Steven Alfonso Del Duca (born July 7, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has been serving as the 5th mayor of Vaughan since 2022. Del Duca previously served as the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2020 to 2022 and was an Ontario cabinet minister from 2014 to 2018, first as the minister of transportation and then as the minister of economic development. He represented the riding of Vaughan in the Ontario Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2018. On October 24, 2022, he was elected the mayor of Vaughan,[1] taking office on November 15.
Steven Del Duca | |
|---|---|
 Del Duca in 2022 | |
| 5th Mayor of Vaughan | |
| Assumed office November 15, 2022 | |
| Deputy | Linda Jackson |
| Preceded by | Maurizio Bevilacqua |
| Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party | |
| In office March 7, 2020 – August 3, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | John Fraser (interim) |
| Succeeded by | John Fraser (interim) |
| Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Growth | |
| In office January 17, 2018 – June 29, 2018 | |
| Premier | Kathleen Wynne |
| Preceded by | Brad Duguid |
| Succeeded by | Jim Wilson |
| Ontario Minister of Transportation | |
| In office June 24, 2014 – January 17, 2018 | |
| Premier | Kathleen Wynne |
| Preceded by | Glen Murray |
| Succeeded by | Kathryn McGarry |
| Member of Provincial Parliament for Vaughan | |
| In office September 6, 2012 – June 7, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Greg Sorbara |
| Succeeded by | Michael Tibollo (Vaughan—Woodbridge) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Steven Alfonso Del Duca July 7, 1973 Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Independent[a] (since 2022) |
| Other political affiliations | Ontario Liberal (2012–2022) |
| Spouse | Utilia Amaral |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Woodbridge, Ontario |
| Occupation | Union administrator |
Early and personal life
editSteven Alfonso Del Duca[2] was born on July 7, 1973, in Etobicoke, Ontario.[3] He is a first-generation Canadian, born to an Italian father and a Scottish mother.[4] His paternal grandfather immigrated to Canada from Terelle, Italy in 1951,[5] while his father Benny immigrated to Canada seven years later in 1958, both working in the construction industry.[6] His mother Margaret immigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1961.[6]
Del Duca 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.”[7]
He lives with his wife, Utilia Amaral, and their two daughters, in Woodbridge, Ontario.[8] Del Duca's younger brother, Michael, was killed in a car crash in June 2018.[9]
Education and early career
editDel 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.[10] He was not called to the bar in Ontario and has not practiced law.[11]
Del Duca 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.[12]
In 2008, Del Duca 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.[13]
Del Duca has worked as an executive assistant to MPP Greg Sorbara and was the director of public affairs for the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario before he was elected in 2012.[14][15][16]
Political career
editMember of Provincial Parliament and cabinet minister
editIn 2012, he ran as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Vaughan, in a by-election called to replace Greg Sorbara who retired earlier in the year.[15] He defeated the Progressive Conservative (PC) candidate Tony Genco.[17][18] He was re-elected in the 2014 provincial election defeating PC candidate Peter Meffe.[19]
On June 24, 2014, he was named to cabinet by Premier Kathleen Wynne as the minister of transportation.[20] In 2014, as the Minister of Transportation, he allocated $29 billion dedicated to transit and transportation in the GTA over 10 years.[21]
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.[22] 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.[22]
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.[23]
In January 2018, Del Duca left his position as minister of transportation and took over the Ministry of Economic Development and Growth.[24]
During the June 2018 election, Del Duca ran for the Ontario Liberal Party in the provincial election for Vaughan–Woodbridge, and lost to PC Candidate Michael Tibollo.[25] 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,[26] but owing to the provincial government's passing of the Better Local Government Act, there was no election for the post.[27]
Ontario Liberal leader
editOn 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.[28] 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.[29]
He has focused his time on publicly-funded education, health care, a clean, safe and health environment, and economic dignity.[30] 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.[31][32][33] 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.[34][35][36][37]
2022 Ontario general election
editDel Duca ran in the riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge in the 2022 Ontario general election.[38] After failing to win the seat, Del Duca announced his pending resignation as party leader.[39] His resignation took effect on August 3 with the appointment of John Fraser to serve as the interim leader.
Mayor of Vaughan
editIn August 2022, Del Duca announced he would run for mayor of Vaughan.[40]
On October 24, 2022, he was narrowly elected the 5th mayor of Vaughan.[41] He took office on November 15.[42]
Del Duca served as mayor of Vaughan during the 2022 Vaughan shooting, where six people (including the gunman) were killed and one was injured. Del Duca also attended the candlelight vigil held for the victims of the shooting.[43][44]
Electoral record
edit2022 Vaughan mayoral election
| Mayoral candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Steven Del Duca | 22,699 | 38.06% |
| Sandra Yeung Racco | 21,848 | 36.64% |
| Danny DeSantis | 7591 | 12.72% |
| Paul Donofrio | 2697 | 4.52% |
| Lino Mancinella | 2427 | 4.07% |
| Parveen Bola | 1492 | 2.50% |
| Robert Gulassarian | 880 | 1.48% |
| 2022 Ontario general election: Vaughan—Woodbridge | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Michael Tibollo | 19,340 | 53.78 | +3.29 | ||||
| Liberal | Steven Del Duca | 12,615 | 35.08 | +3.08 | ||||
| New Democratic | Will McCarty | 1,927 | 5.36 | −9.20 | ||||
| New Blue | Luca Mele | 802 | 2.23 | |||||
| Green | Philip James Piluris | 694 | 1.93 | −0.33 | ||||
| Ontario Party | Gerrard Fortin | 304 | 0.85 | |||||
| Populist | Mario Greco | 249 | 0.69 | |||||
| Moderate | Walid Omrani | 27 | 0.08 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 35,958 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 242 | |||||||
| Turnout | 36,200 | 44.03 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 81,090 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | +0.10 | ||||||
Source(s)
| ||||||||
| 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[45] | ||||||||
| 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[46] | ||||||||
| 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[47] | ||||||||
Notes
edit- ^ Municipal politicians in Ontario are elected on a non-partisan basis.
References
edit- ^ "Former Ont. Liberal leader Steven Del Duca elected mayor of Vaughan". CTV News. CTV News. October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
- ^ "The Executive Council of Ontario". The Executive Council of Ontario - Newsroom. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- ^ MacCharles, Tonda (May 4, 2022). "Who is mystery man Steven Del Duca? Here's why friends, rivals and colleagues say not to underestimate the aspiring Liberal premier". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
Born July 7, 1973 in Etobicoke, Del Duca lived there until he was 14 when the family of four children moved to Vaughan.
- ^ "Who is Steven Del Duca, the new leader of the Ontario Liberal Party?". globalnews.com. March 7, 2020.
- ^ "DEL DUCA: Economic Dignity Charter would benefit Ontario workers". torontosun.com. August 12, 2019.
- ^ a b "Benny Del Duca". Vescio Funeral Home. March 4, 2024.
- ^ Wells, Paul (March 18, 2022). "Coffee with Del Duca". Medium. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ Kalinowski, Tess (July 10, 2014). "Ontario's new transportation minister focused on construction, not more plans". Toronto Star.
- ^ "Former Vaughan MPP Steven Del Duca's brother killed in King Township crash | The Star". thestar.com. June 25, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "Who is Steven Del Duca, the new leader of the Ontario Liberal Party?". Global News. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- ^ "Where have all the lawyers gone?". www.lawtimesnews.com. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ Narwhal, The. "Steven Del Duca once halted Highway 413. But is the Ontario Liberal leader a climate visionary?". The Narwhal. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "PAAC Presents Breakfast with Steven Del Duca". QP Briefing. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ Lapointe, Kelly (July 21, 2014). "Construction's own Del Duca now transportation minister".
- ^ a b "Steven Del Duca nominated for Liberals in Vaughan byelection". CP24. August 12, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- ^ Gray, Jeff (May 28, 2022). "Ontario's Liberals were decimated in the 2018 election. Steven Del Duca has worked to rebuild the party, but he's still a longshot for the premier's office". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Ontario NDP's by-election win leaves majority outside Liberals' grasp". The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012.
- ^ "General Election by District: Vaughan". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014.
- ^ Richard Brennan; Robert Benzie; Rob Ferguson (June 24, 2014). "Kathleen Wynne warns financial cupboard is bare". Toronto Star.
- ^ "Construction's own Del Duca now transportation minister - constructconnect.com". Daily Commercial News. July 21, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ a b Spurr, Ben (September 16, 2017). "What is the Kirby GO station and why did it get approved?". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
- ^ "Opinion | Former minister Steven Del Duca: I wasn't meddling, I was building transit". The Toronto Star. December 7, 2018. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "Wynne shuffling cabinet to add new blood and replace retiring ministers". The Toronto Star. January 17, 2018. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- ^ "Liberal cabinet minister Steven Del Duca loses to PC newcomer in Vaughan-Woodbridge".
- ^ "Former Liberal cabinet minister del Duca to run for chair of York Region". Toronto Star. June 19, 2018.
- ^ "Ontario passes bill slashing Toronto city council". CBC News. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
- ^ "Vaughan's Del Duca wins Ontario Liberal leadership on first ballot". yorkregion.com. March 7, 2020.
- ^ "Ontario Liberals say they've paid off $10-million debt from the 2018 election". Toronto. March 5, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ Guardian, Graeme Frisque | Brampton. "Ontario Liberals say 50% of candidates are women, outline 'Equal Pay and Opportunity' plan at Brampton event". Toronto. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "Ontario Liberals pledge to end for-profit long-term care, invest more in home care". Toronto. April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "Ontario Liberals promise $16 minimum wage, portable benefits package if elected". Toronto. March 26, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "Ontario Liberals promise handgun ban, offer few details | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "Ontario Liberals Want To Make It Mandatory For Jobs To Post Their Salaries If Elected". Narcity. April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "Ontario Liberals want to create 5 new provincial parks if elected". Toronto. April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "Ontario Liberals pledge action on anti-racism, including more diverse police hiring | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "DEL DUCA: Ontario Liberal plan puts more money in seniors' pockets". torontosun. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "Candidates in: Vaughan—Woodbridge (113)". Elections Ontario. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ "Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca loses race in hometown and quits". CP24. June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
- ^ "Steven del Duca to run for mayor of Vaughan | the Star". Toronto Star.
- ^ "Former Ont. Liberal leader Steven Del Duca elected mayor of Vaughan". CTV News. CTV News. October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Candidates' Guide - Ontario municipal council and school board elections". ontario.ca. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
- ^ "'It's just unspeakable': Vaughan mayor reacts to deadly mass shooting | Globalnews.ca".
- ^ "More than 150 attend candlelight vigil for victims of Vaughan, Ont., condo shooting rampage". CBC News. December 22, 2022. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023.
- ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 12. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ "General Election Results by District, 097 Vaughan". Elections Ontario. 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
- ^ "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Vaughan by-election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2014.