Ontario Premier Doug Ford has unveiled major changes to his cabinet after meeting with ministers on Thursday afternoon at Queen’s Park.
Stephen Lecce has been moved out of his role as education minister into a new position as the minister of energy and electrification. Todd Smith, who was previously in charge of energy, is taking over education.
Several key ministers have remained in their portfolios, with Sylvia Jones staying on as minister of health, Peter Bethlenfalvy still finance minister and Paul Calandra in charge of municipal affairs and housing.
Steve Clark, who was the province’s housing minister during the Greenbelt scandal and resigned at its height, has been made the government’s house leader.
Some new names were also added to the cabinet, including Natalia Kusendova-Bashta in long-term care and Mike Harris in red tape reduction.
Ford says economy the focus
Announcing the reshuffle, Ford said the changes come with a focus on economic growth.
“As our province and economy continue to grow, this is the team that is working side-by-side with workers, businesses, labour partners, Indigenous leaders and every member of Team Ontario to rebuild our economy,” Ford said in a statement.
“We’re at an important moment in our province’s history with clear choices. Our team is choosing growth and prosperity. We’re choosing lower taxes and better jobs with bigger paycheques. Let’s Get it Done!”
Ford’s economic development minister will continue to be Vic Fedeli, who has focused particularly on securing deals with electric vehicle makers in Ontario.
Lecce, who is now in charge of the energy file, has had “electrification” added to his brief, with sources telling Global News the government is expected to pivot to focus on energy as it eyes a potential early election.
Speaking to reporters after the reshuffle, Lecce said he hoped to build energy capacity in the province, with a focus on economic growth.
“We will not do that by imposing higher taxes and a higher carbon tax,” he said, leaning into the party’s talking points in opposition to a federal price on carbon introduced after Ford scrapped cap-and-trade in Ontario.
“We have to have energy to do everything,” he added. “That’s the primary focus of the government going forward: building the energy supply to build our economy. We’re going to deliver the largest infrastructure build in Canadian history.”
Sam Oosterhoff has also been added to the cabinet as an associate minister responsible for “energy-intensive industries.” Nolan Quinn is now an associate minister responsible for forestry.
A change to the former Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport means it will now be headed by Stan Cho as “Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, with responsibility for OLG.”
Cabinet by numbers
While many senior cabinet ministers kept hold of their portfolios, Premier Ford made tweaks and changes across his front bench.
Ford added and shuffled a total of 16 ministers in his cabinet, while 21 ministers who were in cabinet on Thursday morning were still at the top table, either keeping their roles or seeing them amended by the premier.
The new cabinet means a total of 36 ministers will sit at Ontario’s top table.
“They want to take their bloated cabinet and the big fat paycheques they just gave to a whole bunch of new ministers and they’re going to send them all over the province to sell a message and try to buy some more votes,” NDP Leader Marit Stiles said.
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“All I can say is good luck to them. But as I pointed out, the most bloated cabinet is a conservative government. Did we forget a conservative government that has cried out about the gravy train and red tape and taxes and they are paying more of their MPPs fatter paycheques.”
MPPs in Ontario earn a base salary of $116,550, while cabinet ministers are topped up by almost $50,000 to $165,000.
The new cabinet was sworn in during a closed ceremony late on Thursday afternoon.
The Ontario legislature rose a week early on the same day, with MPPs sent back to their ridings for an extended summer break. Cabinet ministers, however, were told to clear their schedules and stay close.
Through the afternoon, Ford met with ministers one by one in a room near his office inside the Ontario legislature, telling reporters to expect to “be busy this afternoon.”
In a statement issued a few minutes before the new cabinet was announced, Ontario Green Leader Mike Schreiner said the reshuffle would not “repair the damage caused by this government.”
In part, the statement said: “Over the past legislative session, this government has wasted Ontarians’ time and money on backtracks and wrong turns that have made the housing, healthcare and climate crises worse.”
New cabinet in full
- Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health
- Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance
- Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Raymond Cho, Minister of Seniors and Accessibility
- Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, with responsibility for OLG
- Doug Downey, Attorney General
- Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities
- Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
- Rob Flack, Minister of Farming, Agriculture and Agribusiness
- Michael Ford, Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism
- Mike Harris, Minister of Red Tape Reduction
- Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General
- Andrea Khanjin, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks
- Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, Minister of Long-Term Care
- Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Electrification
- Neil Lumsden, Minister of Sport
- Todd McCarthy, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, with responsibility for Supply Ontario
- Caroline Mulroney, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Francophone Affairs
- Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
- David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
- George Pirie, Minister of Mines
- Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation and remains Minister of Northern Development
- Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation
- Todd Smith, Minister of Education
- Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources
- Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure
- Lisa Thompson, Minister of Rural Affairs
- Stephen Crawford, Associate Minister of Mines as part of the Ministry of Mines
- Trevor Jones, Associate Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response as part of Treasury Board Secretariat
- Sam Oosterhoff, Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries as part of the Ministry of Energy and Electrification
- Nolan Quinn, Associate Minister of Forestry as part of the Ministry of Natural Resources
- Nina Tangri, Associate Minister of Small Business as part of the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
- Vijay Thanigasalam, Associate Minister of Housing as part of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions as part of the Ministry of Health
- Charmaine Williams, Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity as part of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
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