Steven Del Duca

Steven Alfonso Del Duca[1] (born July 7, 1973) is a Canadian politician who is the current leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, serving since March 7, 2020. He previously served as the Ontario Minister of Transportation and Minister of Economic Growth and Development in the cabinet of Premier Kathleen Wynne. He was also the Liberal Ontario MPP for Vaughan from 2012 to 2018.

Steven Del Duca
Del Duca in 2015
Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
Incumbent
Assumed office March 7, 2020
Preceded by	John Fraser (interim)
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
In office September 6, 2012 – June 7, 2018
Preceded by	Greg Sorbara
Succeeded by	Michael Tibollo (Vaughan—Woodbridge)
Constituency	Vaughan
Personal details
Born	Steven Alfonso Del Duca July 7, 1973 Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Utilia Amaral
Children	2
Residence	Woodbridge, Ontario
Occupation	Union administrator

Early life

Del Duca's father is Italian and his mother is Scottish.[2] His paternal grandfather immigrated to Canada from Italy in 1951.[3] Del Duca received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School but has not been called to the bar.[4] He was director of public affairs for the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario, during which he declared support of Israel to be a "progressive" position.[5][6] Previously, he was an aide to Dalton McGuinty when McGuinty was leader of the opposition. He lives with his wife, Utilia Amaral, and their two daughters, in Woodbridge, Ontario.[7]

Del Duca's younger brother, Michael, was killed in a car crash in June 2018.[8]

Provincial politics

In 2012 he ran as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Vaughan. A by-election was called to replace Greg Sorbara who retired earlier in the year. He defeated the Progressive Conservative candidate Tony Genco.[9][10] He was re-elected in the 2014 provincial election defeating PC candidate Peter Meffe.[11]

On June 24, 2014, he was appointed to cabinet by Premier Kathleen Wynne as the Minister of Transportation.[12]

In June 2016, the Ministry of Transportation issued a press release about twelve new stations for the GO Transit network, only ten of which had been approved by the Metrolinx board planning the regional transit projects.[13] The board convened in late June to approve the two additional stations, Kirby GO station for the Barrie line, and Lawrence East station as part of the SmartTrack project. Metrolinx reports stated that the Kirby station would have a negative effect on overall ridership on the line.[13]

Del Duca was nominated as the Ontario Liberal Party candidate to be put forward for the riding of Vaughan–Woodbridge.[14][15]

On June 7, 2018, Del Duca ran for the Ontario Liberal Party in the Ontario provincial election for Vaughan–Woodbridge, and lost to PC Candidate Michael Tibollo.[16] Del Duca was amongst a wave of Ontario Liberal Party MPPs who lost their seat during that election, removing the Liberal Party from government and relegating them to the third party in Ontario's legislature. After losing his seat, Del Duca taught a course at York University from January to April, 2019.

On April 3, 2019, Del Duca announced that he would enter the 2020 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election. On March 7, 2020, he won the election with 58.8% of the ballot vote, having received 1,258 delegate votes.[17]

Municipal politics

Weeks after losing his provincial seat, it was reported that Del Duca would be running to be Chair of York Region in the October 22, 2018, municipal election,[18] but owing to the provincial government's passing of the Better Local Government Act, there was no election for the post.[19]

Electoral record

2018 Ontario general election: Vaughan—Woodbridge
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Michael Tibollo	21,687	50.50	+23.49
	Liberal	Steven Del Duca	13,742	32.00	-25.99
	New Democratic	Sandra Lozano	6,254	14.56	+3.60
	Green	Michael DiPasquale	972	2.26	+0.06
	Libertarian	Paolo Fabrizio	291	0.68
Total valid votes			42,946	100.0
	Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source: Elections Ontario[20]

2014 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Steven Del Duca	33,545	55.99	+4.62
	Progressive Conservative	Peter Meffe	16,654	27.80	-5.49
	New Democratic	Marco Coletta	7,105	11.86	+0.48
	Green	Matthew Pankhurst	1,336	2.23	+0.47
	Libertarian	Paolo Fabrizio	1,277	2.13	+1.19
Total valid votes			59,917	100.0
	Liberal hold		Swing		+5.06
Source: Elections Ontario[21]

Ontario provincial by-election, September 6, 2012 Resignation of Greg Sorbara
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Steven Del Duca	16,469	51.37	-1.65
	Progressive Conservative	Tony Genco	10,674	33.29	+2.05
	New Democratic	Paul Donofrio	3,647	11.38	+0.05
	Green	Paula Conning	564	1.76	+0.35
	Libertarian	Paolo Fabrizio	300	0.94	-0.94
	Family Coalition	Bart Wysokinski	144	0.45
	Independent	Stephen Tonner	118	0.37
	Freedom	Erin Goodwin	90	0.28
	People's	Phil Sarazen	54	0.17
Total valid votes			32,060	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			301	0.93
Turnout			32,361	25.62
Eligible voters			126,323
	Liberal hold		Swing		-1.85
Source: Elections Ontario[22]

References

1. "The Executive Council of Ontario". The Executive Council of Ontario - Newsroom. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
2. "Who is Steven Del Duca, the new leader of the Ontario Liberal Party?". globalnews.com. March 7, 2020.
3. "DEL DUCA: Economic Dignity Charter would benefit Ontario workers". torontosun.com. August 12, 2019.
4. "Who is Steven Del Duca, the new leader of the Ontario Liberal Party?". Global News. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
5. https://bdsmovement.net/news/carpenters-hammer-fellow-unions-israel
6. Lapointe, Kelly (July 21, 2014). "Construction's own Del Duca now transportation minister".
7. Kalinowski, Tess (July 10, 2014). "Ontario's new transportation minister focused on construction, not more plans". Toronto Star.
8. "Former Vaughan MPP Steven Del Duca's brother killed in King Township crash | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
9. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. September 6, 2012. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 1, 2014.
10. "Ontario NDP's by-election win leaves majority outside Liberals' grasp". The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012.
11. "General Election by District: Vaughan". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014.
12. Richard Brennan; Robert Benzie; Rob Ferguson (June 24, 2014). "Kathleen Wynne warns financial cupboard is bare". Toronto Star.
13. Spurr, Ben (September 16, 2017). "What is the Kirby GO station and why did it get approved?". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
14. "Nomination Meeting Announcement".
15. "Twitter re: nomination".
16. "Liberal cabinet minister Steven Del Duca loses to PC newcomer in Vaughan-Woodbridge".
17. "Vaughan's Del Duca wins Ontario Liberal leadership on first ballot". yorkregion.com. March 7, 2020.
18. https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/06/19/former-liberal-cabinet-minister-del-duca-to-run-for-chair-of-york-region.html
19. "Ontario passes bill slashing Toronto city council". CBC News. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
20. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 12. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
21. "General Election Results by District, 097 Vaughan". Elections Ontario. 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
22. "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Vaughan by-election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2014.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history (archived)