Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie says she’s ready to campaign and become Ontario’s next premier, despite Doug Ford being “selfish” for calling a snap election.
On Friday, Ford announced that he will be visiting the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario to call for an election on Wednesday, Jan. 29. If approved, the election date will likely be 28 days later on Feb. 27.
Ford said he’s calling the election amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s looming 25 per cent tariff threat, which could be implemented by Feb. 1, Trump has stated.
“The attack is coming against our families, our businesses, our communities, and with a strong mandate we will be able to fight…to make sure we stop the tariffs,” Ford told reporters on Friday.
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Ford, who has a majority Conservative government, is calling the election almost a year and a half earlier than the anticipated June 2026 election date, which would have marked four years since he was elected in 2022.
Ford is currently serving his second term as premier, since he was first elected in 2018.
However, Crombie argues that Ford already has a strong mandate and that “this is an unnecessary election.”
“He didn’t need a new mandate to spend billions of dollars on COVID or to give away $2 billion to thermal spa to Ontario Place, or a billion dollars to expedite the sale of beer and wine, or, frankly, even the $3 billion he spent on the pre-election cheques,” she said to Now Toronto on Saturday.
“He’s been a failure, and now he wants us to reward him with a third term, when he’s been an utter failure as a premier to provide the basics for people and build the kind of relationships he has needed to build with the United States to be effective today,” she added.
The former mayor of Mississauga said Ford’s decision to call an early election is “reckless” and a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“This is an unnecessary election. It is an expensive election, will cost $175 million and my view is that Doug Ford is only trying to protect himself and his own job, and that’s why it’s selfish. It’s also very reckless at a time where we need certainty, security, calm, stability,” she shared.
PROVINCE WILL HAVE LITTLE SAY IN TARIFFS FIGHT: CROMBIE
Ford said a big reason for calling the election early is to have a solid mandate to fight Trump’s tariffs, but Crombie said he has no such plan.
“In reality, he’s not going head to head with Trump on these tariffs. He doesn’t have a plan for Ontario. He’s failed to protect jobs, and he’s failed to invest in our economy, to protect us and to insulate us. You can’t slap a label on a hat and call that a plan. Honestly, what we need is leadership, not showmanship,” she said, referring to the “Canada is not for sale” hat that Ford wore at a press conference earlier this month.
She added that provincial leaders will have a minor role in combatting the tariffs as it’s more of a federal fight.
“The federal government will be at the negotiating table, not Doug Ford, he will not be negotiating. But what is important is a united team Canada approach that all the premiers come together and input into the plan on perhaps tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, how stiff they should be, which sectors should be affected.”
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But with Ford set to call the election next week, Crombie said the Ontario Liberals are ready for the campaign trail.
“We have more candidates nominated than any other party. We have a lot of money in the bank. Our election campaign will be fully funded. We have a bus that’s wrapped, we have campaign offices. We have our signs printed, and we have all but just a few more candidates to nominate.”
CROMBIE ON WHY SHE SHOULD BE PREMIER
Crombie stated she’ll make for a better premier because she cares about the people and “the basics that they’re (the government) is not delivering.”
She said her main priorities will be healthcare, education, housing and affordability, and argued that she has the most skills and experience out of all provincial party leaders to best help Ontarians.
“I’ve been a business person for 20 years before I even entered politics. I have an MBA. I have a director’s degree. I run my own companies as well. I’ve got experience and now with three levels of government. I was a federal member. I was a city councilor, like Doug for he was a city councilor, but I was mayor for a decade, and I understand how to run the third largest city in this province, the sixth largest in the country.”
She concluded that she’s a “different kind of liberal” who will deliver the essentials that Ontarians need.
“I’m a very centrist liberal. I believe in fiscal responsibility, but I’m socially very progressive, and I believe in providing people for what they need. Let’s provide them with the basics first.”
