Ford's Cabinet to Protect Ontario

Following his re-election for his third conservative majority mandate, Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled his refreshed Cabinet yesterday afternoon at a ceremony inside the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The newly re-elected Premier had a lot to choose from when making up his new Cabinet, as Ontarians once again sent 80 PCs to Queen’s Park, a Caucus one seat larger than the Premier had at the dissolution of Parliament. 

While some had been speculating that we’d see substantial turnover with the new crop of MPPs at the Legislature, Ford kept every Minister from his previous Cabinet in Cabinet, with the exception of his nephew Michael Ford who didn't seek re-election. That said, Ford did make several changes with Ministers switching to new portfolios and some tasked with new responsibilities, as well as the inclusion of one new fresh face to Cabinet, the winner of last year’s hotly contested by-election in Milton, Zee Hamid. Despite some of the changes, the theme of the swearing in from the Government’s perspective was clearly one of stability and continuity. 

Who's staying put

• Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health
• Doug Downey, Attorney General
• Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
• Graham McGregor, Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism
• Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
• Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance
• Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure
• David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
• Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, Minister of Long-Term Care
• Lisa Thompson, Minister of Rural Affairs
• Raymond Cho, Minister of Seniors and Accessibility
• Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General
• Neil Lumsden, Minister of Sport
• Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming
• Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation
• Caroline Mulroney, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Francophone Affairs
• Sam Oosterhoff, Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries, as part of the Ministry of Energy and Mines
• Kevin Holland, Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products, 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
• Charmaine Williams, Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, as part of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services

Who stayed put with additional responsibilities

• Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Mines
• Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation and the Minister Responsible for Ring of Fire Economic and Community Partnerships
• Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security

Who's on the move

• Trevor Jones moves from Associate Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response to Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness
• Paul Calandra moves from Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to Minister of Education
• Jill Dunlop moves from Minister of Education to Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response
• Todd McCarthy moves from Minister of Public and Business Services Delivery and Procurement to Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
• Rob Flack moves from Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness to Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
• Mike Harris moves from Minister of Red Tape Reduction to Minister of Natural Resources
• George Pirie moves from Minister of Mines to Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth
• Stephen Crawford moves from Associate Minister of Mines to Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement
• Andrea Khanjin moves from Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks to Minister of Red Tape Reduction
• Michael Tibollo moves from Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addiction to Associate Attorney General, as part of the Ministry of the Attorney General
• Zee Hamid becomes Associate Minister of Auto Theft and Bail Reform, as part of the Ministry of the Solicitor General
• Graydon Smith moves from Minister of Natural Resources to Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, as part of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
• Vijay Thanigasalam moves from Associate Minister of Housing to Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, as part of the Ministry of Health:

What This Means: 

Although there were many changes to the line-up of Ministries, there was also significant continuity in the major Cabinet files including Finance, Health, Labour, Transportation, and during this important trade dispute with the United States, Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade. The Premier was re-elected in 2022 to “Get it Done” and in this spring’s election won a mandate to "Protect Ontario." The increase to the PCs popular vote share in their third election win was a vote of confidence from the electorate and a call for continuity in the files that matter most to Ontarians. 

However, heading into a third term the Premier also made changes that will bring fresh perspectives around the cabinet table and put new faces in Ministries the government is looking to make strides in. Mining was added to Energy Minister Stephen Lecce's portfolio as the province focuses on Ontario’s wealth of critical minerals, while moving Minister Rob Flack to Municipal Affairs and Housing provides a fresh face to tackle the government's goal of building 1.5 Million new homes by 2031. Ford, by promoting Minister Mike Harris to Natural Resources, is putting an emphasis on this important portfolio as the province looks towards historic infrastructure investments over the next ten years and the importance of the domestic supply of resources.

‍What Comes Next:

With the swearing in of Premier Ford’s new cabinet and all of the new MPPs over the past week, the next major milestone for the re-elected government will be the election of a new Speaker on April 14th when the Legislature returns, a Speech from the Throne expected a day later on April 15th, followed by the introduction and passage of a budget in the days or weeks following. 

New Ministers will need time to be briefed on their files and staffing changes are likely at the beginning of this new term. Please reach out to Upstream to book a call to discuss your government relations efforts and how this new cabinet might impact your lobbying efforts.

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