Bains registered Monday with Elections Ontario to run in the Ontario Liberal leadership race, formally launching a bid that had been the subject of speculation for weeks after QP Briefing and iPolitics first reported in April that senior Liberals were encouraging him to enter the contest.

The province, Ford said, would intervene in support of the region. He said that legislation invoking Section 33 of the Charter would only come later, if necessary.

Mulroney, who currently serves as Ontario’s Treasury Board president and minister of Francophone affairs, said the decision followed a period of personal reflection prompted by the death of her father, former prime minister Brian Mulroney, and a major transition in family life.

Erskine-Smith was vying to represent the provincial party in the upcoming Scarborough Southwest byelection but lost a nomination race on May 9 to business owner Ahsanul Hafiz by 19 votes.

The race, won by candidate Ahsanul Hafiz over soon-to-be ex-federal Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith by just 19 votes, has triggered a broader debate inside Ontario politics about how parties choose candidates, who should be allowed to vote in those contests, and whether private political organizations can continue policing themselves.

Among the measures is a fast-tracked amendment to Toronto’s municipal code that would explicitly ban mini-motorcycles and other motorized vehicles from bike lanes, cycle tracks and multi-use trails.

The Ontario Liberal Party has indicated constitutional amendments will not be considered until the party’s next annual general meeting, expected in 2027, after the current leadership race concludes.