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Ontario Liberal Party

Bonnie Crombie election Jan 30 2025

Crombie steps aside for provincial Liberal leadership race to start

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The Ontario Liberal Party is now without a leader.

Bonnie Crombie, who announced last September to step down, has made it official.

She says her resignation allows the party to appoint an interim leader and plan for a leadership election.

“As we begin a new year, I believe this is the right moment for me and for the party to move forward,” says Crombie in a statement.

“I am incredibly proud of the work we have done together to rebuild and renew our party. I am thankful to our members, volunteers, caucus, and supporters across Ontario. I am looking forward to spending more time with my family, including welcoming my first grandchild, while giving the party the space it needs to move forward with new leadership.”

Crombie failed to win a seat in last February’s provincial election, despite her party regaining official party status for the first time in seven years.

In a leadership review at the party’s annual meeting in September, Crombie received 57% support to continue, but decided not to continue as leader.

Kathryn McGarry, President of the Ontario Liberal Party, says Crombie helped renew interest in the Liberals.

“On behalf of the Ontario Liberal Party, I want to sincerely thank Bonnie Crombie for her dedication, leadership, and commitment to our party and to the people of Ontario,” states McGarry in a release.

“Bonnie stepped forward at a critical moment and played an important role in rebuilding our party, growing our movement, and positioning us for the future.”

The party, last September, started some of the work towards electing a new leader with the creation of a Leadership Vote Committee to consult with members, research best practices and provide recommendations on how to approach a leadership contest.

McGarry says the party will first appoint an interim leader before announcing when an election will take place.

“The Party’s Executive Council has been working on the details of the upcoming leadership election and will be announcing the date soon,” says McGarry.

“The Ontario Liberal Party remains focused on preparing for the next chapter of our party and continuing to hold Doug Ford’s Conservatives to account.”

Veteran MPP John Fraser, who was appointed the Liberals’ Leader in the Legislature, has twice served as interim leader, including prior to Crombie’s election in December 2023.

Bonnie Crombie

Bonnie Crombie is out. What’s next for the Ontario Liberals?

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Ontario’s Liberal Party leader Bonnie Crombie resigned yesterday after only 57% of her party expressed support for her leadership.

While 57% may seem like a lot, Dennis Pilon, Chair of the Department of Politics at York University, argues it’s a poor showing: “I think people feel that the leader needs not just the majority, but a significant amount of support.”

Now, the Ontario liberals will have to choose a leader for the third time since 2018, following three third-place defeats. Dr. Pilon believes that losing her own riding was a big factor in Crombie’s downfall. “It’s really hard to retain the leadership of a party when you’re not in the house… obviously not winning the election is a failure, but not even winning your seat is even lower,” Pilon says.

Dennis Pilon, Chair of the York University Politics Department.

Voter turnout matters

Ontario’s 2025 election saw 45% of eligible voters show up to the polls… up 1% from 2022. But the two most recent provincial elections have together seen far lower turnout than prior elections: in 2018, turnout was more than 56%.

Dr. Pilon says voter turnout has played an important role in election outcomes.

“In many ways, the provincial government is more important than the federal government. In terms of day-to-day lived reality, the control the provincial government has over health, over education, over the way jobs are regulated: all that kind of stuff is provincial… and yet, people didn’t race to the polls.”

Pilon points out that the province’s Progressive Conservative (PC) Party has a very satisfied and loyal group of voters, while the other parties are currently more dependent on their voters’ willingness to support them.

“Basically, it was an election about Doug Ford. He was larger than life: people knew who he was, they had a sense of what he was about. The others? Yeah. You know, they just didn’t have a sense of who these people were, and what they represented.”

Who will lead the Liberals going forward?

“You’re asking the 64 million dollar question,” Dr. Pilon said when asked who may lead the Liberals. “A great deal of analysis of elections is really kind of alchemy. Nobody knows exactly what triggers a shift in the public sense of which way the wind is blowing.”

Dr. Pilon believes Bonnie Crombie appeared on paper to be an ideal candidate, by blending the Liberal Party’s business and social bases. “She should have been a dream candidate. She should have been able to walk all over Doug Ford.”

But that certainly didn’t happen. “Doug Ford struck a chord with a certain kind of voter. Not because he’s the greatest performer politically, but because he’s the most authentic performer,” Pilon says.

“He comes across as a real guy that average folks can relate to. You know, maybe that’s what the Liberals and the NDP need to be thinking of in terms of the leadership. Maybe a little less on the polished and university educated, and a little bit more on somebody of the people who’s got some life experience that average voters can relate to.”