Ontario Votes Roundup: Election Day
have to be feeling really good about their campaign. They didn’t pay a price for essentially avoiding daily media scrutiny. They didn’t suffer for some of their COVID lockdown policies. After a raucous first year in government, they righted the ship and now look to be one of Canada’s most secure governments.
In the final hours of this campaign, though, it’s hard to argue with success. It seems to me that the most interesting question tonight is what happens to Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca. The NDP’s Andrea Horwath has had her fourth kick at the can, and I think most people believe that it’s her last.
For the NDP, anything gained tonight will be offset by seats lost. The party is facing tough battles in the 416, the 905 and other regions which could be considered safe territory. Internally, the party is proud of the campaign they ran, but I’m getting a sense of acceptance of how election night is going to play out. As far as I can tell, there really isn’t a scenario in which Andrea Horwath could reasonably stay on as leader.
On Wednesday, Del Duca was defiant when asked repeatedly about his position as leader beyond election night. He indicated that he would be sticking around even if his party loses the election and even if he loses his own seat in Vaughan-Woodbridge .