Ontario Premier Doug Ford reshuffles his cabinet

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Ragini Joshi
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford reshuffles his cabinet, Fedeli, MacLeod, Thompson all demoted in major Ontario cabinet shuffle

Ontario Premier Doug Ford reshuffles his cabinet, Fedeli, MacLeod, Thompson all demoted in major Ontario cabinet shuffle

Ontario Premier Doug Ford reshuffles his cabinet, Fedeli, MacLeod, Thompson all demoted in major Ontario cabinet shuffle

Ontario Premier Doug Ford reshuffled his cabinet on Thursday and some most high-profile cabinet ministers have been demoted in this major cabinet shuffle. This came amid falling poll numbers for the premier and 'never-ending' controversies on numerous important files.

"We are putting the right people, in the right places, at the right time," Ford told reporters at Queen's Park on Thursday after a morning swearing-in ceremony attended by Ontario Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell.

"Every one of our cabinet ministers has done a good job, I feel. But we can always do a better job."

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Changes :

  • Vic Fedeli was demoted to minister of economic development, job creation, and trade. He was previously given the post of finance minister. His departure from the top cabinet position comes after he oversaw the release of just one provincial budget, which is an exceedingly rare situation for a finance minister in Ontario.Demoting the Fedeli did not come as a surprise to political observers as Ford's government was facing intense criticism and protests after huge cuts in various departments in the aftermath of the April budget. Ford said the Nipissing MPP "did an incredible job as finance minister.""There's no better salesperson on our team than Vic Fedeli. He's going to be bringing more jobs to Ontario."
  •  Rod Phillips, who served as environment minister will take over the finance portfolio.
  • Jeff Yurek will move from transportation to the environment portfolio.
  • Lisa Thompson, who had been education minister, and Lisa MacLeod, who was the minister of children, community and social services, were both demoted as well.The two files have seen considerable strife recently as the province cut funding to school boards and revamped Ontario's autism program, moves that sparked large criticism & protests from parents and educators.Read More :  Ford Government’s Legal Challenge Against Federal Carbon Tax In Court Today

"I've always admitted — always — could we have done a few things better? Absolutely," he told reporters.

"We always have to do a better job in communicating and we will do a better job in communicating our successes."

  • Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith, considered by many to be one of the Ford government's most effective public speakers, will step into MacLeod's former role.
  • Thompson will now be responsible for government and consumer services.
  • MacLeod takes over the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport.
  • Christine Elliott will remain deputy premier and minister of health, though the portfolio now has two additional cabinet positions.
  • Merrilee Fullerton becomes minister of long-term care and Michael Tibollo becomes associate minister of mental health and addictions.
  • Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction - Prabmeet Sarkaria
  • Caroline Mulroney will head up the province's Ministry of Transportation and no longer be the attorney general. Also, he will continue to oversee francophone affairs.Read More : Doug Ford Commits $11.2B For 4 Major GTA Transit Projects, Including New ‘Ontario Line’

In addition to Elliott, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones and Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy will also stay in their current cabinet positions.

Promotions:

  • Stephen Lecce will serve as minister of education.
  • Doug Downey is Ontario's new attorney general.

It is worth mentioning here that Ford has received a lot of criticism recently and been falling in public opinion polls. Political predictions were that he could even hurt Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's chances of winning in Ontario in the upcoming federal election.

With this reshuffle, the size of Ford's cabinet grows from 21 to a total of 28 ministers and associate ministers. It is to be mentioned here that Ford kept saying last year that he intended to keep his 'cabinet small' to save taxpayers' money.

When asked about criticisms of his tenure so far, Ford said his government has pushed through "85 percent of its agenda". He blamed the Liberal government for the "financial disaster" so he has had to deal with that.

- PTC Punjabi Canada

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