SCOOP: Crombie's army? Packed house for Liberal AGM
Plenty of persians to go around, but New Leafs can't fill a pub
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ABOVE THE FOLD
First in Observer — BONNIE’S BALLROOM BLITZ: The knives may be out — but so are the wallets.
Love her or loathe her — and there are plenty of Grits who do both —BONNIE CROMBIE is giving main character energy and pulling in big crowds ahead of September’s AGM.
Queen’s Park Observer has learned that more than 1,500 delegates have already registered for the high-stakes event — and the early bird deadline hasn’t even hit yet. Not bad for a woman critics say is on the brink.
Cha-ching: At $375 a pop, it’s not just a test of Crombie’s leadership — it’s turning into a sold-out spectacle and a nice little cash injection for the party too.
According to one senior Liberal who wasn’t authorized to dish, but did anyway: “These are numbers we haven’t seen in many, many years.”
Standing room only: The plenary hall at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto holds about 1,800. So while Crombie’s grip on the party may be uncertain, the turnout shows she’s still the main draw. Either way, her backers see this as a defining moment for the party, which has struggled to get out of third place for three elections in a row.
“The excitement and momentum of the party is a good sign for the rebuild post-AGM,” said one operative.
Math that matters: Devoted readers will know that Crombie needs 50 per cent + 1 to stick around — but in politics, the unofficial benchmark is 66 per cent. That’s the number being pushed by the New Leaf Liberals, a loose crew of red rebels who say if she can’t crack two-thirds, she should call it a day.
They even held an event last night at an Indian restaurant on Crombie’s home turf in Mississauga — but it wasn’t exactly a rallying moment. Word on the street is less than 20 folks showed up — and at least three were known to be firmly on Team Bonnie.
One Crombie-friendly insider couldn’t help but twist the knife: “If that’s the revolution, Bon can keep her wig on…Sad!” they texted.
T-minus 42 days until the convention.
FORD HOLDS FORTH — The Premier was in Thunder Bay as part of the government’s BFF summer tour, in which they dole out giant cheques to municipalities that hit their housing targets via the Building Faster Fund. Ford weighed in on everything from Trump’s tariffs to the Campbell’s soup bait-and-switch. The flashpoints:
Hot housing: “You hammered your target. You knocked it out of the park. That ball’s still going,” Ford said of Thunder Bay scoring $880,000 for reaching 143 per cent of its 2024 housing target. We’ll have to take Ford’s word for it — the data is under wraps.
Tariff talk: “I’ll stop there or I’ll get on a rant…” Ford said right before slamming DONALD TRUMP’s tariffs again. “I will fight like I’ve never fought before and we’re going to continue fighting President Trump and his radical views.” He reportedly told PM MARK CARNEY to do the same.
“Carney is trying his best, but this guy [Trump] will say something one day, and he’ll wake up and the cheese slips off the cracker, and then all sudden, he goes the other way.”
Made-in-Ontario: “I didn’t realize we don’t make them [rail cars] here until found out during the trade deal…We need to start making rails and start making…those steel I-beams and aluminum cans….Aluminum cans are my favourite — the Cokes, the Pepsis, the Molson’s, the Labatt’s…”
No soup for you: “They told me that Campbell’s soups are putting a Canadian flag on their cans. They closed their plants here, they moved everything down to the U.S., and they put ‘recipe made in Canada.’ What sort of nonsense is that? Don’t let them hoodwink you…Buy Canadian.”
Rental reform: “Some tenants are trying to extort mom-and-pop landlords. It’s just wrong….Actually, I’m all over the Attorney General about this.”
When it comes to wildfires: “We need a national fire strategy.”
Sweet kicker: “As soon as I get off the plane [in Thunder Bay], boom, there’s Persians. I eat three Persians a day here.x And now you look at my big gut, it’s just going to grow even bigger.” If you know, you know.