TORONTO – Bonnie Crombie has been the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party since late 2023.
Early years: Crombie grew up as an only child in a rooming house in Toronto’s west end with her mother and grandparents. Her father lived with mental health and alcohol addiction issues and died in a Toronto homeless shelter in the 1990s.
Family: Crombie has three children with her former husband, Brian Crombie.
Before politics: Crombie worked in marketing for McDonalds and the Walt Disney Company before moving to government relations at the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
Politics: Crombie became a Young Liberal at age 15 and has been a Liberal her entire life. She became a member of Parliament in Ottawa in 2008, but lost her federal Mississauga-Streetsville riding in 2011. She won a tight race in 2011 to become a councillor in Mississauga, Ont. After an endorsement from longtime Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, Crombie cruised to the mayorship in 2014. She held that post until resigning in early 2024 after winning the Liberal leadership race the month before.
Quote: “Our health-care system is crumbling. Our schools are crumbling. We have the highest debt, the highest deficit on record. The unemployment rate is the highest in a decade. Two million people are using food banks, and (Doug Ford) is concerned about wasting $2 billion to get beer and wine to the corner stores. To be focused on the priorities of Ontarians, and the number one priority, in my view, is to ensure that everyone has access to a family doctor.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2025.
