Ontario Liberals are down but far from out when it comes to ruling the province

Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca on the campaign trail during the June 2022 election in which he failed to stop Doug Ford. The Liberals only won eight seats and Del Duca stepped down, but the party still has a future in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

The last two elections have not been kind to the Ontario Liberals, constituting the party’s worst electoral performances since 1943.

This string of defeats has produced soul-searching among partisans and political pundits that tends to ensue when a major party loses power. Yet this time, there’s also an atmosphere of existential dread.