
January 26, 2018 · 0 Comments
By Bill Rea
There might be some benefits coming from last week’s shuffling of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s cabinet.
With just months to go before the next election, some MPPs have been promoted to the front benches, and some senior ministers have been moved to new responsibilities.
“I think it’s a little too late to be shuffling at this stage,” Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones commented, adding she didn’t think the new ministers will have time before the election to get any needed work done. “Playing around with ministers at this stage is not useful.”
One move she cited was the shift of Steven Del Duca from the Transportation portfolio to Economic Development and Growth. He has been replaced by Cambridge MPP Kathryn McGarry, who has been moved from the Natural Resources and Forestry file.
Mr. Del Duca had told Ms. Jones in November that an announcement on the GTA West Corridor, which traverses Caledon, would be coming soon.
Ms. Jones was not optimistic about that, in light of the shuffle.
“This will be another excuse not to make a decision of the GTA West Corridor,” she remarked. “We’re going to see yet another delay.”
Bob Gordanier, who will be the Liberal candidate in Dufferin-Caledon in the coming campaign, seemed pretty impressed with the shuffle.
“I think Kathleen’s picked a lot of good people to move,” he commented.
He said moving Mr. Del Duca was “a huge move,” adding he did a good job at Transportation, but he’s confident Ms. McGarry is up to the new job.
“She’s a very capable lady, believe me,” he declared.
Mr. Gordanier commented that moving people around is part of running a business. “I think this is basically the same type of move,” he remarked, adding he’s spoken to Ms. McGarry about the need to get GO Transit train service in Bolton. It’s been talked about since 2010, he remarked, commenting Ms. Jones hasn’t done much to bring it about. He added he couldn’t remember the last time Ms. Jones even mentioned it in the legislature. “It is not even in the Conservatives’ platform,” he said.
Green Party candidate Laura Campbell said she had not paid much attention to the shuffle.
“It’s essentially more of the same,” she remarked, adding it’s so close to the election that none of these ministers are going to be able to see through any major initiatives. “It doesn’t really pay off for the people of Ontario.”