Yes, they’re still the minivan party. And, no, their new leader doesn’t have a seat in the legislature. And, yes, the next two and a half years before the election are going to be extremely rough. And, no, the new leader doesn’t yet have commitments from the two main guys she defeated to run for her in that election.
But you’ve gotta admit: Bonnie Crombie’s first week as the new Ontario Liberal leader was about as good as it gets.
It started last Saturday with a fairly dramatic three-ballot victory over three other contenders, and it seems to have improved at every turn since then. First-time meetings between new leaders and their caucuses can be awkward, particularly if the new leader is an outsider, as Crombie is. Just recall how the Ontario PC caucus never really took to new leader Patrick Brown (now the mayor of Brampton) after he won that party’s crown in 2015. No such problems for Crombie, despite her having no elective experience at Queen’s Park. She got a long standing ovation at her first provincial council meeting the day after the convention and followed it up by receiving a very warm welcome at Tuesday’s first caucus meeting.
That came after Crombie’s first news conference at the legislature since becoming leader, during which she was variously lively, clever, and modest and clearly showed she wasn’t about to be pushed around by Tory attack ads.
Premier Doug Ford’s party seems spooked by Crombie. As soon as the mayor of Mississauga won her party’s leadership, the PCs hit social media with a barrage of cheap shots, showing her getting out of a Maserati, then listing all the developers she’s taken campaign contributions from. Ford alleged during question period that she had a luxury home in the Hamptons, where all the beautiful people in New York State hang out.
The attacks were galling for various reasons. First, as Crombie pointed out at her news conference, she doesn’t own a car; she drove one of the fleet vehicles provided by the city of Mississauga. Second, she does have a place in New York, but it isn’t in the Hamptons. And she inherited it from an aunt and uncle.
But the most spectacular chutzpah was evident in the Ford government’s allegations that her relationships with developers are too close — this from a government that had to make an embarrassing 180-degree turnaround on its Greenbelt plan, which would have resulted in developers being enriched by more than $8 billion. That scandal has cost the government two cabinet ministers and two senior advisers and prompted investigations by the police and the auditor general. And it’s Crombie who has a developer-relationship problem?
Gimme a break.
Suggesting the new Liberal leader is an entitled elite is a bit rich coming from a premier whose father left him a multi-million dollar family business and who himself has three homes (in Toronto, Muskoka, and Florida).
When asked about this, Crombie took the high road, saying Ford can enjoy his wealth as much as he wants and pointing out she spent some of her youth living in a rooming house with her single mother while the Fords were doing just fine, thank you.
In fact, for two people who are going to be at each other’s throats for the next two and a half years, Ford and Crombie do have a few interesting things in common. They both grew up in Etobicoke. They’re both ambitious as hell when it comes to politics. They’re both terrific retail politicians who draw energy from crowds. And they’re both great political fundraisers. Crombie as much as acknowledged that last point, saying the Tories are out-fundraising the Liberals 10 to one right now. She’s challenged the Grits to raise $1 million by year’s end; although she’s been on the job less than a week, they’re apparently well on their way to doing so.
While NDP leader Marit Stiles publicly offered up a generous welcome to her new competitor, Ford has yet to do so — no phone call, no press release, no words of greeting in the legislature. The two reportedly bumped into each other at a Christmas party Tuesday night. Crombie walked over to say hello to Ford and break the ice. He shook hands, said nothing to Crombie, then joked to someone nearby, “We know each other well.” But no words of congratulations or welcome.
One of Crombie’s sales pitches when campaigning for the leadership was that she had a unique ability to get under the premier’s skin; the relentless attack ads, the nasty shots in the legislature, and the lack of grace in welcoming Crombie to the fray seem to confirm that.
In any event, Crombie has two immediate missions: The first involves wrapping up municipal business, since she’s still the mayor of Mississauga. And she dedicated two days this past week to that, spending Wednesday getting her city’s budget passed and Thursday on Peel Region council business.
The second is determining what to do about the three others she defeated for the leadership. On Monday, before the Liberals’ end-of-day Christmas party, she met Kingston-and-the-Islands MPP Ted Hsu (the only leadership contender who actually has a seat at Queen’s Park).
She’ll meet third-place finisher Yasir Naqvi on Tuesday and runner-up Nate Erskine-Smith on Thursday. Naqvi has consistently said he would seek a seat at Queen’s Park regardless of whether he won. He then told John Michael McGrath and me at the convention last Saturday that he needed a bit of time to figure out his future. I spoke to a Naqvi confidante two days ago who said he’s likely to urge Naqvi not to return to provincial politics, on the theory that he’s already been a senior cabinet minister, in Kathleen Wynne’s government. The thinking goes: Why run for a job you’ve already had? Why not leave politics for a while and make some money?
The Erskine-Smith meeting will be a harder one. Crombie’s version of liberalism in 2023 may be at odds with that of the Liberal MP from Beaches–East York, who spoke candidly throughout the leadership campaign about the fact that he wasn’t sure he’d run in the next provincial election if Crombie won, because he wasn’t sure she was progressive enough for him. If Erskine-Smith wants to be as much of a maverick at the provincial level as he has been federally, Crombie may well prefer that the top two finishers at Saturday’s convention go their separate ways. We’ll see how Wednesday’s meeting goes.
Between now and the next provincial election, in 2026, Crombie will no doubt encounter her share of hard moments and political misery. It’s an unavoidable reality in today’s world of politics. She’s a gifted performer and communicator and has experience at both the federal and municipal levels. However, her knowledge of provincial issues has a long way to go. When she discusses the finer points of health care and education, she seems to be reciting talking points more than sharing any particular wisdom she’s accumulated over the years.
However, both Ford and Justin Trudeau have proven that being a policy wonk is no prerequisite for winning elections. Being a star who can inspire people and motivate the troops is far more important, and Crombie can do that with the best of them.
Her first week on the job might not have been perfect. But it’s hard to see how it could have gone much better.
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