Steven Del Duca elected Vaughan mayor in extremely close race, CBC News projects
Vaughan #Vaughan
Voters in Vaughan have elected former Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca as their next mayor after an extremely close race, CBC News projects.
Del Duca, who has lived in the city north of Toronto for more than 35 years, beat Vaughan city councillor Sandra Yeung Racco, who has served five terms, by 851 votes on Monday. There were seven candidates in all.
“I know the community very, very well, and frankly, I believe I’m the only one in the race who can say that I’ve proven that I know how to deliver for the community,” Del Duca said in an interview before the polls closed.
There was no incumbent in the race. Former mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua decided not to run for re-election after serving for 12 years . He formally endorsed Del Duca in early October, with the pair signing an accord that would see Del Duca carry on the priorities of the previous administration.
When the endorsement was announced and the accord was signed, Yeung Racco said she was “very disappointed” that the former mayor threw his support behind a candidate that she described as having no municipal experience.
On Monday, Del Duca said his three main priorities as mayor will be fighting traffic gridlock, keeping property taxes low and making sure Vaughan remains a safe community.
He said “stable and experienced” leadership at city hall is needed to work with council in a collegial way to accomplish these goals.
Del Duca announced his candidacy for the mayor’s chair in August, a little more than two months after he resigned as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party after a catastrophic showing in this year’s provincial election.
In that June 2 vote, Del Duca failed to win back the riding of Vaughan-Woodbridge and his Liberals managed to win only eight seats, not enough for official party status at Queen’s Park.
Before becoming Liberal leader in 2020, Del Duca was an MPP and cabinet minister in the government of former premier Kathleen Wynne.
As for strong mayor legislation passed by the Ontario government, Del Duca said he sees the “upside” of having additional powers in place that would help individual municipalities build housing. But he added that such tools have to be used judiciously.
“I think at the municipal level, mayors have to be very, very careful with using tools or using powers that might give the sense or give the impression that council, and more importantly the community, is being circumvented,” he said.
Del Duca said if the province extends strong mayor powers to the City of Vaughan — which may happen next year — he would only consider using them as a “tool of last resort.”