Ex-husband of former mayor Bonnie Crombie runs to succeed her in Mississauga

Voters in Mississauga’s mayoral byelection might do a double take when they look at the updated list of candidates who are entered in the campaign to succeed former mayor and current Ontario Liberal Party leader Bonnie Crombie.

That’s because Crombie’s name, as of Wednesday, appears on the latest list, which increased by two today to an even 20 hopefuls.

To be more specific, it’s the former mayor’s surname only that was added to the slate of candidates on Wednesday. Her ex-husband, Brian Crombie, threw his hat into the byelection ring two days before nominations close this Friday.

A six-week byelection campaign will then kick into gear before Mississauga voters elect a new mayor and Ward 5 councillor on June 10.

Brian Crombie, a former president of the Mississauga Arts Council among other various hats he’s worn, and Mississauga’s most recent ex-mayor were divorced in 2020.

In 2022, he ran in the provincial election in Mississauga South as a member of a relatively new party known as the None of the Above Party.

With nominations for both the mayor’s post and Ward 5 seat set to close this Friday at 2 p.m., Mississauga has never seen so many candidates throw their hats into the ring in hopes of becoming mayor.

Bonnie Crombie was first elected mayor in 2014, succeeding Hazel McCallion, who’d held the seat since 1978.

After successfully fending off all challengers in two subsequent municipal elections, in 2018 and 2022, Bonnie Crombie left this past January to lead the Ontario Liberal Party.

Three current Mississauga city councillors and one councillor who recently resigned her post to run for mayor are also among the 20 candidates entered in the mayoral race.

Carolyn Parrish left her Ward 5 council seat in early March, prompting a byelection for that position, to enter the mayoral race.

Current city councillors Stephen Dasko (Ward 1), Alvin Tedjo (Ward 2) and Dipika Damerla (Ward 7) are running to succeed Crombie as well.

Others entered in the race are:

• Zulfiqar Ali
• Diya Atassi
• Jamie Dookie
• Frank Fang
• Winston Harding
• Sara Iqbal
• Syed Jaffery
• Mitchell MacEachern
• Sinisa Mandrapa
• Mike Matulewicz
• Peter McCallion
• David Shaw
• George Tavares
• Peter Tolias
• Nathalie Xian Yi Yan

The winner among mayoral hopefuls will become the seventh mayor of Mississauga, following Robert Speck (1968-72), Chic Murray (1972-73), Martin Dobkin (1973-76), Ron Searle (1976-78), Hazel McCallion (1978-2014) and Bonnie Crombie (2014-24).