Bonnie Crombie to Step Down as Ontario Liberal Party Leader

Bonnie Crombie has announced her resignation as the leader of the Ontario Liberals after receiving a weak show of support at the party’s annual general meeting over the weekend.

Fifty-seven percent of the delegates at the Ontario Liberal AGM voted against holding a new leadership race, exceeding the 50 percent vote requirement to stay on as leader. However, some party members had called on her to step down if she received less than 66 percent.

Crombie originally stated her intention to continue serving as leader, saying a leadership race would do more harm than good for the party, but issued a resignation announcement a few hours later.

Crombie said she intends to resign after the selection of a new leader.

“Even though I received a majority of support from the delegates, I believe it is the best decision for the Ontario Liberal Party to facilitate an orderly transition towards a leadership vote,” Crombie said in a Sept. 14 press release.

“I want to do everything I can to ensure that opportunity is not impeded by any one person. This is more important than ego. This is more important than ambition. This is about the very thing that unites us all.”

Liberal caucus member Adil Shamji said Crombie met with the caucus after the vote and she took their advice into account when deciding to resign, a move he called the “right one.”

“Today, Bonnie Crombie made a sacrifice to help us rebuild, refocus and get ready. She chose her province over herself,” the Don Valley East MPP wrote in a Sept. 14 X post. “Thank you for giving your heart and soul for our party and province.”

Noah Parker, an organizer with a group of Liberals who had been pushing for a leadership race, said he is looking forward to working on electing a new leader who can help the party chart a course to unseat Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

Parker, who was one of several Liberals elected Sept. 14 to the party’s executive council, also acknowledged Crombie’s contributions to the party in an X post.

“Thank you Bonnie Crombie for your service to our party and our province,” he wrote. “You are an incredibly kind, practical, and passionate politician and leader.  An unwavering voice for a better future—showing grace until the end.”

Ford also thanked Crombie for her years of public service as a member of Parliament, mayor of Mississauga, and leader of the Liberals.

“Politics demands a lot of personal sacrifice, including time away from family and loved ones,” the premier wrote on X. “I want to wish Bonnie all the best in her next chapter.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney also expressed his gratitude to Crombie for her years of public service, referring to her time in office as “a career of dedication and accomplishment.”

“Bonnie has worked tirelessly to build a stronger future for Mississaugans, Ontarians, and Canadians,” Carney wrote on social media. “She’s already made enormous contributions, and I look forward to her next chapters.”

Crombie won the party’s last leadership race in late 2023. She had first entered politics in 2008 as a Liberal MP. She was defeated in the May 2011 federal election and secured a seat on Mississauga’s city council that fall. She became mayor of the city west of Toronto in 2014, a position she held until she stepped down after winning the 2023 leadership election of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Crombie, a longtime businesswoman, also announced over the weekend that she is getting a “promotion” to grandma, now that her daughter is expecting a baby.

The AGM marked the Liberal’s first gathering since the February election, during which the party increased its seat count from nine to 14 to regain official party status. The party did not secure enough support to establish itself as the official Opposition, however, and Crombie failed to win a seat in the legislature.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.