Just ahead of her retirement, Guelph MPP Liz Sandals has been removed as Treasury Board president as part of a cabinet shuffle by Premier Kathleen Wynne.
But Wednesday’s announcement doesn’t comes as a surprise to Sandals.
“Actually, I feel real lucky because I told the premier back in the late summer that I wouldn’t be running again, so I’m actually pleased I got to carry on with my job at treasury board,” Sandals said in a phone interview Wednesday morning.
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Sandals will be replaced by Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon.
Wynne is shuffling her cabinet to replace ministers who have already said they will not run for re-election this year.
Deputy Premier and Advanced Education Minister Deb Matthews, along with Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid, are also among those who will sit out the spring campaign.
Sandals said she plans on keeping busy before the election.
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“Likely next week there will be a reassignment of parliamentary assistants and that I’ll end up attached to some ministry or another with a particular project to work on from now until May,” she said.
A pair of MPPs in Waterloo Region have been named to new posts in the shuffle.
Kitchener Centre MPP Daiene Vernile will take over the Tourism, Culture and Sport portfolio, while Cambridge MPP Kathryn McGarry will move to Minister of Transportation from Natural Resources and Forestry.