Photo of Steven Del Duca’s family says everything about the 2022 Ontario election

It was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it dozen or so minutes between the first polls closing and Doug Ford being declared the victor with a majority PC government in the 2022 Ontario election.

The almost immediate call for the PCs was a Serge Ibaka-like block of what was supposed to be a resounding comeback for the humiliated Ontario Liberal Party.

It was all perfectly summed up in a photo of party leader Steven Del Duca and family, the shock, agony, and disappointment evident on their faces — especially that of his expressive youngest daughter — as the results came in.

Not only did the Ontario Liberal Party fail to bounce back from a disastrous showing in 2018, but Steven Del Duca also lost the race in his home riding of Vaughan-Woodbridge.

He was defeated by incumbent PC candidate Michael Tibollo, the same candidate who crushed Del Duca in the last general election.

Del Duca’s career in provincial politics began a decade ago, serving as a cabinet minister in the Kathleen Wynne-led Liberal government from 2014 to 2018.

He was elected party leader in March 2020, tasked with rebuilding the Ontario Liberals after losing official party status with just seven seats won in 2018.

The arrival of the pandemic and the start of lockdown restrictions just a few weeks after the Liberal leadership vote threw a wrench in Del Duca’s ability to connect with constituents, and when election night rolled around on Thursday, his party failed to make any substantial gains.

Del Duca has said that his ability to win a seat had no bearing on whether or not he will remain leader of the party, though he changed his tune after another dismal showing, and resigned as the head of the Liberals just before 11 p.m. on Thursday night.