'More for you' to be Ontario Liberals' new message as Bonnie Crombie tries to kick-start party

LONDON, ONT. — “More for you” is the new message as Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie looks to kick-start the party’s fortunes and get ready for a provincial election that could be called sooner than expected. In an exclusive, sit-down interview with the Star, Crombie also said a new ad — one that she’s just wrapped up filming — will begin airing when the legislature resumes in late October so Ontarians can get to know her and what direction the party is going in.

But experts say Crombie faces a tough road ahead, with the party running a distant second in most polls and feeling the weight of the federal Liberals’ woes as it tries to rebuild after back-to-back dismal showings in the last two provincial elections. “We truly believe the only people getting ahead in Ontario today are the wealthy friends, rich insiders. We’ve seen that time and time again,” Crombie said, referring to a number of controversies including the Ford government’s recent decision to speed up beer and cooler sales in corner stores at a cost it has pegged at $225 million, but which critics have estimated to be much higher.



” ...

It’s the lobbyists, it’s the well-connected, rich insiders, friends of the premier,” said Crombie, adding the Liberals will focus on the theme “it’s going to be less for them, more for you.” In her spirited speech Saturday to the more-than 1,000 party faithful gathered here for their annual meeting and policy convention, Crombie said the top priority of a Liberal government would be fixing Ontario’s health system and ensuring everyone has a family doctor. “Our hospital hallways are crammed with patients who can’t get care — 2,000 people, every single day, here in Ontario lay on stretchers in break rooms or crammed in corridors while they wait for hospital care,” she said.

” ...

Instead of fixing health care, Doug spends his time on a billion-dollar scheme to put beer in the 7-Eleven a bit sooner. It’s time for a government in Ontario that’s focused on you.” Crombie, who spoke of her humble roots as the child of single mom who grew up in her family’s rooming house, said “too many people are struggling to pay the bills in the province .

.. that’s not who we are.

That’s not how things should be. People deserve more — and we’re going to get it for them.” Some insiders are frustrated about why the Liberal leader, who was elected nine months ago, has not been more visible, saying Crombie needs to boost her public profile — especially if an election is called earlier than 2026.

But Jonathan Rose, head of the political studies department at Queen’s University, said “if she’s keeping a low profile because she is working with party leaders and party presidents across the province, and candidates, and if she’s keeping a low profile because she’s ensuring that she is election-ready in terms of fundraising ...

that’s a great thing at this stage.” But the danger, he added, is that “she runs the risk of being defined by the government ..

. and if there’s no alternative, competing messaging, that messaging will stick.” Since becoming leader, Crombie said she’s spent time with her caucus, been at Queen’s Park and travelled “to the key ridings that were important for us, (and is) continuing to get to know stakeholders and their issues.

” She said she’s spoken to people across the province, and attended dozens of events over the summer. She told the Star she’s also spent time in rural areas, listening to voters there “to see how we can better speak to those communities.” Crombie also said the PC’s efforts, using attack ads to paint her as someone who is out of touch and who would raise taxes, haven’t worked.

The Liberals, which now have confirmed or soon-to-be confirmed candidates in 19 ridings, also unveiled a new logo at the weekend convention — held in a city that was a one-time Liberal stronghold where all three city ridings have gone to the NDP in the last decade, with the PCs holding Elgin-Middlesex-London. Crombie said she feels the party had momentum coming into the weekend convention after Thursday’s byelection in the Bay of Quinte riding, where Liberal candidate Sean Kelly came in second but boosted the party’s performance well beyond its results in the riding in the 2022 general election. “I’m delighted,” she said.

“I mean, obviously you always want to win, but I think it demonstrates now, a second or third time, that we really are the party that people are looking for if they’re not going to vote for Doug Ford, and they want to see a change of government.”.