11 Comments
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Robert Smith's avatar

She is not the the first or last to make a wrong decision in the heat of battle. As a Liberal supporter with a huge pulpit, your words are critical at this time. I'm not happy with it either but am willing to cut her some slack. She did own up to it and pull him out, belatedly, but faster than many polititicians in similar circumstances. I hate to see Ford rewarded for his disastrous record and waste of your money and mine.

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Robert Smith's avatar

Disappointed that you would choose 5 days before the election to sabotage the only person on the ballot capable of reducing Fords majority.

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Evan Scrimshaw's avatar

Am I supposed to pretend she’s running a great campaign when she stood by a homophobe for 4 days

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Jenn's avatar

So I guess we’ll get another ford majority. Got it. I’m voting liberal even though I’m in a conservative stronghold. Hell, I’ll crawl through broken glass to vote for a turnip because it’s more competent than ford.

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Stefan Klietsch's avatar

Honestly, the Ontario Liberals and other parties have long had a problem with tossing out candidates too quickly based on media pressure, so I have a hard time faulting Crombie for this. I get that Viresh Bansal made disgusting comments as recent as 2023, but candidates are human and too complicated to have their entire political worth determined by singular misjudgments, and Bansal was willing to apologize.

As I explained in response to Ethan Crane below, the governing class of the party at large is responsible for the lack of a competitive candidacy process for Oshawa. Although I think that Nate would have been a better leader, the OLP currently has a problem of constantly recycling leaders while otherwise keeping in place the same ignorant governing class, and I would oppose blaming Crombie for the election outcome. (I suspect she may resign the leadership of her own accord though, as I doubt she has the energy to persist as leader for another 4 years to then hypothetically serve as Premier thereafter.)

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Simon Harms's avatar

God, only gunning to be the opposition when the Ford government is this garbage is so weak sauce. The Liberals have popular policies, they have the tools to win, what they don’t have is a competent leader. Also, god wasn’t Crombie’s main selling point is that she could contest Ford in the 905? And now the liberals are just barely trying to eke out 2nd place from the NDP. Just pathetic all around.

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Ethan Crane's avatar

I voted for Crombie yesterday.

But I am disgusted by how she handled this candidate’s unforgivable statements. There are other candidates who should also be dumped. It speaks very poorly about her as a leader and also the candidate selection process. There was plenty of time to weed out fools with hateful social media posts. How did this happen?

Note: it is not happening for the Tories.

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Stefan Klietsch's avatar

Just as it did in 2022, the OLP once again imposed idiotic steep candidate application fees in the thousands of dollars, only to then waive those fees at the last minute to fill the candidacy gaps with expedited appointments. The party was practically begging for last-minute appointments by creating a financial penalty against earlier applications. Viresh Bansal was himself appointed last-minute this month.

I would not blame Crombie specifically for Bansal's candidacy, the whole governing class of the OLP deserves to be culled over their political ignorance.

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Lorainne Macdonald's avatar

The NDP/Marit Stiles shared this on FB re: Bonnie Crombie’s plans. Disturbing in the current housing environment!

https://x.com/ONDPPressOffice/status/1894423964031525220

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Keith Lovatt's avatar

She is showing her inexperience.

Can she recover? She wasn’t going to win anyway, based on everything else in this campaign.

I still can’t get over how unprepared she was after six months plus of everybody knowing a “snap” election was coming.

Will she get another chance in four years? Anybody’s guess.

I, too, would have preferred Nate, but the ability to vote was taken away, with only one location in Simcoe North, and no virtual options. Was this suppression or incompetence? No idea, but the effect was the same. I could not vote for my preferred candidate.

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Meowshell AM Bradshaw's avatar

Kenora-Rainy River will be getting an NDP vote and I voted for Crombie as leader.

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