del Duca’s Liberals as Doug Ford’s progressive Conservatives travel to a government with a second majority in Ontario, CBC News Bureau’s draft projects. Meanwhile, the Liberals led by only a few seats.
For an up-to-date list of results in Ontario while the results are being reported, visit the CBC News election tracking tool.
Del Duca became the leader of the Ontario Liberals in March 2020, just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has since worked without a place at Queen’s Park. He hoped the election would signal a return for both him and the Liberal Party, which was reduced to a far third in the legislature four years ago when Doug Ford’s computers won a landslide victory in the province.
Del Duca lost the battle with Tibolo in 2018 by 8,000 votes.
Doug Ford’s progressive Conservatives are moving to a second-majority government in Ontario, projects from the CBC News Bureau. (Nathan Dennett / Canadian Press)
Tibolo has been a cabinet minister for the last four years, but has been demoted twice to lower-level positions. Ford campaigned for him as he drove in an attempt to keep the seat.
On May 20, Del Duca told reporters he would win the ride back. He won it for the first time in the 2012 by-elections.
The last time a leader of one of Ontario’s three major parties failed to win a seat in a general election was in 2007, when then-PC leader John Torrey lost in Don Valley West. The winner of this race was the liberal Kathleen Winn, who became prime minister six years later.
Computers, meanwhile, are gaining momentum in the Toronto area as they seek to retain critical locations in Mississauga and gain locations in Brampton. In 2018, personal computers won almost all rides in the Greater Toronto area, with the exception of three in Brampton who chose the NDP MPP.
Computers that are expected to sweep Brampton, Mississauga
Progressive Conservatives are expected to sweep Brampton and much of the rest of the Toronto area with it. The computers are expected to win Brampton West and Brampton South again, the seats occupied by Amarjot Sandhu and Prabmit Sarkaria, respectively. They also lead to Brampton Center and Brampton East, two seats previously held by the NDP.
Former city councilor Charmaine Williams is expected to win the Brampton Center, which was run by NDP deputy leader Sarah Singh.
Hardip Greval is expected to win Brampton East, taking the place of Guratan Singh, brother of NDP federal leader Jagmit Singh. Brampton North, who was a seat in the NDP until Kevin Yard became independent, is expected to be won by Graham McGregor.
During the campaign, Ford cited the proposed 413 and more hospital beds as a reason for Brampton voters to choose the PC party. The results show that the approach works.
Liberals, meanwhile, have failed to win a single seat in the GTA.
Brampton’s sweep spans Peel as computers are expected to win all six rides in Mississauga. The Liberals campaigned hard in Mississauga, including the last day of the campaign, when Del Duca visited the city. Several Liberal candidates are expected to finish second in their riding competitions in the city west of Toronto.
All eight rides in the York region are expected to remain in the computer column, while four of Durham’s five rides will also remain on personal computers.
However, Oshawa is on the verge of abandoning the trend towards progressive conservatives, as NDP candidate Jennifer French is expected to remain in office for a second consecutive term.
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