oNTARIO Parties: 1)Bonnie Crombie resigns as leader of Ontario Liberal Party, effective immediately 2)Ford vows to remove Crown Royal from LCBO to protest plant closure; 3)Manitoba Premier Kinew asks Ontario counterpart Ford to rethink Crown Royal boycott

1)Bonnie Crombie resigns as leader of Ontario Liberal Party, effective immediately

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Liam Casey and Allison Jones, January 14, 2026

Bonnie Crombie resigned Wednesday as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, months after saying she would leave following a tepid leadership vote in the fall.

She initially said she would stay until a successor is chosen, but has now decided on an early exit.

“As we begin a new year, I believe this is the right moment for me and for the party to move forward,” Crombie said in a statement.

“I am incredibly proud of the work we have done together to rebuild and renew our party.”

The former mayor of Mississauga, Ont., decided in September to step down after receiving just 57 per cent support in a leadership vote at the party’s annual general meeting.

“Bonnie stepped forward at a critical moment and played an important role in rebuilding our party, growing our movement and positioning us for the future,” said Kathryn McGarry, president of the Ontario Liberal Party, in a statement.

McGarry said the party will select an interim leader shortly as it works on its leadership process.

The party has not said when that leadership contest will take place, but McGarry said a date will be announced soon.

Several potential successors have said they are considering a bid to replace Crombie and her resignation may make them soon declare their intentions with more certainty.

Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith, who finished second to Crombie in the 2023 leadership race, has said he is assembling a team for another potential bid at the provincial party’s top job.

Ontario Liberal caucus members Lee Fairclough and Rob Cerjanec have also said they are seriously considering jumping into the leadership race when it is called.

Fellow caucus member Ted Hsu, who placed fourth in the 2023 leadership race, has said he will not run again. Former Liberal Party president Mike Crawley is said to be weighing a run.

Crombie held the job for two years, but lost decisively to Premier Doug Ford in the February 2025 snap election he called more than a year early.

Crombie led the provincial Liberals back to official party status after they won 14 seats last year, increasing the seat count from nine.

But she failed to win her own seat in Mississauga, and the party did not form the Official Opposition despite receiving nearly 600,000 more votes than Marit Stiles’s New Democrats.

Crombie came into the Liberal leadership race with great fanfare and an uncanny ability to get under Ford’s skin.

Her leadership campaign received strong support despite a few early missteps. She suggested the idea of doing more Greenbelt land swaps in a Globe and Mail interview before reversing her stance. She also suggested to TVO that she would govern from the right of centre, then walked the statement back.

She beat out Erskine-Smith, Liberal MP and former provincial cabinet minister Yasir Naqvi, and Hsu at an Ontario Liberal leadership convention that went through three rounds of ballot counting.

Crombie contemplated entering a few byelection races, but decided to wait and focus on entering a riding in Peel Region, her home turf.

That opportunity came in 2025. The three-term mayor was confident she could sweep the six seats in Peel Region, but the party failed to win a single seat in the area, including hers.

2)Ford vows to remove Crown Royal from LCBO to protest plant closure

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Allison Jones, January 5, 2026

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will definitely follow through on a threat to remove Crown Royal whisky from liquor store shelves as soon as a Windsor-area bottling plant closes next month. 

Ford first put parent company Diageo in his crosshairs at a memorable press conference this fall when he slowly poured out a bottle of Crown Royal to protest the company’s decision to close its Amherstburg plant.

Diageo is shifting some bottling volume to the United States in a move that will affect about 200 jobs.

The company also has bottling and distillation facilities in Manitoba and Quebec, but Ford says he predicts those facilities will also be shuttered in favour of production in Alabama.

Diageo said in the fall that its Crown Royal products will continue to be mashed, distilled and aged at its Canadian facilities.

Ford says he “can’t wait” to take Crown Royal out of Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores.

3)Manitoba Premier Kinew asks Ontario counterpart Ford to rethink Crown Royal boycott

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Steve Lambert, January 14, 2026

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called on Ontario Premier Doug Ford Tuesday to drop plans for a boycott of Crown Royal whisky, and wrote Ford’s name on a barrel outside the plant north of Winnipeg where some of the whisky is mashed, distilled and aged.

“We understand, Doug, that you get fired up and you say things in public. But we also understand that you do the right thing when you have a chance to reconsider,” Kinew told reporters as he stood in front of several barrels and a truck adorned in Crown Royal’s signature purple.

“I’m asking you to reconsider because this is about sticking together as Team Canada. We know that we’re standing together against the U.S. But a house divided against itself cannot stand. We’ve got to stick together as provincial leaders.”

Ford has said that in retaliation for parent company Diageo deciding to close its bottling plant in Amherstburg, Ont., he will pull Crown Royal from Ontario liquor store shelves starting next month. The Amherstburg closure will affect about 200 jobs.

Diageo has said its Crown Royal products will continue to be mashed, distilled and aged at Canadian facilities, including one in Valleyfield, Que., but Ford has said he feels the jobs will end up in the United States.

The plant in Gimli, Man. employs about 76 people and it buys from farmers in the region. Other politicians have jumped to the defence of the Gimli plant, including Manitoba Opposition Leader Obby Khan, who wrote to Ford earlier this month.

Ford, speaking to reporters at the Ontario legislature, said he spoke with Kinew by phone earlier Tuesday, and maintained plans for the boycott.

“(Kinew) is doing his job. He’s trying to protect jobs in Manitoba. I’m protecting jobs here in Ontario and he respects that. I respect him,” Ford said.

“Crown Royal should have thought twice before closing their plant here.”

Kinew offered to take Ford to a hockey game this Saturday between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Winnipeg Jets in the Manitoba capital.

“I said … if you get on you plane and fly here, I’ll buy the tickets to the Jets game. We can settle this thing, put a smile on the faces of people here in Gimli and just put this episode behind us,” Kinew said.

Ford did not make any commitments.

“By the way, (Kinew) owes me probably a dinner at McDonald’s because I won the last bet, and he wants me to come there and go to a game with him. But he’s a fine gentleman, I’ll tell you that.”

If Ontario follows through with the boycott, Kinew said he doesn’t plan to pull Ontario liquor from Manitoba shelves in retaliation. He said it would not be right to take an action that hurts Canadian jobs.

The Manitoba government is confident Diageo will remain in Gimli for the long term. The company recently contracted with Manitoba Hydro to add a $19-million transmission line to the plant, along with other investments, Kinew said.