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Bonnie Crombie

Bonnie Crombie (née Stack; Sawarna; born February 5, 1960) is a Canadian politician who has been the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party since December 2, 2023.

She previously served as the sixth mayor of Mississauga from December 1, 2014 until January 12, 2024, and as the member of Parliament (MP) for Mississauga—Streetsville from 2008 to 2011, sitting as a Liberal. From 2011 to 2014, she held the position of councillor for Ward 5 on Mississauga City Council and was a member of the Peel Regional Council. Crombie was elected as the mayor of Mississauga in the 2014 municipal election. She ran in the 2023 leadership election of the Ontario Liberal Party and won on the third ballot. She resigned as mayor on January 12, 2024, in order to focus on her leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, triggering the 2024 Mississauga mayoral by-election.

Background

Bonnie Stack was born to Polish immigrants Veronica Sawarna (née Sega) and Ed Stack in Toronto, Ontario, in 1960. When Bonnie was three her parents separated, and she and her mother relocated to her grandparents' large High Park home. When Crombie was nine, her mother remarried to Michael Sawarna, who adopted Bonnie who took his surname. The family settled in Etobicoke, where Crombie attended Michael Power/St. Joseph High School. Crombie describes her late stepfather as a “solid, hard-working, decent, honest man, and a churchgoer. We became very close. He was my father.”

In 1982, she graduated from St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations. Later, in 1992, she earned her Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business.

Before venturing into politics, Crombie worked as a marketing manager for McDonald's Canada and The Walt Disney Company and later worked as manager of government relations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

She married Brian Crombie, former-CFO of Biovail Corp., in 1984, with whom she has three children. The couple divorced in 2020.

Political career

Federal politics (2008–2011)

Crombie was elected as the MP for Mississauga—Streetsville in the 2008 Canadian federal election, defeating incumbent MP Wajid Khan, who had previously crossed the floor from the Liberal Party to join the Conservative Party.

Following her election, she served as co-chair of the Liberal Caucus Outreach Committee alongside Justin Trudeau and took on the role of the Liberal Party critic for Crown corporations under leader Michael Ignatieff.

In the 2011 federal election, Crombie was defeated by Conservative candidate Brad Butt; Butt received 43.8 per cent of the vote to Crombie's 36.9.

Municipal politics (2011–2024)

On September 19, 2011, Crombie secured a seat on Mississauga City Council through a by-election, succeeding Eve Adams as Councillor for Ward 5. She won by a margin of slightly over 200 votes, defeating Carolyn Parrish and Eve Adams's ex-husband, Peter. On December 12, 2012, Crombie faced charges related to alleged violations of election finance rules from her councillor run, but these charges were withdrawn in February 2013 after the Crown determined that financials needed formal auditing before any charges could be considered.

After Hazel McCallion, the long-serving mayor of Mississauga, retired, the 2014 mayoral election became the city's first genuinely competitive race in years. Crombie, along with former member of both provincial and federal parliaments Steve Mahoney and others, declared their candidacies. Despite Mahoney narrowly leading in polls for much of 2014, McCallion's endorsement of Crombie on October 12 shifted the dynamics, giving Crombie a 25-point lead over Mahoney. In the election, Crombie secured victory with 63.5 per cent of the vote.

Crombie announced her bid for re-election as mayor on October 27, 2017 and emerged victorious in the 2018 mayoral election with 77 per cent of the vote. She secured her third term in the 2022 mayoral election by another wide margin.

Throughout her mayoral tenure, Crombie advocated for the dissolution of the Region of Peel, the upper-tier municipality of which Mississauga is part. In 2023, the provincial government of Doug Ford supported the split.

During a Liberal leadership debate on The Agenda with Steve Paikin, hosted by TVO on November 15, 2023, Crombie declared that she will not seek re-election in 2026, concluding her tenure as the mayor of Mississauga after three terms. She later stated that she is likely to run for MPP in the 2026 provincial election.

After winning the 2023 leadership election of the Ontario Liberal Party, Crombie announced on December 13 that she would resign as Mississauga mayor, effective January 12, 2024, after completing the city's and Peel Region's budgets before stepping down.

Provincial politics (2023–present)

In early 2023, media reports, citing sources within the party, speculated that Crombie was contemplating a run in the 2023 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election scheduled for December. Her active participation was noted during the Ontario Liberal Party's annual general meeting in March 2023 and the Liberal Party of Canada's national convention in May 2023 in Ottawa.

On May 23, 2023, Crombie confirmed the speculation by announcing the formation of an exploratory committee. On June 14, she officially launched her campaign at an event in Mississauga. She took an unpaid leave of absence from her role as mayor of Mississauga starting October 7. However, she returned on November 27 to participate in the city's budget process.

Crombie was considered the front-runner in the Liberal leadership race. She ran on a pledge to make life more affordable, strengthen Ontario's healthcare system, build housing and infrastructure, improving the public education system, and fighting climate change. She was elected party leader at the December 2, 2023, on the third ballot. She resigned as mayor on January 12, 2024.

Parm Gill, the Ontario Minister of Red Tape Reduction, announced his resignation from the Ontario Legislature on January 25, 2024, thereby opening up the provincial seat of Milton. On February 8, Crombie stated in a Global News interview that she was "seriously considering" running for the vacant seat. It was later announced that Crombie would not seek the seat in Milton, but Galen Naidoo Harris, son of former Education Minister Indira Naidoo-Harris, would.

Bonnie Crombie announced on Monday, March 18, 2024, that should she become premier after the 2026 election, she will refrain from implementing a provincial carbon tax as part of her climate policy, diverging from the approach of Trudeau and the federal Liberals.