Bonnie Crombie

 ( Official Website ) 

When Crombie was nine, her mother remarried to Michael Sawarna, who adopted Bonnie, and she took his surname, becoming Bonnie-Michelle Teresa Bernadette Stack Sawarna. The family settled in Etobicoke, where Crombie attended Michael Power/St. Joseph High School. Crombie describes her late stepfather as a “solid, hard-working, decent, honest man, and a churchgoer. We became very close. He was my father.”

In 1982, she graduated from St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations. Later, in 1992, she earned her Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business.

Before venturing into politics, Crombie worked as a marketing manager for McDonald's Canada and the Walt Disney Company and later worked as manager of government relations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

She married Brian Crombie, former-CFO of Biovail and the Ottawa Senators, in 1984, with whom she has three children: Alex, Jonathan and Natasha. The couple divorced in 2020.

Following her election, she served as co-chair of the Liberal Caucus Outreach Committee alongside Justin Trudeau and took on the role of the Liberal Party critic for Crown corporations under leader Michael Ignatieff.

In the 2011 federal election, Crombie was defeated by Conservative candidate Brad Butt; Butt received 43.8% of the vote to Crombie's 36.9%.

After Hazel McCallion, the long-serving mayor of Mississauga, retired, the 2014 mayoral election became the city's first genuinely competitive race in years. Crombie, along with former member of both provincial and federal parliaments Steve Mahoney and others, declared their candidacies. Despite Mahoney's narrow lead in polls for much of 2014, McCallion's endorsement of Crombie on October 12 shifted the dynamics, giving Crombie a 25-point lead over Mahoney. In the election, Crombie secured victory with 63.5 per cent of the vote.

Crombie announced her bid for re-election as mayor on October 27, 2017 and emerged victorious in the 2018 mayoral election with 77 per cent of the vote. She secured her third term in the 2022 mayoral election by another wide margin.

Throughout her mayoral tenure, Crombie advocated for the dissolution of the Region of Peel, the upper-tier municipality of which Mississauga is part. In 2023, the provincial government of Doug Ford supported the split.

During a Liberal leadership debate on The Agenda with Steve Paikin, hosted by TVO on November 15, 2023, Crombie declared that she would not seek re-election in 2026, concluding her tenure as the mayor of Mississauga after three terms. She later stated that she was likely to run for MPP in the 2025 provincial election.

After winning the 2023 leadership election of the Ontario Liberal Party, Crombie announced on December 13 that she would resign as Mississauga mayor, effective January 12, 2024, after completing the city's and Peel Region's budgets before stepping down. She was succeeded as mayor by Carolyn Parrish.

On May 23, 2023, Crombie confirmed the speculation by announcing the formation of an exploratory committee. On June 14, she officially launched her campaign at an event in Mississauga. She took an unpaid leave of absence from her role as mayor of Mississauga starting October 7. However, she returned on November 27 to participate in the city's budget process.

Crombie was considered the front-runner in the Liberal leadership race. She ran on a pledge to make life more affordable, strengthen Ontario's healthcare system, build housing and infrastructure, improving the public education system, and fighting climate change. During the race she referred to herself a "a very centrist person", "very fiscally responsible", and "socially very progressive". She was elected party leader at the December 2, 2023, on the third ballot. She resigned as mayor on January 12, 2024.

Following the resignation of Parm Gill from the Ontario Legislature in January 2024, Crombie stated that she was considering running in the resulting Milton by-election, but later decided not to seek the seat.

Crombie announced on March 18, 2024, that if she became premier after the 2025 election, she would refrain from implementing a provincial carbon tax as part of her climate policy, diverging from the approach of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals. The next day, she declined to comment on a proposed federal carbon tax supported by the Liberal Party of Canada, saying "I'm not here to tell the federal government how to do their job." On August 21, 2024, the Ontario Liberal Party announced their keynote speakers for their annual general meeting that included former British Columbia Premier Christy Clark and former Canadian Health Minister Jane Philpott. This move was seen by many as another attempt to distance the party and its leader from Trudeau and the federal Liberals.

On September 21, 2024, Crombie and the Ontario Liberal Party unveiled their new logo alongside their slogan, "More for You".

On December 3, 2024, Crombie criticized the federal carbon tax, describing it as "wrong."

Crombie led the Liberals to a third-place finish in the 2025 Ontario general election. While the party picked up enough seats to regain official party status for the first time since 2018, the gains were not enough to displace the Ontario NDP as official opposition. Crombie also failed to win a seat in the Ontario legislature, placing second in Mississauga East—Cooksville. Nevertheless, she vowed to continue as Liberal leader. On March 1, 2025, the Ontario Liberal Party's executive council voted unanimously in support of Bonnie Crombie remaining party leader.

Crombie received 57% support in a leadership review vote during the party's annual general meeting. This was above the 50% support required by the party's constitution, but short of the 66% many in the party had been calling for. Crombie initially announced that she would be staying on as leader, but hours after the results were announced issued a statement that she planned to resign upon the selection of a new leader. She formally resigned as leader on January 14, 2026, with a successor to be chosen at a later date. Crombie is said to be considering a bid to run for mayor of Mississauga again in the 2026 municipal election, stating "all options are on the table".