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鈥淓ven though I received a majority of support from the delegates, I believe it is the best decision for the Ontario Liberal Party to facilitate an orderly transition towards a leadership vote,鈥� Crombie said in a six-paragraph statement noting she had 鈥渟poken to my family, my colleagues, and the party executive.

鈥淚 have advised the party president of my decision to resign upon the selection of my successor.鈥�

A party veteran at the convention, speaking privately to discuss internal deliberations, told the Star that Crombie 鈥� who failed to win a seat in the legislature in the Feb. 27 election 鈥� met with strong pushback from among her 14 MPPs following the vote when she asked for their support in the wake of the weak leadership review vote.

鈥淚t was a caucus revolt,鈥� the insider added. 鈥淭hat left her with little choice. She was told by some of the caucus members they were prepared to leave caucus and sit as Independents.鈥�

When Crombie appeared on stage around 2 p.m. to state matter-of-factly that 57 per cent was 鈥渘ot the number I wanted,鈥� there were no caucus members flanking her 鈥� a tell-tale sign of discord. She then left the basement ballroom of the Sheraton without taking questions from reporters as planned.聽

A prominent Liberal MPP who was in the caucus meeting downplayed the drama and said Crombie had been hoping for a higher number that would leave no question she could remain as leader.

“Bonnie has high expectations for herself,” said Adil Shamji (Don Valley East), who withdrew as a candidate from the last leadership review to support Crombie. “She’d asked us for advice. For myself, it took a while to process the result. It took a little while for her to process the result.”

“It was a difficult decision fo

r her, but I think she made the right one,” added Shamji, an emergency room physician who said “it’s way too early for me to be able to say at this time” if he will seek the leadership again.聽

Liberal MPP John Fraser (Ottawa South), who has twice served as interim leader and is the leader in the legislature, maintained there was “no revolt” but said “today, Bonnie Crombie did the right thing” and put the party first.

“Bonnie understands that our cause is a collective one. Not one of personal ambition.”

Liberal party president Kathryn McGarry thanked Crombie for being 鈥渢he spark our party needed.鈥�

鈥淯nder her leadership, our party regained official party status in the Legislature and had its highest vote total in three elections,鈥� McGarry said, adding details of a leadership race will come 鈥渁t a later date.鈥�

The next provincial election is not expected until 2029, giving the party some breathing room.

Premier Doug Ford took to social media shortly after the surprise resignation of Crombie, who acknowledged last December on her first anniversary in the job that it had been a struggle聽at times.聽聽 聽

“I want to thank Bonnie Crombie for her many years of public service ...” Ford wrote. “Politics demands a lot of personal sacrifice, including time away from family and loved ones. I want to wish Bonnie all the best in her new chapter.”

The leadership review, which is mandatory following a general election under the party’s constitution, meant that 43 per cent of delegates voted to oust Crombie and replace her.聽

That shocked Crombie backers who were still telling reporters that she offered the best shot at fighting Ford when her resignation email hit inboxes at 4:50 p.m.

The annual meeting 鈥� which officials boasted was the biggest turnout since the Dalton McGuinty era two decades ago and a strong sign of renewal 鈥� devolved into a weekend of political grandstanding and intrigue after a group of Crombie critics called the New Leaf Liberals began urging weeks ago for delegates to dump her. Many were unhappy with the results of the Feb. 27 snap election that gave Doug Ford a rare third consecutive majority as Crombie failed to win a seat in Mississauga 鈥� where she served as mayor for a decade, using the job as a springboard to provincial politics.聽

The New Leaf Liberals set a benchmark of two-thirds support for Crombie to stay on, even though the party constitutional requirement is 50 per cent plus one.聽聽

Nathaniel Arfin, a spokesperson for the group, said its members are “immensely grateful Bonnie Crombie has made the right decision to resign and we look forward to electing a leader who can build a strong Liberal Party we need to beat Doug Ford.”聽

Pressure against Crombie started building last July when federal Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith 鈥� who placed second to Crombie in the December 2023 leadership 鈥� published an anti-Crombie missive insisting she win two-thirds of the Liberal delegates, or resign.

During weekend voting hours, the Beaches 鈥� East York MP chatted with delegates near the room where ballots were cast.

Liberal party president Kathryn McGarry thanked Crombie for being 鈥渢he spark our party needed” and taking the party of almost 30 per cent of the popular vote in the winter election, second only to Ford and ahead of the New Democrats but with fewer seats.聽

鈥淯nder her leadership, our party regained official party status in the Legislature and had its highest vote total in three elections,鈥� McGarry said, adding details of a leadership race will come 鈥渁t a later date.鈥�

The next provincial election is not expected until 2029, giving the party some breathing room.

Early speculation from party members on likely contenders includes Erskine-Smith, Shamji (Don Valley East) and Liberal MPP Ted Hsu (Kingston and the Islands), who also ran in 2023. Don Valley West MPP Stephanie Bowman, who seriously considered running last time but held back and supported Crombie, is also believed to be interested. Another possibility is former federal cabinet minister Navdeep Bains, now a senior executive at CIBC.

Given Crombie鈥檚 struggle to win a seat, caucus members could hold an advantage over outsiders.

The two-thirds support level as a threshold was set informally by former federal Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark in 1983. He won 66.9 per cent in a leadership review vote but decided that wasn’t good enough. He called for a second contest, which Brian Mulroney won.

In an example of the adage that a week is a long time in politics, Crombie last Tuesday dismissed demands from critics that she win two-thirds support to keep her job and noted the constitution requires 50 per cent plus one.聽

“I am confident,” she said at the time, “that the membership will embrace those results, as I will.”