POSTMEDIA NEWS
Former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli, left, and former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray have been named to new Cabinet jobs in Dalton McGuinty's government.
TORONTO — Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a new cabinet lineup Wednesday, putting the finishing touches on a team expected to lead his majority Liberals into next year's election.
Six ministers were moved in the shuffle, and two relative newcomers — both former mayors and recent byelection winners — were introduced.
Glen Murray, who served as mayor of Winnipeg from 1998 to 2004, joined the Liberal cabinet as minister of research and innovation.
He inherits the post from Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities John Milloy, who until Wednesday also oversaw the research file. Murray won a byelection in the riding of Toronto Centre in February.
Former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli became minister of infrastructure, inheriting his post from Brad Duguid, who remains energy minister, albeit with lesser responsibility. Chiarelli is a second-time MPP, having served in the 1980s and '90s. He won a byelection in March.
"Bob and Glen have a tremendous amount of experience in public life, in a number of avenues," McGuinty said Wednesday at a Queen's Park news conference, flanked by his new ministers.
Meanwhile, two minister moved down in the ranks in the shuffle.
John Gerretsen — as former environment minister — oversaw the government's bungled eco-fee program, which raised the price of thousands of potentially toxic household items overnight without warning, before being scrapped due to consumer outrage. He becomes minister of consumer services.
"Any way that I can serve the government, I'd be more than pleased to do so," Gerretsen told reporters. "Life is a learning experience and I certainly learned from (the eco-fee controversy)."
Gerretsen is being replaced by John Wilkinson, who won the premier's favour this summer by introducing the HST to a surprising calm from voters as then-minister of revenue. He will, however, be tasked with proposing a replacement eco-fee program by Oct. 18.
A lesser demotion was meted out to Duguid, who had previously been in charge of the joint-energy and infrastructure portfolio. With energy prices expected to rise between now and next year's election, a government source told Postmedia News the file has become a "full-time job."
Rounding out Wednesday's shuffle were: Sophia Aggelonitis, who becomes revenue and seniors minister; Jim Bradley, who is no minister of community safety and correctional services; Rick Bartolucci takes on the role of minister of municipal affairs and housing; and Margarett Best was named health promotion and sport minister.
McGuinty also used the lineup change as a platform to announce the formation of a new "Priorities and Planning Committee."
The committee will be devoted "core government priorities" — including economic growth, improved test scores in schools, lower emergency-room wait times and improved access to medical professionals — and will be made up of seven cabinet ministers, in addition to McGuinty serving as chair.
Wednesday's shuffle comes on the heels of a rough summer for the Liberals — and in advance of a provincial election in October 2011.
On top of eco-fees and the HST, the government has had to explain abrupt turns on mixed martial arts and online gambling. Members of both opposition parties were quick to point this out, before slamming the changes as more of the same.
"If Ontarians think that they're not going to see an eco-tax come back to bite them they're perfectly wrong, because that's what (Wilkinson's) specialty is," said Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman, in reference to the minister's involvement in rolling out the HST.
Meanwhile, NDP provincial representative Rosario Marchese questioned the wisdom of placing John Gerretsen in charge of consumer services.
"If Mr. Gerretsen bungled the issue of eco-fees by lack of oversight . . . and then we move him into the Ministry of Consumer Services where we want to protect consumers; I'm worried."
With files from Postmedia News.