To: OSBA Members From: Angus McKay, President Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 Subject: MCGUINTY CABINET SHUFFLE

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty continued rolling out his planned overhaul of the government yesterday, filling out the cabinet team with appointments to key portfolios of aggressive players who are likely to shake things up at the Premier's behest.

Underscoring the theme of change was the demotion of three long-serving veterans and the elevation to cabinet of four new ministers. Change-oriented ministers are now in place in the key portfolios of Finance, Energy and Infrastructure, Transportation, Health and Education. Other change-agents are in place in several smaller ministries, as well. For the most part, steady-state managers are now either absent from the cabinet table or in minor portfolios.

With his new team in place, the Government is poised to begin implementing the restructuring already prefigured in the Fall Economic Statement and heralded in the Premier's frequently-repeated old world/new world stump speech. Yesterday's shuffle is the first step of a likely three-step roll out, which will probably include a Speech from the Throne in late February or early March and certainly a watershed Budget at the end of that month.

In this new environment of intense economic transformation, the government is turning for leadership from those who have shown an ability to undertake big projects and deliver radical – not incremental – change.

Of McGuinty’s ten front-bench Ministers, more than half moved. Finance Minister , Health Minister , Environment Minister and Economic Development Minister keep their portfolios. All are aggressive and change-oriented.

· will take on ’s former portfolio of Energy and Infrastructure. Duguid, MPP for Scarborough Centre and a former City Councilor, was promoted from Aboriginal Affairs where he built a solid relationship with Ontario’s First Nations that will serve him well in locating new energy transmission and generation projects. In McGuinty’s first term, Duguid was a high profile Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, often serving as foil to the City of Toronto. He also helped steer the OMERS autonomy legislation through Parliament, assisted with the creation of the Greenbelt and the reform of the Ontario Municipal Board, Municipal Act and Planning Act. Duguid has a proven track record of managing big change.

· ends six years in Agriculture with a move to Education. A former Chair of the Hastings- Prince Edward Separate School Board, and the daughter of a school bus operator, Dombrowksy was a highly active Environment Minister in McGuinty’s first term. She authored Ontario’s Clean Water Act, the Waste Diversion Act and brought in tough penalties for polluters.

· moves from Education to Transportation, a signal that Transport will be a file of increasing centrality to the McGuinty government. Entrenched interests in the GTA transportation community should expect a major shakeup.

· Dean of the Legislature, moves to Municipal Affairs. This supremely competent veteran will be tasked with calming budget-stressed mayors and reeves, putting out fires and lowering expectations.

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The AG portfolio is highly specialized and is not a place for on-the-job learning. Attorney General Chris Bentley adds Aboriginal Affairs to his existing front-bench responsibilities, demonstrating the Premier’s continued confidence in his mastery of this difficult role.

A number of junior Ministers take on new responsibilities as well.

· Michael Chan moves to the twin portfolios of Tourism and Culture. Chan was highly respected in the Premier’s Office for his adroit handling of the complex New Canadian stakeholder issues in Citizenship, and gets to continue his work with an even wider array of interests in the new roles. He will likely also be forced to manage down a tighter budget in both roles.

· takes the lead on Intergovernmental Affairs, as well as retaining her role as Government House Leader. Squabbles between the province over climate change are expected to erupt into more serious pan- Confederation battles later this year.

· returns to his preferred role as Chair of Cabinet after substituting as Energy and Infrastructure Minister for the past two months. The Liberal statesman is highly regarded for McGuinty for his common sense and wisdom, but has made his disinclination for shouldering heavy responsibilities or managing massive change widely known.

Solid veteran performers , and Ted McMeekin shifted to non-Cabinet responsibilities, making room for a new generation of MPPs taking leading roles at Queen’s Park.

These four new faces are:

1. Hamilton Mountain MPP , who will take on Ted McMeekin’s role as political minister for Hamilton, and the Consumer Services file. A former entrepreneur who marketed her own brand of “Sauces by Sophia” to supermarket chains in Southern Ontario, she chaired the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce before her election in 2007. 2. Dr. is an MD and a founder of Canada who worked with the UN in war-torn regions. The Order of Canada recipient and Rhodes Scholar won a by-election in mid-town Toronto last year, and now will join Cabinet as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. 3. Linda Jeffery becomes the Minister of Natural Resources. Jeffery has been a champion for fire safety in the Legislature, fighting successfully to have sprinklers mandatory in all new multi-unit residences over three stories. She served four terms on Brampton City Council, including serving as budget chief. She served as one of the lead negotiators on the sale of Brampton Hydro in 1999, and represented Brampton on the provincial Hydro One board. 4. joined Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture. The former Caucus Chair has represented Huron-Bruce since 2003. Before that, she was Warden of Huron County and ran her own chain of stores selling children’s clothing. She has served as Parliamentary Assistant in Agriculture, as well as Health and Municipal Affairs.

We will continue to keep you updated with new developments and changes as this information in received.

Yours truly,

Angus McKay, President

1 Eva Road, Suite 304, , ON, M9C 4Z5 T: 416-695-9965 or 1-888-675-6722 F: 416-695-9977 E: [email protected]

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