Ontario Premier Doug Ford's latest cabinet shuffle expands his front bench to 36 people and affects 15 different portfolios.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has unveiled a shakeup to his cabinet on the same day the legislature rose to take an extended break into October, with the education and energy ministers switching portfolios in a shuffle that follows speculation about an early election.
Thursday’s reset – dubbed a “renewed cabinet” by the government – expands Mr. Ford’s front bench to 36 people and affects 15 different portfolios. The shuffle is the first for Mr. Ford in almost a year, after fallout from the Greenbelt saga led to a series of resignations and an RCMP investigation.
One of the ministers who stepped down last year was Steve Clark, whom the government is now bringing back to the front bench. His resignation as municipal affairs and housing minister last year followed weeks of controversy over the Ford government’s move to allow a small group of connected developers to build housing on protected Greenbelt lands. The province’s Integrity Commissioner concluded that he failed to properly oversee the process.
Although he is not moving to a cabinet post, Mr. Clark will take over as Progressive Conservative House Leader from Paul Calandra, who remains Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Stephen Lecce, who has served as education minister for five years, is becoming Minister of Energy and Electrification. Todd Smith, who was energy minister, is taking over Education. Many other key posts, including Finance, Treasury Board, Health, Infrastructure, Transportation and Economic Development, remain unchanged.
Mr. Ford avoided reporters after the swearing-in ceremony at Queen’s Park on Thursday, leaving his new Energy Minister to speak for the new cabinet.
Mr. Lecce denied the shuffle was part of a strategy to prepare for an early election – even though he used his remarks to warn that his Liberal rivals would raise taxes, impose a new carbon tax and oppose nuclear energy.
“The Premier’s message is this is a serious team to bring us forth in the coming years to build the economy, to keep taxes low and to make life affordable,” he said.
Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles dismissed the shuffle as a game of “musical chairs” meant to distract from the government’s missteps.
And she decried the move to make Mr. Clark House Leader, saying the move puts him in charge of the motion, still on the order paper but never passed, for the legislature to reprimand him over the Greenbelt affair.
“I think it’s deeply concerning,” Ms. Stiles said. “I mean let’s not forget that this was a minister who resigned in disgrace.”
Earlier on Thursday, Mr. Calandra told reporters the legislature’s summer break would be extended until Oct. 21, instead of having MPPs return after Labour Day in September. He said the government was able to pass its priority pieces of legislation this spring, and that other bills still on the order paper needed more consultation.
Mr. Ford has fuelled speculation in recent weeks that he is contemplating calling an early election, in spite of Ontario’s fixed-election-date law, which has the next vote scheduled for June, 2026. When asked repeatedly about an early election last month, Mr. Ford declined to answer directly.
The Premier announced late last month that he was speeding up his long-delayed plan to allow beer to be sold in the province’s corner stores by September – 16 months ahead of schedule. But the move requires the government to funnel more than $225-million to the multinational-brewery-owned Beer Store chain.
New faces in Thursday’s cabinet shuffle include Mike Harris, son of the former premier, who becomes Minister of Red Tape Reduction. The portfolio was left vacant after former Milton MPP Parm Gill quit last January to run for Pierre Poilievre’s federal Conservative Party.
Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, a registered nurse, also takes her first post as Long-Term Care Minister.
Other ministries are being split up or renamed in the shakeup.
Stan Cho, formerly long-term care minister, becomes Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, with responsibility for overseeing the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. Former tourism minister Neil Lumsden keeps only his sport ministry.
Rob Flack, who was associate minister of housing, becomes Minister of Farming, Agriculture and Agribusiness. Former agriculture minister Lisa Thompson becomes Minister of Rural Affairs.
Greg Rickford, who was Indigenous affairs minister, also takes on the portfolio of First Nations economic reconciliation. He also remains Minister of Northern Development.
Todd McCarthy remains Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, and also takes on procurement, with responsibility for Supply Ontario.
Several new faces take on associate minister portfolios, including: Stephen Crawford as Associate Minister of Mines; Trevor Jones as Associate Minister of Emergency Preparedness; Sam Oosterhoff as Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries; and Nolan Quinn as Associate Minister of Forestry. Graydon Smith remains Minister of Natural Resources, but no longer has responsibility for forestry.
Vijay Thanigasalam, who was associate minister of transportation, becomes Associate Minister of Housing.