With the official campaign just getting underway for the national leadership of the country, it may be an odd time to look forward to the next provincial campaign but for Steven Del Duca, there is no time to waste.
Del Duca announced back in April that he would be seeking the leadership of the Ontario Liberal party and, this afternoon, he was in Thorold to meet the party faithful and business leaders.
After an informal meet and greet with members of the Niagara Centre Board of Trade and Commerce and other local business leaders, he spoke with ThoroldNews.
When asked why he was here today, he said he wanted to come to Niagara Centre to talk to fellow Liberals.
“I enjoyed talking to the people in this wonderful community to discuss the challenges faced by our party but also individuals in their everyday lives,” he said.
With the Liberals scheduled to make a leadership choice in March, Del Duca believes there is little time to waste in making his case for the job.
“I can't believe the disastrous decisions being made at Queen's Park by Doug Ford and his friends," he stated.
"I think they're taking the province badly off course. In the last election, the NDP proved they are not a competitive alternative to the Conservatives. With the Liberals being knocked down so low, they had their best chance,” Del Duca argued.
Speaking of the current Conservative government, he said, "We can't afford to give Doug Ford a blank cheque. With four more years, he will completely destroy Ontario.”
As far as the future of the Liberals in Ontario, the 46-year-old Del Duca realizes there is work to be done but maintained his ability to complete that work.
“The first step is to admit that we were a government that made some pretty big mistakes and didn't listen to people around the anxieties they were feeling. I believe that a modernized, transformed, hard working Liberal party can regain the trust of Niagara voters and beyond and beat Doug Ford in 2022,” he claimed.
Del Duca was the MPP for Vaughan for six years including the final seven months of their tenure as Minister of Economic Develoment and Growth.
Before that, he spent three-and-a-half years as Minister of Transportation.
“As Minister of Transportation I stood beside (former St. Catharrines MPP) Jim Bradley when we announced we would be bringing the GO Train to Niagara,” he recounted.
And his trip to Thorold and Niagara was by design, as he said, “I don't think you can successfully lead a province if you're only going to make decisions that reflect the reality of the neighbourhoods around Queen's Park and in Toronto. We are a big province and the more the leadership candidates get outside the bubble and outside the GTA and travel to places like Niagara Centre, I think the better it is.”
