Bonnie Crombie said she will step down as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party after receiving a weak show of support at the party’s annual general meeting.
Delegates voted against launching a new leadership race, but only 57% sided with keeping the status quo.
That slim margin was above the party’s constitutional bar to continue, yet well short of the two-thirds some Liberals privately argued would signal a sustainable mandate.
Hours after initially saying she intended to stay, Crombie reversed course and said she would remain only until a successor is chosen.
The decision caps a difficult year for the Liberals and for Crombie personally. After taking the helm in late 2023, she fought an early election and failed to win a seat, even as the party clawed back enough ground to regain official status at Queen’s Park.
The leadership review result was meant to settle doubts about her staying power.
Instead it laid bare the divide between a base that wanted continuity to build on modest gains and a party establishment that questioned her ability to expand the tent before the next campaign.
Crombie framed her exit as a choice in the party’s best interest; in a brief statement, she said facilitating an orderly transition toward a leadership vote is the right path and that the focus must remain on defeating the Progressive Conservatives.
Leadership reviews are binary in the rulebook but far more nuanced in practice. The bar for surviving on paper can sit much lower than the threshold for governing a fractured party.
Several Liberals had signaled that anything close to a coin flip would trigger a reckoning, citing past Canadian precedents where leaders resigned despite winning narrow confidence tests.
Internal critics had set expectations near the mid 60s. The 57% result gave Crombie technical permission to carry on but little practical authority to reset the narrative or attract new voters.
What happens next
The party now moves toward its third leadership contest since 2020. An interim period with Crombie still in place is expected while officials lay out rules, timelines, and spending caps, and while prospective candidates test support across riding associations.
The race will unfold as Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives entrench their advantage and as the New Democrats defend their position as official opposition, the challenge is twofold for the Liberals.
They need a leader who can consolidate the urban gains made this year and break through in suburban seats that continue to anchor PC majorities.
Fundraising and organization will shape the field, the last contest showcased a party willing to experiment with generational change. However, it ultimately chose a familiar brand in a former mayor of a major city.
Insiders will watch whether the next slate is built around sitting MPPs, municipal leaders, or figures from federal politics who can translate national profile into provincial momentum.
The party’s constitution gives broad latitude to design a process that balances accessibility with the need to test candidates under pressure.
Crombie’s exit also forces a hard look at strategy as she tried to pitch a fiscal moderate message aimed at voters impatient with scandals but wary of ideological swings.
The approach delivered incremental improvement but not the surge the party needed. Her inability to secure a seat limited her presence in the legislature and made it harder to define contrasts week after week.
Any successor will have to correct those structural disadvantages quickly, starting with a targeted plan to win a winnable riding and a disciplined economic message on housing, health care capacity, and growth.
For now, the Liberals avoid a drawn out internal fight by choosing clarity, and a narrow endorsement can prolong indecision. A leadership race, while messy, resets expectations and gives organizers something tangible to sell to members and donors.
Crombie’s decision spares the party a months long distraction over whether 57% is enough in theory when it was never going to be enough in practice.
With Ford governing from a position of strength and the opposition space crowded, Ontario voters have not yet heard a convincing alternative on affordability and public services that also sounds credible on the province’s fiscal limits.
That is the lane the Liberals will try to reopen, whether they can do it will depend on who emerges and how quickly they translate a change at the top into a sharper case for power.
