Mississauga mayor the top choice to lead Ontario Liberals, poll shows

An online Angus Reid poll this week shows Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is the preferred choice by a wide margin to be the next leader of the Ontario Liberals.

The question “Who do you find most appealing as the next Ontario Liberal Leader?” was posed to those who’d consider voting Liberal in the next provincial election.

While 57 per cent of respondents said they are unsure who they’d find the most appealing, 31 per cent said their choice would be Crombie, 63, who’s served as mayor of Canada’s seventh-largest city since succeeding the iconic Hazel McCallion in 2014.

Next up in the Sept. 6 poll were Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith and former provincial cabinet minister Yasir Naqvi, both at four per cent.

Current provincial Liberal caucus members Ted Hsu (three per cent) and Adil Shamji (two per cent) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. 

Liberal Party members will cast ranked ballots on Nov. 25 and 26, and the Party will announce its new leader on Dec. 2.

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Despite Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s approval ratings dropping this week to a historic low in the midst of the Greenbelt controversy, the provincial Conservatives still have a significant lead over their opposition.

An Angus Reid survey indicates that fewer than three in 10 Ontarians, or about 28 per cent, approve of Ford.

Other polling reveals that some 38 per cent of Ontarians say they’d still vote for the Progressive Conservatives, with about 28 per cent saying they would vote NDP and 22 per cent saying they’d check the box for the Liberals.

As Crombie’s campaign continues, critics have said her focus has become divided. A number of people have taken to social media to voice their opinions on the mayor’s campaign trips.

Responding last month, Crombie said her focus is still on Mississauga and that she takes her job as mayor “very seriously.”

Crombie served as a Liberal MP from 2008 to 2011 before succeeding McCallion as mayor in 2014. She won a third term as Mississauga mayor last fall, earning 77 per cent of the vote.