Del Duca says he's staying on as Liberal leader

Steven Del Duca is staying on as Liberal leader, no matter the result of tomorrow's election, he said on Wednesday.

"Regardless of the results tomorrow, I'm not going anywhere," he said at an event Toronto—St. Paul's, alongside Dr. Nathan Stall, the Liberal candidate in the riding.

Even if Del Duca fails to win his Vaughan—Woodbridge riding, he's in it for the long haul, he said.

"With all the conversations I've been having over the past couple of weeks, people know that this is the start of an exciting, progressive, new, modern movement."

"'I'm excited about what the future has in store for Ontario Liberals, but also for Ontario," he continued. "We need a strong progressive, bold ideas, creative ideas. That's what we brought forward in this campaign. And we're never going to stop."

Del Duca had been asked several times throughout the campaign whether he'd stay on if he lost his seat or if the Liberals failed to form government. Wednesday's answer was the first time he gave a concrete answer.

Del Duca is proud of the work that's been done since he became leader in 2020, and touted some of those efforts at the campaign stop.

"Whether it's paying off our campaign debt, opening up our party, bringing on well over 100 new candidates like Nathan Stall," he said.

The iPolitics/Mainstreet Research polling dashboard currently has the PCs with the support of 35 per cent of decided voters, well ahead of the second-place Liberals, who have 26 per cent support. The NDP are in third with 24 per cent support.

The dashboard currently projects Vaughan—Woodbridge as a tossup, with Del Duca and PC candidate Michael Tibollo both around 40 per cent.

Del Duca's fate isn't entirely in his own hands, though. The Ontario Liberal's constitution lays out four ways a leadership review can be launched.

If Del Duca resigns or requests one, Ontario Liberal members will go to the ballot box.

The third is if the party's provincial council pushes for one.

The final way is an automatic review two years after a general election at the party's annual convention. Should Liberal members vote non-confidence in Del Duca, a leadership election would have to take place within a year of the vote.