It appears Bonnie Crombie has decided to take a leave of absence as mayor of Mississauga to focus on her bid to become the next leader of the Ontario Liberal party.

The leave will reportedly begin October 7th, with an unnamed Toronto Star source calling it the natural next step.

Mississauga city council is expected to appoint an interim mayor in Crombie’s absence.

Bonnie Crombie is the presumed front runner among five candidates and is claiming almost half the party’s 80,000 strong membership list is supporting her.

Leadership rival Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith is casting doubts on what he calls inflated membership claims from Crombie’s camp and others.

Also running to unseat Doug Ford in the 2026 provincial election are Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi, and Liberal MPPs Ted Hsu and Dr. Adil Shamji.

When Crombie joined Zoomer Radio’s Fight Back with Libby Znaimer back in late May, she spoke about priority issues for mature voters.

“I think Zoomers can count on me to have my eye on the lens of programs and services that would benefit all of us at our generation, and I will say it’s the healthcare system and the long term care system that would need attention the most. We know that our hospitals are overburdened and their underfunded. There are not enough long term care centres,” Crombie explained.

Liberal party members vote on a new leader the final weekend of November.

The winner will be announced December 2nd at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre.