Liberal Steven Del Duca keeps Vaughan seat won in 2012 by-election
Liberal beats former councillor Peter Meffe in campaign fought on issue of city hospital.

TheStar.com
June 12, 2014
Paul Moloney

Fast-growing Vaughan's need for a hospital loomed large but a late campaign controversy wasn't enough to loosen the Liberals' hold on the riding.

Incumbent Steven Del Duca, elected in a 2012 by-election, enjoyed a huge lead over Progressive Conservative challenger Peter Meffe, a former Vaughan councillor.

In the final days, Del Duca apologized for a flyer depicting Tory Leader Tim Hudak walking away from an exploding hospital, after Conservatives flagged the pamphlet as offiensive and demanded a public apology from Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne. There was no further explanation of how the flyer was distributed or who approved it.

Meffe had campaigned hard on the issue, blaming the Liberals for lack of progress on buiIding a hospital near Canada's Wonderland that Meffe said had been promised since 2007. Meffe vowed to expedite the project if elected.

Meffe pointedly noted that the Liberals pushed ahead on a massive new hospital in Toronto, where the Humber River facility is nearing completion near Highway 401 and Keele St.

Del Duca said during the campaign that the province has already announced $49.7 million for planning and design of the new facility, expected to cost about $1.5 billion to build. He said the project shouldn’t be turned into a partisan political issue.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re red, blue or unaligned politically, this is the kind of thing for which the community needs to lock arms and make sure we deliver,” he said.

“We need to get shovels in the ground in 2015. We will do that, but it is really important for everybody to work together.”

Meffe had also criticized the Liberals for dragging their feet on extending Highway 427 northward and expanding GO Train service on the Barrie line, which runs through the heart of the riding, with GO stations at Keele and Rutherford Rd. and Keele and Major MacKenzie Dr. He said GO needs to expand beyond the current rush-hour service and go to all-day travel in both directions.