Ontario Liberal voting pool shrinks for third leadership vote in six years - Toronto Star

A party insider sees 'leadership fatigue' after the 2020 and 2023 races.

Ontario Liberal Party leadership candidate Lee Fairclough prior to the Ontario Liberal leadership debate in Brampton, Ont, on Monday, August 10, 2026. 

When members of the Ontario Liberal party pick a new boss Nov. 21 to go up against Premier Doug Ford, there will be about half the number of eligible voters as their last leadership contest three years ago.

While party officials insist that’s not a bad thing because much-needed reforms have been implemented, some insiders say it’s in part because this is their third such race since 2020 — and a sedate one that has overlapped with a series of high-stakes federal and provincial byelections and the Oct. 26 municipal elections across the province.

“We’re fighting for attention,” said a senior Liberal operative, speaking confidentially to discuss internal deliberations. “We can’t keep doing this one-and-done leader thing.”

The reforms include making it difficult for candidates to submit “bulk” lists of new members to the party by bringing in a new system to verify that new members signed up themselves. It’s a security measure and aimed at making sure these new members are genuinely interested, more likely to vote when ballots are cast online next month and more likely to stay involved headed into the next provincial election expected in 2029 or 2030.   

Solutions to big problems exist, but they require politically difficult changes.