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But after voting closed, Crombie stepped on stage in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Centre É«É«À² Hotel, announcing the head count of 2,500 attendees at the Liberal’s annual general meeting — “the largest Ontario Liberal AGM ever!” — as proof of a revitalized party.Ìý

“It’s not about ego,” Crombie said.

“Not entitlement. Not personal ambition. What unites us is the belief that Ontario can and must be better.”

It was unclear if Crombie was referring to her political detractors.Ìý

Rumblings about the provincial leadership ambitions of federal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches—East York) became a subplot of the event, where the mandatory postelection vote would decide whether to keep Crombie in her job or call for a new leadership contest. Ontario’s New Democrats will hold a similar vote when they gather in Niagara Falls next week.

Erskine-Smith came second to Crombie in the December 2023 leadership race. After her loss in this past February’s provincial electionÌý—ÌýPremier Doug Ford’s third majority government winÌý—ÌýErskine-Smith sent out a summer missive that criticized her efforts and demanded she win two-thirds of the vote this weekend or resign. The federal MP spent Friday and Saturday at the event.

Publicly and privately, many Liberals were unhappy with the way the snap winter election campaign unfolded across Ontario.Ìý

An internal party review of the Liberal party’s results offered harsh criticism for Crombie, who failed to win a seat in Mississauga where she served as mayor for a decade, along with the central campaign staff that, the report said, did little to help local riding associations sell their new leader to voters outside of the É«É«À² region.

Still, under Crombie’s leadershipÌýthe Liberals boosted their seat count from nine to 14 MPPs and regained official party status lost after a dramatic defeat in 2018.ÌýCrombie’s Liberals won 30 per cent of the popular vote on election night but it was spread across the province and did not translate that into riding wins. The NDP, with just 18.5 per cent of the popular vote, won 27 seats and remain the official opposition.

Crombie’s failure to win a seat in Mississauga, she told the Star last week, was especially painful.

“It stung. It still does. The city I love. Where I raised my children,” she said.

In her speech on Saturday, Crombie said she met with former premier Dalton McGuinty in August and “he reminded me that the strength of our party has never come from one person, it has always come from its people. From the ideas, the energy, and the determination of Liberals who never give up on Ontario. Looking around this room today, I see exactly what he meant.”

She cited the importance of a Liberal focus on health care, affordable housing, education and community safety.

“That is why I am here. To listen, to learn, and to grow with this party,” Crombie said.

Going into the weekend, Crombie rejected the demand from her most vocal critics who said she must win 66 per cent of the voteÌý— or resign.

The Liberal constitution says its leader needs 50 per cent plus one vote to stay on the job.Ìý

Over the weekend, some called for a focus on moving forward under Crombie’s leadership. With funding from the Liberal’s new official party status, Liberal strategist Andrew Perez said the party now has the resources to move forward as a more effective political machine, hiring more staff to organize opposition to Ford.Ìý

“Let’s build on those gains,” said Perez, a principal at Perez Strategies, a communications and public affairs firm. “And let’s really focus on introducing Bonnie Crombie, who has name recognition in the GTA, but perhaps not across the province.”

Steven Williams, a É«É«À² Liberal and Crombie supporter, called her “our best chance at taking on the (Progressive) Conservatives.”

Williams said he doesn’t believe Erskine-Smith will succeed in his campaign to force out Crombie if she does not win 66 per cent of the vote.

“They’re picking an arbitrary number at two-thirds and saying that they want the highest bar, because that gives them the greatest chance. My focus is a healthy majority and that we all get behind Bonnie. She has heard that not everyone in the party is happy and she will address that.”

The spectre of Erskine-Smith greeting provincial Liberals on their way to cast a ballot before voting closed at noon on Saturday annoyed some Crombie supporters.Ìý

“To me, it’s becoming more and more clear that this is a vanity project,” Perez said of Erskine-Smith and the fledgling group called New Leaf Liberals, who campaigned side-by-side Friday night, calling for a change in leadership.

Such criticisms, saidÌýErskine-Smith, are an “inside baseball spin in a direction to benefit a particular self-interest.”Ìý

Erskine-Smith was asked how he would respond if Sunday’s vote results are a few points shy of his repeated demand that Crombie get 66 per cent or stand down.

“I’m doing the Terry Fox run in the morning, then the Blue Jays game and then back to Ottawa. That’s my focus,” he said, chuckling at his joke.

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