A former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister is unveiling an ambitious plan to lead the decimated party out of the wilderness.

Steven Del Duca will announce his bid Wednesday for the provincial Liberal leadership by promising to field 30 candidates under the age of 30 across Ontario’s 124 ridings in the 2022 election.

In a letter to party members, Del Duca says at least half of Liberal candidates should be women and the party should scrap its $10 membership fee after its debts are cleared to boost its numbers to 100,000.

“The next provincial election will take place on June 2, 2022 – three years and two months from today. And we have a ton of work to do to be ready,” writes the former MPP.

Del Duca lost his Vaughan riding when Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives toppled then premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals last spring, leaving the Grits with just seven seats after nearly 15 years in power.

While the party, which no longer has official status in the legislature, has yet to set a date for a leadership contest, there is considerable interest in the post.

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Recent public-opinion polls have been encouraging due in part to Ford’s stumbles on issues like funding for autism, patronage appointments and high school class sizes.

Liberal MPP Michael Coteau (Don Valley East) has already declared his intention to run, and caucus mates Nathalie Des Rosiers (Ottawa-Vanier), Marie-France Lalonde (Ottawa-Orleans), and Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood) are also testing the water. Lawyer Tim Murphy, a former MPP, past campaign chair and one-time party president, is being urged by friends to seek the leadership.

But Del Duca is considered a front-runner because of his deep roots in the party and superior organization.

“I’ve been a riding president, campaign manager, (Ontario Young Liberals) campus club president, executive council member, political staff-person, candidate, MPP and minister,” the veteran Grit writes.

“Ontario Liberals must remember that there are no shortcuts to success. There are no easy, magical routes to victory. And no one individual will be able to do what’s needed all on their own,” he continues.

“To me, it’s not about moving our party to the left or to the right. It’s about winning the next election so that we can move Ontario forward.”

Saddled with a campaign debt of around $7 million and more restrictions on fundraising thanks to Wynne’s reforms that banned corporate and union contributions, the next Liberal leader will have a daunting challenge.

The Conservatives have promised to phase out the $2.71 per-vote public subsidies for political parties. Currently, the Tories receive $6.3 million annually while the NDP gets $5.2 million, the Liberals about $3 million, and the Greens around $700,000.

On top of that, Ford has been out-fundraising all the other parties combined, including an event in February that netted a record $4 million.

The Liberals, who will mark the first anniversary of their defeat with an annual general meeting June 7-9 at the International Centre in Mississauga, are mindful they have much ground to cover.

Del Duca wants the party to launch “The Victory Tap,” a fundraising app for smartphones that “enables every member to raise an unlimited number of smaller donations ($100 or less, at a time)” for their riding association or the central party.

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As well, he said the Liberals have to reconnect with the grassroots for policy development to ensure they are reflecting what members want.

“Ontario is bigger than the neighbourhoods around Queen’s Park,” he writes.

“My ambition is based on the unbridled belief that Ontario can be so much more than it is today.”

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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