Steven Del Duca

Del Duca is a first-generation Canadian. His father is Italian and his mother is Scottish.[2] His paternal grandfather immigrated to Canada from Italy in 1951.[3]

He has cited his grandparents as key influences on his political career, stating, “Ontario and Canada gave them a ton of opportunity. I grew up believing… you have to be dedicated, sacrifice, all those important things. But the other half of the bargain is that this province, this country are supposed to give you real opportunity.”[4]

He lives with his wife, Utilia Amaral, and their two daughters, in Woodbridge, Ontario.[5] Del Duca's younger brother, Michael, was killed in a car crash in June 2018.[6]

Del Duca studied political science and Canadian history at the University of Toronto and Carleton University before earning a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School.[7] Steven was not called to the bar in Ontario but has not practiced law. He accepted the position of director of public affairs for the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario prior to graduating from law school.[8][9]

He has been an active Liberal since 1988 when he was 15 and has worked for three decades as a local campaign volunteer, riding president, campus club president, political staffer, campaign manager, candidate, MPP and cabinet minister.[10]

He founded a local group called Go Vote Vaughan in 2006 in an effort to boost voter turnout in his hometown’s municipal elections and worked on a city task force for democratic reform at a time when Vaughan’s local government had a reputation for dysfunction.[11]

In 2008, he served as the fundraising chair for the Annual Vaughan Hospital Fundraising Gala that raised over $1 million. He worked with all levels of government, community leaders and organizations to establish the Greater Toronto Region Economic Summit, which took place in May 2009.[12]

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 (PC) candidate Tony Genco.[13][14] He was re-elected in the 2014 provincial election defeating PC candidate Peter Meffe.[15]

On June 24, 2014, he was appointed to cabinet by Premier Kathleen Wynne as the Minister of Transportation.[16] In this role, he was one of the ministers responsible for the largest infrastructure investment in Ontario history, including $29 billion dedicated to transit and transportation.[17]

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.[18] 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.[18]

Del Duca defended the decision stating that Metrolinx’s original analysis didn’t take into account the explosive population growth planned in Vaughan and Etobicoke, and the transit needs that would accompany this growth. He also noted that a similar economic assessment done by Toronto staff gave the Toronto Relief Line a negative score despite an expert consensus that the project was needed to meet Toronto’s long-term transit needs.[19]

On June 7, 2018, Del Duca ran for the Ontario Liberal Party in the provincial election for Vaughan–Woodbridge, and lost to PC Candidate Michael Tibollo.[20] 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.

Weeks after losing his provincial seat, it was reported that Del Duca would be running to be regional chair of York Region in the October 22, 2018, municipal election,[21] but owing to the provincial government's passing of the Better Local Government Act, there was no election for the post.[22]

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 per cent of the ballot vote, having received 1,258 delegate votes.[23] Under his leadership, the Ontario Liberals have retired their $10 million debt from the 2018 election and nominated an equal slate of male and female candidates across the province.[24]

He has focused his time on publicly-funded education, health care, a clean, safe and health environment, and economic dignity.[25] Key commitments include a plan to end for-profit long-term care and adopt a “home-care first” approach to seniors’ care, a portable benefits package for Ontario workers, and a ban on handguns across the province.[26][27][28] Del Duca has also announced that the Ontario Liberal Party will work to provide equal pay and opportunity for women, create five new provincial parks, fight systemic racism in schools and policing, and boost Old Age Security payments.[29][30][31][32]

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history