Potential Vacancy: Mississauga Mayor’s Bid for Ontario Liberal Leadership Raises Concerns of Unfilled Mayoral Position

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is contemplating a bid for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party. However, this raises concerns among residents as they may not have the opportunity to choose a new mayor during this term.

Speculation about Crombie’s potential bid was confirmed when she launched a campaign website, BonnieForLeader.ca, and formed an “exploratory committee” to consider running for the provincial Liberals. While she has stated that she will not resign as mayor at this time, she plans to pursue the Liberal leadership in her spare time, such as on weekends or evenings. Nonetheless, some worry that her focus will be divided during a critical period as Mississauga moves towards becoming independent from the Region of Peel by 2025.

The potential consequence is that Mississauga could be left without a mayor for a period of five months or longer. The next provincial election is scheduled for June 4, 2026, and the next municipal election is set for October 26, 2026. Conducting a by-election to select a new mayor could be costly, as exemplified by the estimated $13 million price tag of the Toronto by-election held to replace Mayor John Tory.

However, Mayor Crombie mentioned that the council may consider a “rotation” system to temporarily fill the mayoral position. Under the Municipal Elections Act of the province, there are several options available when a council position becomes vacant. Typically, the council can opt for a by-election or appoint an individual to serve until the next election. However, if a mayoral vacancy occurs after March 31 in a regular election year, the position can only be filled through appointment.

The vacancy must be filled unless it arises within 90 days before the regular election’s voting day. In such cases, the municipality is not obliged to fill the vacancy. In the past, Mississauga has had to address vacant council seats. Two by-elections were conducted in 2011 and 2015 to fill vacancies in Ward 5 and Ward 4, respectively. These by-elections cost $458,000 and $285,000, respectively, and took approximately four months to elect new council members.

In 2018, when Ward 1 Councillor Jim Tovey passed away suddenly, the council chose the appointment process since it was an election year. Most recently, when Ward 2 Councillor Karen Ras resigned on January 28, Councillor Pat Mullin was appointed to fulfill the remainder of the term, which lasted eight months.