As Ontario politicians prepare for a possible early election, the provincial Liberal Party has activated the party's “electoral urgency” clause to speed up the search for candidates and avoid being caught off guard before the vote.
In May, Premier Doug Ford refused to commit to a fixed election date (currently scheduled for June 2026), sparking concerns and speculation that the premier might dissolve the Ontario legislature and call a general election in 2025.
On Sunday, Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie asked the party's executive committee to declare an electoral emergency so the Liberal nomination commissioner could speed up the timetable for holding local elections.
An email sent to all constituency association chairmen and obtained by Global News said the party would “accelerate the launch of nominations in a number of constituencies” – a move the party said was taken “at the request of leadership”.
“Logistically this move will expedite the nomination of candidates in consultation with local party members,” party spokesman Carter Brownlee said.
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“The Ontario Liberals are ready to fight in every riding in Ontario — whether that's in 2026 or any time sooner,” Brownlee said.
Preparing for an election is a daunting task. To run a successful campaign, political parties usually need to raise millions of dollars, nominate 124 candidates after a vetting process, consult and write campaign manifestos, hire staff, and recruit volunteers to knock on millions of doors to find support.
While Crombie has invited caucus members to work with other prominent Liberals to develop policy positions on which she could run, the party has yet to name any candidates since Crombie took over as leader.
During the 2022 campaign, candidate recruitment became a burden for the party, which was forced to reduce the number of contenders due to scandals – a point made in the post-mortem report.
“Some believe the party needs to spend more time vetting candidates to ensure that our candidates’ views are not only consistent with the party’s values but also that their ‘grassroots campaigning’ in their respective constituencies is effective,” the report states.
Finding a candidate could also help boost the party's fundraising numbers as Crombie has set a $10 million fundraising goal before the next election to challenge Ford's well-funded Progressive Conservatives.
However, the party stressed that while the announcement would not change Crombie's ability to appoint up to five candidates, it would not increase that limit either.
The electoral emergency declaration does give the party the power to “amend, suspend or vary” nomination rules to speed up the process.
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