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Bonnie Crombie election Jan 30 2025

Crombie steps aside for provincial Liberal leadership race to start

The Ontario Liberal Party is now without a leader.

Bonnie Crombie, who announced last September to step down, has made it official.

She says her resignation allows the party to appoint an interim leader and plan for a leadership election.

“As we begin a new year, I believe this is the right moment for me and for the party to move forward,” says Crombie in a statement.

“I am incredibly proud of the work we have done together to rebuild and renew our party. I am thankful to our members, volunteers, caucus, and supporters across Ontario. I am looking forward to spending more time with my family, including welcoming my first grandchild, while giving the party the space it needs to move forward with new leadership.”

Crombie failed to win a seat in last February’s provincial election, despite her party regaining official party status for the first time in seven years.

In a leadership review at the party’s annual meeting in September, Crombie received 57% support to continue, but decided not to continue as leader.

Kathryn McGarry, President of the Ontario Liberal Party, says Crombie helped renew interest in the Liberals.

“On behalf of the Ontario Liberal Party, I want to sincerely thank Bonnie Crombie for her dedication, leadership, and commitment to our party and to the people of Ontario,” states McGarry in a release.

“Bonnie stepped forward at a critical moment and played an important role in rebuilding our party, growing our movement, and positioning us for the future.”

The party, last September, started some of the work towards electing a new leader with the creation of a Leadership Vote Committee to consult with members, research best practices and provide recommendations on how to approach a leadership contest.

McGarry says the party will first appoint an interim leader before announcing when an election will take place.

“The Party’s Executive Council has been working on the details of the upcoming leadership election and will be announcing the date soon,” says McGarry.

“The Ontario Liberal Party remains focused on preparing for the next chapter of our party and continuing to hold Doug Ford’s Conservatives to account.”

Veteran MPP John Fraser, who was appointed the Liberals’ Leader in the Legislature, has twice served as interim leader, including prior to Crombie’s election in December 2023.

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PC’s Steal Thunder Bay-Atikokan

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The Ontario PC Party makes history in Thunder Bay-Atikokan.

Kevin Holland, the Mayor of the Township of Conmee, is now a Member of Provincial Parliament for Doug Ford’s majority government after knocking off NDP incumbent Judith Monteith-Farrell.

“I was able to connect with constituents, voters at the doors, at the community centres and at the open houses that we were doing,” said Holland when asked about the win. “It was the grassroots style of campaigning that I think really resonated. It gave me a good opportunity to introduce myself to people one on one so they could get to know who I am and what I am all about.”

Holland has been in municipal politics for three decades and also owns a business.

A shortage of jobs in the riding is something he wants to address once he is sworn in.

“We need to diversify our workforce,” he said. “We have to start building our economy. With a strong economy, we can then sustain our healthy communities. If we don’t have that, then we won’t be able to afford the programs that help our communities.”

Prior to Monteith-Farrell being elected in 2018, the riding was held by Liberal Bill Mauro for 15 years.

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NDP Take Thunder Bay-Superior North

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It’s a first for the Ontario NDP Party in 22 years.

Lise Vaugeois avenges her 2018 defeat to Liberal incumbent Michael Gravelle and picks up the victory four years later in the riding of Thunder Bay-Superior North.

Vaugeois told Acadia News Thursday that the people behind the scenes helped make the victory possible.

“We had a phenomenal team and so many people who stepped up to help volunteer,” said Vaugeois. “Because of that we were able to reach many, many people, probably more than we were able to interact with four years ago, and I think that really made the difference.”

Vaugeois served as a professor with Lakehead University and also owns a small business.

Once sworn in at Queen’s Park, Vaugeois wants to tackle housing.

“There’s a housing crisis across the entire region,” Vaugeois stated. “That is all types and levels of housing that we need. (In Northwestern Ontario) there’s nowhere to put up extra health care staff when they come up here.”

She also says healthcare funding will be a priority.

“I will be fighting to get health care funded properly,” she said. “We need public health care. I think it is appalling that there are moves to privatize our health care and education, we need well funded and strong public health care.”

PC Party candidate Peng You finished second.

Fellow Thunder Bay councillor Shelby Ch’ng wound up in third, but learned a lot in the short campaign.

“I definitely would appreciate more time next time,” Ch’ng told Acadia News. “There are always things that you reflect on following a campaign that you would do differently. The big takeaway for me was seeing how unique and different each little town and municipality is, and hearing everyone’s voice and ideas of what makes their community great. They were so proud to show them off and it was a very nice Northern pride moment.”

Shelley Wark-Martin was the NDP Member of Provincial Parliament in the riding, last elected in 1990.

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Decision 2022: The Autism File

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What will the next government do to support families with Autistic children?

It’s one of many questions on the mind of voters with election day set for Thursday, June 2nd.

Alina Cameron is a mom to a seven year old daughter on the Autism spectrum and shared with Acadia News that there were a few interim funding programs available to families.

“If you had applied by a certain date and had registered for the Ontario Autism Program (OAP), there was a patchwork of little programs that were very targeted to help with certain age groups and certain behaviours,” explained Cameron. “There was also the one-time interim funding, and some families were able to access the funds and use it on therapies. Other families didn’t have access to and for many families, like mine, the funding only covered a small portion of the expenses. But now the program is finished and everyone is waiting.”

Cameron is also involved with the Ontario Autism Coalition as well as the Northern Autism Families group.

The provincial program pledged funds to families if they registered before April 2021 for eligible services and supports.

The amount that a family received was based on the age of the child as of April 1, 2022.

When looking at the platforms for the major parties, Cameron noted the PC Party wants the OAP to remain the same with no mention of it in their platform.

Cameron likes what she’s heard and seen from the other parties, adding “We like that they are willing to work with and build on what exists already. Scrapping the program and starting from scratch would waste more of our children’s time… we don’t have time for that.”

Both the Liberals and NDP have said they will get rid of the current age caps that exist for the OAP, and will make the program truly needs based.

The NDP platform calls for an increase to the budget by $125 million by 2024-2025 and the decision making for the treatment in the hands of clinicians and parents, not bureaucrats.

The Liberal platform doesn’t mention an increase to the budget but does indicate a plan to implement direct billing to families.

The Green Party wants to increase funding and implement the Ultimate Wait Time benchmark for diagnosis and access to services.

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Decision 2022: Thunder Bay-Superior North

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Three of the six declared candidates in the riding of Thunder Bay-Superior North met at Moose Hall.

This debate and the one on Thursday, May 12th at the DaVinci Centre (Thunder Bay-Atikokan) are being put on the Thunder Bay & District Injured Workers Support Group.

Treasurer Steve Mantis moderated the event Tuesday with Shelby Ch’ng of the Liberals, Lise Vaugeois of the NDP and Tracey MacKinnon of the Green Party taking questions from the podium and from those in attendance.

All three candidates said if given the opportunity, they would do away with Bill 124, which was introduced at Queen’s Park in June 2019 and received royal assent in November of that year.

When it comes to the topic of Long-Term Care, Ch’ng said for-profit care is the biggest mistake of the 20th century.

“We knew that for-profit care was terrible for seniors, but it took the (COVID-19) pandemic and (Premier) Doug Ford really messing it up,” Ch’ng added. “The military had to be sent in to change bandages that haven’t been changed for three days. Some patients were being overmedicated or undermedicated, while others were dying from dehydration because they can’t even get a sip of water. It’s absolutely crazy.”

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) was called by the provincial government in April of 2020 to help seven long-term care homes dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks.

Vaugeois pointed to the powers and jurisdiction of the Conservation Authority being changed through a Ministry Zoning Order.

“What it means is that a friend of (Premier) Doug Ford can come in and say ‘I want to build here’ while the Conservation Authority says ‘that’s a really bad idea because you are in a flood zone, and it’s going to create more problems for us’. They no longer have the ability to fulfill their mandate under the new rule that the Ford government brought it,” added Vaugeois.

In the 2021 report released by Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk, between March 2019 and March 2021 the government issued 44 Minister’s Zoning Orders.

Kathy Suutari of the New Blue Party and Peng You of the Ontario PC Party both had empty seats for Tuesday’s debate.

Mantis told Acadia News that Ontario PC candidate Kevin Holland will not take part in Thursday’s debate at 7:00 p.m.

You are encouraged to wear masks at the DaVinci Centre but it is not mandatory and there will be spacing to ensure social distancing.

Election Day will be Thursday, June 2nd

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Gravelle Not Running In June Election

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Thunder Bay-Superior North voters will elect a new member of provincial parliament.

Liberal incumbent Michael Gravelle revealed on Monday he will not run for re-election in June.

Gravelle says he had many discussions with doctors, family, friends and staff about the possibility of putting his name forward again, “To say that this was a difficult decision is a massive understatement, as I had hoped and planned to continue to represent my constituents at Queen’s Park. However, my health, and the treatments I need to undergo in the months ahead have made that plan impossible.”

On April 5th, Gravelle disclosed that his cancer had returned, and he was undergoing treatment.

Lise Vaugeois, who is the NDP candidate for Thunder Bay-Superior North, released this statement:

“I want to wish Michael Gravelle good health, successful treatments and many happy days with his family ahead. I thank him for his many years of service to the community and wish him all the very best.”

Gravelle was first elected in the riding of Port Arthur in 1995 before a name change for the 1999 election.

The next provincial election is set for Thursday, June 2nd.

Other candidates on the ballot include Tracey MacKinnon (Green Party) and Peng You (Ontario PC).

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ON Liberals Want 4 Day Work Week & Regional Min. Wage

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The plan has been laid out for the provincial Liberal Party.

Leader, Steven Del Duca, has unveiled his party’s platform for the upcoming June 2nd election.

Part of his platform is that there would be a boost to minimum wage to $16/hr, but it would be regional. Meaning if you work in a high cost living area, then the minimum wage would be paid accordingly. i.e. Toronto residents could be getting as much as $22/hr according to advocates.

The provincial NDP is promising $16/hr minimum wage by October this year and raising it to $20 by 2026.

He also wants to layout 10 paid sick days for workers. Del Duca said that his plan is part of “economic dignity”.

A proposal for banning employers for requiring a doctors note and to reimburse employers up to $200 a day for workers that are off on sick leave.

Del Duca also wants Ontario residents to have a “portable benefits package”.

The package would be available for all workers, including self employed and contract individuals.

Other parts of the Provincial Liberals plans include new policies on gig economy workers and a two-year stoppage on corporate taxes for small businesses.

He’s also promising a four-day work-week pilot project.

This whole plan would cost around $1.5billion to implement and maintain.

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Doug Ford Avoiding His Job: Del Duca

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The Doug Ford government has dropped the ball for schools.

During a video conference Wednesday, Liberal leader Stephen Del Duca indicated that if the Liberal Party were in power, there would be certain things that would be in place:

  • Make the COVID vaccine a universal requirement for students through the Immunization of School Pupils Act, and run in-school clinics to ensure access
  • Ensure every classroom has HEPA filtration
  • Establish a rapid testing program in schools
  • Provide high quality masks for free to each student and education worker
  • Shrink class sizes by making use of gyms and community spaces as temporary classrooms
  • Implement strong vaccine mandates for education workers while prioritizing them for boosters
  • Launch an education campaign to combat misinformation and promote vaccine confidence among parents

At one point, at the 17.40 mark in the video, the opposition leader said that he believes that parents have such low expectations of Doug Ford’s leadership;

…that people just kind of throw up their hands and say “oh my goodness, I guess this is the best we have for now”…

The full video can be watched below.