Another Liberal MPP weighs run for Ontario Liberal leadership

“I think I can launch a serious campaign,” the accountant and former Bank of Canada board member said Monday, stressing the importance of a Liberal leader having a seat in the legislature — something the last two leaders did not. 

“There is the opportunity to build a coalition. Nate Erskine-Smith is out. Mike Crawley is out. Rob Cerjanec is out,” added Bowman. 

She was campaign co-chair for Cerjanec, the first-term MPP for Ajax, who suspended his leadership bid last week over a fundraising crunch and personal matters.

Erskine-Smith recently quit as the federal MP for Beaches-East York after a failed effort to win the provincial Liberal nomination for an upcoming byelection in neighbouring Scarborough Southwest. He is now considering a bid for municipal office. 

Crawley, a former federal party president and political staffer at Queen’s Park who became a clean energy executive, bowed out of the race months ago despite generating strong interest. 

On Sunday, Bowman spent the day meeting party members to discuss issues and gather some of the 250 signatures required to submit nomination papers.

She began the day at a late-morning meet-and-greet at the Guild Inn in Scarborough, then headed west for an afternoon barbecue with the Halton Hills Liberal riding association and an evening bonfire in Palmerston with the Perth-Wellington association.

Bowman said she began getting calls of encouragement from former business colleagues, party and caucus members following Cerjanec’s departure from the Nov. 21 contest.

“It has been heartwarming,” she added, noting “the main thing is the money.”

The party has set a $150,000 entry fee to be paid in installments and a spending limit of $1 million for each candidate.

There are currently four contestants for the Liberal crown as the party hopes to work its way back into government following a crushing 2018 defeat by Premier Doug Ford that has left it stuck in third place at the legislature behind the New Democrats. 

They are former federal cabinet minister Navdeep Bains, who is widely considered the front-runner and is leading in fundraising; MPP Lee Fairclough (Etobicoke-Lakeshore); policy adviser Dylan Marando; and financial technology engineer Eric Lombardi, a housing advocate.

Bowman, who considered a bid in the 2023 Liberal leadership race won by former leader Bonnie Crombie but did not run, said she hopes to bring attention to economic issues like the high youth unemployment rate under Ford’s Progressive Conservatives.

As the provincial Liberals prepare for the leadership campaign to ramp up after Labour Day, there are meet-and-greets scheduled for Sudbury on July 21, London on July 23 and Hamilton on Aug. 12, with more such events planned in addition to full debates involving the candidates.