Next Mississauga mayor should follow lead of Crombie and McCallion, current mayor says

Should today end up being Bonnie Crombie’s final day in office as mayor of Mississauga, she has a clear notion of who she’d like to succeed her as the political head of Canada’s seventh-largest city.

While she didn’t provide a specific name or two during an interview this week with insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura, Crombie, 63, was quick to offer her opinion on what type of person should take the reins, if needed (watch interview below).

“Someone who is equally committed to our priorities; someone who will follow in the same footsteps Hazel (McCallion) and I have created…we’re both heavily engaged in the community,” Crombie said, noting that attending as many public events as possible and being highly visible in the community should be near the top of the priority list.

“My presence at every event — whether it’s the festivals, it’s the ribbon cuttings for new businesses, it’s the parades, it’s the banquets, the celebrations — I think that’s vitally important. Our community expects that of their mayor. They expect you not only to do the day-to-day work at city hall, to shepherd through our priorities, but also be a presence in the community, be that ambassador for the city.”

Crombie, who succeeded the iconic Hazel McCallion as mayor in 2014 and is now seeking the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, to be decided later this fall, added that travelling abroad to conferences and meetings to “close deals for the city and bring new investment in” is also a crucial role any mayor of Mississauga must take on.

“…and it has meant a great deal of investment into our city, attending these conferences. So (the next mayor) will have to be very hands-on; it’s not an office job. We are an ambassador, we are a cheerleader and we’re a constant presence in the community at local community events…and then signing deals for investments as well.”

Crombie, shown in a recent online Angus Reid poll to be the preferred choice by a wide margin to be the next leader of the Ontario Liberals, is taking a leave of absence from her post as mayor starting today (Oct. 6) “…as she undertakes her bid to become leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.”

In her absence, City of Mississauga councillors will assume the mayor’s duties on a two-month, rotating basis. Duties include chairing council and committee meetings and attending official events on behalf of the mayor.

Should Crombie be successful in her bid to become leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, which will be determined in late November, Mississauga would be looking at a mayoral byelection to determine her immediate successor for the remainder of the current term.

The next municipal election in Ontario takes place on Oct. 26, 2026.

Crombie, who served as a Liberal MP from 2008 to 2011 before succeeding McCallion as mayor of Mississauga in 2014, won a third-straight term as Mississauga mayor last fall, earning 77 per cent of the vote in the 2022 municipal election.