Photo Chris Young, The Canadian Press
Ontario Liberal Party leader Steven Del Duca resigned on June 2, noting his party’s crushing defeat.
The Ontario Liberal Party suffered a bitter defeat in the June 2 election. In addition to arriving third in number of seats, its leader, Steven Del Duca, did not win his constituency and immediately resigned. Having done little better than in the 2018 elections, is the Liberal Party destined to remain the second opposition in Queen’s Park or can it once again become an alternative to power?
Posted at 1:00 p.m.
A party worn out by power
After spending four years on the opposition benches, the Liberals are still suffering from the wear and tear of power. They say voters in politics have short memories, but Ontarians still haven’t given up on the 15-year Liberal rule from 2003 to 2018.
During the last election campaign, Del Duca touted his new team of candidates who were to inject new blood into the Liberal ranks. But that was not enough to overshadow his association with his unpopular predecessor Kathleen Wynne, as he had been a minister in her cabinet. Del Duca’s political adversaries did not hesitate to remind the population of this fact and it greatly harmed him.
To restore its image, the Liberal Party of Ontario would do well to choose a new leader unrelated to the former government of Kathleen Wynne. Although the current eight-MP caucus has potential candidates for the leadership in this regard, party officials should not hesitate to seek to convince external star candidates to apply for this position.
A disconnected party
The Ontario Liberal Party has also failed to shed its image of an elitist party. When we look at the electoral map, we quickly realize that the Liberals almost exclusively occupy seats in the two major urban centers of the province, namely Toronto and Ottawa.
The Liberals therefore represent only very wealthy ridings, not representative of the entire province.
The Liberal Party has insisted that its latest election platform was built after extensive consultation with Ontarians, but Ontarians were unconvinced by the rhetoric. There is still this perception in the public that the Liberals infantilize citizens by imposing policies that they believe are best for them. One can think here in particular of the controversial changes made to the curriculum in schools.
Some Liberal strategists have suggested that the party should take stock before a leadership race is launched, to establish the mistakes made in the past. This introspection is certainly necessary if the party really intends to meet the needs of Ontarians.
A biased party
First under Wynne’s leadership, then under Del Duca’s, the Liberals moved away from the center of the political spectrum. When in power, the Liberals increased budget deficits, and in the last campaign they were ready to loosen the purse strings again to create new social programs.
This shift to the left by the Liberal Party had the effect of leaving the field open to Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives to occupy the political center and easily win the last election.
It also had the effect that the Liberals fought against the New Democrats for the vote of left-wing voters and thus found themselves in a bad position.
Given the moderation of the Ontario electorate, it is electorally advantageous for any political party to adopt a centrist position. The Liberal Party must therefore reaffirm its primary identity, that of a party that believes in equal opportunities for all, while acting in a fiscally responsible manner.
All is not lost
All is not lost for the Ontario Liberal Party. This political formation represents a well-established tradition in the province. Over the past 40 years, half of the governments that have come to power have been Liberal. Many Ontarians still identify as Liberals and voted in large numbers for Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party in the last federal election in 2021.
There will come a time when it will be the turn of the progressive-conservatives at Ford to suffer from the wear and tear of power. To prepare for this, the Liberal Party should remobilize its partisan base and ensure that anti-Ford forces do not coalesce around the New Democratic Party, which currently forms the official opposition in Ontario. To do this, Liberal activists will have to choose their next leader wisely. They will have to truly listen to the electorate and demonstrate humility. Finally, they will have to set out to reconquer the center of the political spectrum.