Ontario Liberals have not spoken with NDP about coalition but Del Duca says 'mind is open'

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca says that he has not spoken with his NDP counterpart about a formal or informal coalition following June’s election but will have an open mind when it comes to keeping Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party from forming government.

Del Duca made the comment to reporters at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, following the news that the federal Liberals have reached a deal with the NDP that will allow them to continue governing until the end of their current term in 2025 in exchange for moving forward with a handful of policies.

“Under whatever scenario the people of Ontario decide to create on June 2 after each one of us as parties and leaders and teams has had that healthy clash of ideas, I know that Doug Ford is the wrong person for the job,” Del Duca said when asked whether a similar deal could be reached in Ontario.

“Having said that what the people of this province really want to see are the outcomes. They don't want politicians who are focused on themselves. They want us to be focused on them. So you know, my mind is open and I'm prepared to have conversations but for the time being I'm focused on the kind of plan that's going to deliver progress for people.”

The deal between the federal Liberals and NDP is not a formal coalition, as no cabinet positions are being given to Jagmeet Singh’s party.

But it does pave the way for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to effectively govern as if he has a majority, knowing that he will have NDP support on confidence motions and budgets moving forward.

• FULL STORY: Liberals, NDP agree to confidence deal through 2025

For his part, Del Duca told reporters that he has “not spoken” with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath about any sort of governing arrangement should Ford’s Progressive Conservative party fail to secure the majority of seats at Queen’s Park in the June 2 election.

However, he did say that he believes that Ontarians do want to see “parties collaborate and work across partisan lines” on shared priorities.

“I think working across party lines and collaborating is a really important thing to do and so I will continue to push that kind of an agenda because I believe that's what the people of this province want,” he said.

Both Horwath and Green Leader Mike Schreiner have previously said that they would not prop up a minority Progressive Conservative government following June’s election.

But it is unclear if either would be open to any sort of formal arrangement to unseat a minority PC government.