Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie to take leave of absence to focus on Liberal leadership bid

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie plans to take a leave of absence from her post at the city to focus on her ongoing bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party, her office said Thursday. 

The mayor informed city council of her intention to step away earlier this week, according to a statement from a spokesperson for Crombie. October 6 will be her last day in office before her unpaid leave begins, the statement said.

In her absence, the city will use the Acting Mayor By-law, a legal mechanism that will see councillors rotate as acting head of council in two-month intervals, the statement said. The acting head will chair council and committee meetings and attend official city events on behalf of Crombie.

The statement said Crombie will spend the coming weeks working with Mississauga's city manager to review "key priorities for council" in her absence, including the 2024 municipal budget.

"The mayor has all the confidence that Mississaugans are in good hands and that council will continue to press forward on the issues that matter most to them including affordability, housing, transit and climate change," it said.

Crombie officially entered the Liberal leadership race in June, saying the party needs to be renewed and rebuilt.

"The Ford government has only made things worse through cutbacks and underfunding of key public services," Crombie said at the time.

"They have the wrong priorities for our province. I believe that the government can play a role in addressing the concerns people have about issues such as health care, education and affordability."

Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative Party issued its own statement targeting Crombie's decision to take a leave of absence.

"It's clear Bonnie only sees being mayor as a backup plan rather than what it is: a full-time job," the statement said. "She's hedging her bets on becoming leader of the Ontario Liberals when she should be serving the people of Mississauga."

Liberal party members will elect a new leader by ranked ballot on Nov. 25 and 26, with the winner to be announced on Dec. 2. The party said earlier this week that roughly 80,000 Ontarians registered to vote in the leadership contest.

Other registered candidates include Toronto MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Kingston MPP Ted Hsu, Ottawa MP Yasir Naqvi and Toronto MPP Adil Shamji. Multiple public opinion polls have suggested Crombie is the current frontrunner.

The new leader will replace Steven Del Duca, who resigned after the party won only eight seats in the 2022 provincial election following a similarly disastrous outcome in 2018.

The first of five Liberal leadership candidate debates will take place in Thunder Bay on Thursday.

The next provincial election is slated for the spring of 2026.