Could Parrish and Crombie do battle in next mayoral race in Mississauga?

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish says she plans to run for re-election one more time — and it could be an especially interesting race if the city’s previous mayor and now former Ontario Liberal Party Leader Bonnie Crombie decides she wants to make a bid to reclaim the post later this year.

Crombie, who announced her resignation as leader of the Ontario Liberals on Wednesday, effective immediately, didn’t reveal her future plans in politics, if any. In a written statement to the media, she said only of the time ahead that she’s “looking forward to spending more time with my family, including welcoming my first grandchild, while giving the party the space it needs to move forward with new leadership.”

However, buoyed by the results of a poll this past October, Crombie said at the time she wouldn’t rule out another run for the mayor’s seat in Canada’s seventh-largest city. She succeeded longtime Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion in 2014 and won re-election twice before leaving the post in January 2024 to become leader of Ontario’s Liberal Party.

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish.

Parrish, a longtime politician who served on Mississauga city council for 13 years in addition to the same amount of time as an MP in Ottawa, won a mayoral byelection in June 2024 to succeed Crombie.

The Mississauga mayor told INsauga.com in an interview late in 2025 that she planned to serve no more than one more term in the seat.

Parrish also said at the time the notion of Crombie eyeing a return to the Mississauga mayor’s office — as Crombie’s own words indicated — was just fine with her.

She said she’d view such a development as “a fabulous challenge,” adding “I’d love it. We don’t think alike.

“… I would look forward to a debate with Bonnie Crombie.”

Soon after Crombie told Global News in October that she wouldn’t rule out running for Mississauga mayor again in 2026, Parrish said she fielded a number of calls seeking her thoughts about the possibility of an upcoming mayoral campaign that would pit the two veteran Mississauga politicians against one another.

Former mayor of Mississauga Bonnie Crombie.

Parrish told INsauga.com at the time her response was brief and to the point.

“I’d say, ‘well that’s fine, that’s fine. What do you expect me to do? I’m going to run harder’.”

Though Crombie officially resigned as leader of the Liberal Party today, she decided last September to step down after receiving just 57 per cent support in a leadership vote at the party’s annual general meeting.

The former Mississauga mayor lost in decisive fashion to Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a snap provincial election called last February.

A poll conducted last Oct. 22-23 by Liaison Strategies, a national public opinion research firm, indicated Crombie would narrowly defeat Parrish (38 per cent to 34 per cent) if an election for Mississauga mayor were held at that time. The poll surveyed 800 Mississauga voters.

The next municipal election will be held on Oct. 26, 2026.