By Pepper Parr
January 6th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie
OPINION
She wins the Leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, takes the Chair at a Mississauga City Council meeting and uses her Strong Mayor powers to to direct planning staff to allow fourplex housing as a right across the city.
With the Leadership in her pocket she works the telephone and pulls in $1,280,000 + in the way of donations to give the party some getting around money.
Meets with the other candidates to learn what they would like to see happen, we know that she had a one hour meeting with Ted Shu, member for Kingston and the Islands.
While Bonnie Crombie has not come out and said she is going to run for a seat in the Legislature she has dropped more crumbs is as hints than Gretal did when she was lost in a forest.
She has met with her Caucus and has begun to talk about the Strategy they will work from once the MPP’s return to the Legislature in February.
She has to recruit a Chief of Staff; our guess is she already knows who she wants.
Three members short of being recognized as a political party at which point the Liberals will have access to research and staffing funds. The provincial Liberals would very much like to find a way to have access to those funds. There are five independent members of the Legislature – most of them have too much baggage to be worth recruiting.
Bonnie Crombie meeting with her Caucus at Queen’s Park
Are there New Democrats who might be enticed to cross the floor? Could the Greens decide to become Liberals – just until the 2026 election takes place?
Politics is the art of compromise and if the Liberals are going to make their point they are going to have to get very creative and be seen is as a party that can get things done.
That process takes place starting January 16th, the day after Bonnie Crombie takes off the Mississauga Chain of Office for the last time. It will be an emotional experience.
The announcements she makes on the 16th will be interesting.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
Why would an NDP MPP consider crossing the floor to sit as a Liberal? The Liberals don’t even have official recognition as a political party. Makes no sense.
Colour me cynical, but I have yet to be convinced as to how Bonnie Crombie is an improvement over Doug Ford. Crombie is as much a “pocket puppet” for real estate developers as Dougie. Mississauga is awash in some of the ugliest, most hideous and bizarre high rise condo developments anywhere in North America. Most of these were planned long before Dougie’s intensification mandate was promulgated. Responsibility for many of them lies at BC’s doorstep.
While the NDP have their faults the truth is their leader, Marjit Stiles, has done an outstanding job as Official Opposition Leader. Some of her caucus members like Wayne Gates, Jeff Burch and Lisa Gretzky actually manage to look and sound reasonable and connected to reality. If they can just manage to corral the lunatic fringe and their anti-Semitic CUPE supporters they might actually be worth voting for.
Why would a chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. Thats it no other reason or agenda. Astute observations on Stiles, Stephen.
Her biggest battle is with the NDP .
An amusing, musing. A 1010 radio pundit offered that, Ford’s attack ads on Bonnie Crombie are funded by “free rent in Doug Fords mind”. P.T Barnum is credited with saying “there is no such thing as bad publicity”. Time will tell if BC will come after DF.