More of same for Ontario Liberals

Members of the Ontario Liberal party have an opportunity to do something different when they select their new leader today, but they probably won’t.

After being decimated in the 2018 election, reduced from 58 seats to seven, the party could have set out on a journey of reform and renewal. Instead, delegates will all- but- certainly hand the job to Steven Del Duca, a professional politician who’s firmly in the mould of former premiers Dalton Mcguinty and Kathleen Wynne, who oversaw 15 years of debt- fuelled spending, while keeping a firm eye on the best interests of the party, whether or not they were also in the interests of the province.

The Liberals were thrown out of office in 2018 for a number of very good reasons. They had lost touch with their constituents. They appeared to have little interest, and less understanding, of those parts of the province that were outside the borders of the Greater Toronto Area. They didn’t listen to advice they didn’t like, were repeatedly caught feathering their own nests and treated tax money like a private ATM invented to fuel whatever project the leadership felt would bolster their public standing. If money wasn’t readily available, they borrowed it, building a debt mountain that eventually ranked the province as the most indebted sub- sovereign borrower on earth. After 15 years under Mcguinty and Wynne, interest charges alone cost Ontarians over $1 billion a month.

In the weeks and months after their defeat, Liberals acknowledged their mistakes and pledged to do better. They had moved too far left, lost respect for the taxpayer and become captive to the world inside the bubble of Queen’s Park. They called for change: new ideas, new people, new energy.

Del Duca is the opposite of that. While he may be energetic — he was early out of the gate in his leadership bid and built a large lead by hustling support before other candidates could get organized — he is very much more of the same. He happily boasts about having been immersed in party politics since the age of 15. His campaign website notes that he’s served as a local volunteer, riding president, campus club president, political staffer, campaign manager, candidate, MPP and cabinet minister. He also served as the executive assistant to former minister of finance Greg Sorbara and as a special assistant to Mcguinty, during his term as leader of the Opposition.

Del Duca is very much in the tradition of Wynne and Mcguinty. He described himself in one interview as “traditionally partisan.” He acknowledged that, having lived his entire life in or around Toronto, he was caught off guard when he visited other parts of the province and discovered they were different. And he described how difficult it was to make good decisions when, as a cabinet member, one hears the same insider advice over and over again.

Maybe that explains why, in his role as transportation minister, he tried to strong- arm Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency, into approving a GO Transit stop in his riding, even though a case study found it wholly unsuitable. The study concluded that the area didn’t have a large enough population to justify the $100-million project and projected that it would increase car traffic by discouraging riders, extend the length of transit trips and create more greenhouse gas emissions. After the stop was approved, an examination found that “Metrolinx overrode ( the case study) and recommended its board approve them because the minister of transportation and the City of Toronto had made it clear they wanted these stations.”

Far from showing remorse, Del Duca insisted he was better aware of the “explosive population growth” in the region and that “making tough decisions” is “what we are elected to do.”

His campaign l i terature is rife with pledges for similar “tough decisions,” though details are scant. He proposes an “Economic Dignity Charter” that would include training and retraining programs for workers, and a “government- facilitated basic benefits package” that would be portable between jobs and cover parental leave, pensions, life insurance, health and dental care. He offers no details on the cost, though he stipulates that “financial incentives” would be offered to business owners.

He is already making spending promises, i ncluding an “Ontario North Action Plan” that would expand the Trans- Canada Highway to four l anes, guarantee access to a doctor or nurse practitioner, finance the installation of charging stations for electric cars and create “a dedicated community infrastructure fund” for northern and Indigenous communities. Again, no word on where the money would come from.

Del Duca’s delegate lead is so formidable that today’s gathering is largely preordained. He appears so certain of victory that he issued a statement a month ago congratulating his rivals on their efforts and expressing gratitude for “the vote of confidence I have received from our party membership.”

There are two years until the next election and the Liberals have serious challenges ahead. It’s unfortunate that they appear determined to appeal to voters with the same tired old approach and attitude that was so firmly rejected in the last election.

Del Duca’s delegate lead is so formidable that today’s gathering is largely preordained.