Here's how much Bonnie Crombie will make as Liberal leader

The Liberals will pay their — who steps down Friday as Mississauga mayor after nine years in the job — a salary of $185,000 a year, the Star has learned. That will make Crombie the second highest paid party leader in Ontario after Premier Doug Ford at $208,974 and ahead of Ford's cabinet ministers at $165,851.

Despite heading a small caucus of nine MPPs in third place at the legislature, the $185,000 is slightly more than the $180,886 pay packet earmarked for the head of the official opposition, New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles. "The way the party looked at this, it's pretty much commensurate with the opposition leader's salary," said a senior party source who spoke confidentially Thursday to discuss internal deliberations.

The $185,000, however, is a "considerable" pay cut, the source added, noting the money is coming from the party's fundraising efforts because Crombie does not have a seat in the legislature where MPPs earn a base salary of $116,550. As mayor, Crombie earned $293,255 in salary and benefits in 2022 — the last full year for which figures are available — for her role on Peel Region council and for sitting on the board of Alectra Utilities.

She told reporters after winning the leadership Dec. 2 that compensation arrangements would have to be made with party officials and set a fundraising target of $1 million by the end of the year to boost the Liberal war chest for the 2026 provincial election. Ford taunted the Liberals for that comment.

"Their number one concern for their new leader is, 'Let's raise a million dollars because someone has to pay my salary' … that shows me you picked the wrong leader," the premier said in the legislature's question period. Crombie dismissed that and other attacks from Ford's Progressive Conservatives as "lame" and "desperate" attempts to distract voters after their flip flop in the $8.28 billion Greenbelt land swap scandal and subsequent criminal investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

As a result of Crombie's fundraising appeal, the Liberals exceeded the goal and raised $1.2 million by Dec. 31, bringing to the total for last year to $6 million as they look to rebound after disastrous election defeats in 2018 and 2022 and close what she calls a "considerable" fundraising gap with the Conservatives.

More "ambitious" fundraising targets will be set within weeks with milestones for the rest of the year, the party source told the Star. Crombie will be at Queen's Park for regular weekly caucus meetings with her MPPs, but is spending much of her time on the road building support for the party while keeping an eye out for MPP resignations that could present an opening for her get a seat in the legislature.

She has ruled out seeking the party nomination in the longtime Conservative stronghold of Lambton Kent Middlesex, a sprawling rural riding west of London, that became available when Monte McNaughton resigned as labour minister last fall to return to the private sector. Conservatives will hold a nomination meeting there at the end of January with Ford expected to call a byelection soon after..