Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie has thrown her support behind Mark Carney’s bid for the federal Liberal leadership, and Carney has reciprocated her gesture by endorsing her.
Just two days before the provincial election, the Toronto Star reported that Crombie would be endorsing Carney for the Liberal leadership, citing their shared priorities during a time of uncertainty.
In a statement posted on X, Crombie said that Liberals in Ontario and across Canada are “feeling a spark” because of the federal leadership race. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, she called Carney the right leader for the current moment.
“He’s a leader who can stand up to Donald Trump, and speak with some authority and some experience on tariffs,” said Crombie.
Carney thanked Crombie on social media and wished her well in Thursday’s provincial election.
“Thank you @BonnieCrombie — for your support, for your strong advocacy to help Ontarians get better access to a family doctor, and for putting economic growth first,” said Carney
“Wishing you the best this Thursday, and let’s keep building!”
Crombie’s endorsement of Carney comes as she signals opposition to consumer carbon taxes and endorses tax cuts.
Carney has a long history of advocating for countries to adopt a carbon tax, frequently commenting in the Canadian media about the need to increase the consumer carbon tax and refrain from issuing exemptions to the tax.
Crombie recently reiterated her staunch opposition to any carbon tax and her support for tax cuts, despite Carney being a dedicated advocate of carbon taxes for several years and his current support for an industrial carbon tax.
“I have been very clear, maybe I was the first Liberal to come out swinging on the carbon tax, we do not support the carbon tax,” said Crombie.
“There will be no new taxes, there will be no tax increases. We will cut taxes, we will cut personal income taxes. We will take the HST off your home heating and hydro. We’re even going to slash small business taxes in half.”
Crombie’s endorsement of Carney comes just days before the provincial election and after several polls have shown an increase in support for the federal Liberals in recent weeks.
A Feb. 16 poll from Leger found that 33 per cent of Canadians would vote for the Liberals, up from the low 20s the Liberals were polling at before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation.
The Leger poll also found that if Mark Carney were Liberal leader, Liberal support would soar to 39 per cent, just one point below the Conservative party.
In contrast, the polling aggregator 338Canada places the Ontario Liberals at 27 per cent support, far behind the Ontario PCs at 45 per cent and above the NDP at 19 per cent.