TORONTO – Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie says she intends to try again to win a seat in the legislature, but she won’t ask any caucus members to step aside to open up a riding for her.
In last week’s election, the Liberals increased their number of seats above the threshold needed for official party status in the legislature for the first time since 2018, but the party also ended up in third place and Crombie didn’t win a seat.
Crombie, who was mayor of Mississauga for three terms before becoming provincial Liberal leader in 2023, ran in Mississauga East-Cooksville, where the Progressive Conservative candidate won by 1,210 votes.
Crombie is framing the Liberals’ election result as positive, referring to the party as “the people’s opposition” because they had the second-highest percentage of the popular vote, though the NDP won more seats and therefore will form official Opposition.
However, she would like the party to conduct a post-election analysis of the results to see what it could have done differently and what it should do better next time.
Crombie says there will be a leadership review at some point, but for now the party’s executive council and the 14-member caucus voted to support her continuing on as leader.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2025.
