By Allison Jones and Liam Casey in Toronto
Bonnie Crombie, the new leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, says she hasn't seen the attack ads the Progressive Conservatives have launched against her — but she has plenty of thoughts on them.
"I wouldn’t waste my time," she said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press.
"This is a government that is desperate and wasting millions of dollars on baseless ads, (with) false allegations about me, instead of focusing on the priorities of Ontarians."
The radio and television ads were put together very soon after Liberal members selected Crombie as their new leader on Dec. 2, in an attempt by the governing Tories to define her before the Liberals get a chance to introduce her to voters provincewide.
The ads portray her as an elite who will raise taxes and are the type more typically seen in the run-up to an election or during a campaign, instead of 2 1/2 years away from one.
"It really shows a lack of civility as well with the government," Crombie said, noting that Premier Doug Ford never congratulated her on her victory, something that's typically done in keeping with political customs.
The Tories test drove their framing of Crombie on the day of her win as leader of the third-place Liberals.
"She doesn’t get the concerns of everyday people," the party wrote in a statement. "She drives fancy cars and vacations at her home in the Hamptons."
The house was left to her by close relatives who died and while it is on New York's Long Island, it isn't actually in the Hamptons, Crombie noted.
"This is a scandal-plagued government that is desperate to change the channel," Crombie said.
She rattled off a list of policy reversals under Ford, including this year's major Greenbelt reversal and his recent decision to undo the dissolution of Peel Region, an issue Crombie had long championed as the mayor of Mississauga, which is part of Peel.
Crombie is continuing to push for Ford to reverse his reversal on Peel, insisting that removing the upper-tier level of government would cut out waste and duplication, and ultimately save taxpayers money.
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra has said he believes that dissolving the Region of Peel would increase taxes.
Crombie said if there was proof that dissolution would be "very costly for taxpayers" she wouldn't move forward with it if she becomes premier, but she is confident that is not the case. She urged the government to let the transition board it appointed actually finish the work of crunching those numbers before making a final decision.
"I recognize if you’ve listened to Ontarians and made an error, fine, you turn it, but this has been a dozen or so walk backs," she said.
"It's a government that doesn’t do its homework."
Banner image: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2023.
