The Ontario Liberal leadership convention this past weekend revealed a party still struggling to find its footing.
Bonnie Crombie, who only narrowly secured her position in a leadership review with 57 per cent support, announced she will resign once a successor is chosen. On paper, that was enough to stay on, but it exposed the Liberals’ deepest problem that they cannot convince even their own membership, let alone the broader electorate, that they’re ready to govern again.
For months, Crombie insisted she was the one to rebuild the party after its disastrous collapse under Kathleen Wynne and forgettable interlude under Steven Del Duca. But her failure to win a seat in the legislature, coupled with a lack of compelling policy direction, left her vulnerable. Critics within the party had set an informal 66-per-cent threshold for legitimacy. Falling short, Crombie hesitated, then backtracked, announcing she would step aside. For voters outside the Liberal tent, it was another flip-flop from a leader already struggling for credibility.