Harris ministry


The Harris ministry was the combined cabinet that governed Ontario from June 26, 1995, to April 14, 2002. It was led by the 22nd premier of Ontario, Mike Harris. The ministry was made up of members of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party), which commanded a parliamentary majority.
The ministry replaced the Rae ministry following the 1995 Ontario general election. The ministry governed through the 36th Parliament of Ontario and the first several years of the 37th Parliament.
After Mike Harris resigned as Premier April 14, 2002, he was succeeded as Premier of Ontario by PC Party colleague Ernie Eves.

History

The Harris Cabinet is formed

There were only nineteen cabinet members in the Harris ministry at first. Only five of them had any cabinet experience at all: Norm Sterling, who had accumulated the most experience, served for over four years under Premier Bill Davis, who led the first of the two most recent previous PC Party ministries; Premier Harris himself, Ernie Eves, Bob Runciman, and Noble Villeneuve had each accumulated only a few months of experience in 1985 under Premier Frank Miller, who had led the second of the two most recent previous PC Party ministries..
The highest profile portfolios were held by future Premier Ernie Eves, David Johnson, Jim Wilson, and 2002 PC Party leadership candidate Elizabeth Witmer, veteran Norm Sterling were reorganised into two: the "Ministry of Culture, Citizenship and Recreation" and the "Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism".
Thus the nineteen cabinet members served in one of eighteen discrete portfolios. Premier Harris did not serve in any other portfolio, nor would he for the duration of his ministry.
The number of ministers climbed to 20 with a minor shuffle August 16, 1996, which involved, among other changes, Janet Ecker joining cabinet as Minister of Community and Social Services. David Johnson also took over the duties of House Leader from Eves. Underachievers David Tsubouchi and Brenda Elliott were casualties of the shuffle.

1997 Shuffle

The first of three major cabinet shuffles occurred October 10, 1997, a few months after the midterm point of the 36th Parliament.
Five new members joined cabinet, including 2002 PC Party leadership candidates Tony Clement and Jim Flaherty. Two established cabinet members were dismissed from minor portfolios.
Seven established cabinet members in total were involved in the shuffle, most notably Elizabeth Witmer, who took over as Minister of Health, and David Johnson, who took over as Minister of Education. Norm Sterling took over for Johnson as House Leader. Eleven established cabinet members were unaffected by the shuffle, including Premier Harris himself, and Ernie Eves remained as Minister of Finance.
There were two instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:
Hodgson also took on the cabinet level position of Chair of Management Board of Cabinet; this was the only instance of a member of the Harris cabinet holding two portfolios for the duration of the ministry. Thus, the cabinet swelled to 23 members, serving in twenty ministries.

1999 Shuffle

The second major shuffle occurred June 17, 1999, soon after the 1999 provincial election. The PC Party performed very well in this contest, achieving results similar to the 1995 provincial election, but returned with a much smaller caucus in an extensively redistributed district map and a much smaller provincial parliament at Queen's Park. Isabel Bassett, Noble Villeneuve and David Johnson all went down to defeat at the polls, while Al Leach and Charles Harnick decided not to run. Thus, though no one was dismissed from the ministry, five vacancies opened up in the Harris ministry.
These vacancies were filled by the addition of seven new cabinet members, including 2002 PC Party leadership contender and incumbent Speaker Chris Stockwell, 2004 and 2009 PC Party leadership contender Frank Klees, and 2009 PC Party leadership victor Tim Hudak; Stockwell, notorious as Harris's biggest critic within the party caucus, was named Minister of Labour in the highest profile appointment among the seven rookies.
Thirteen established cabinet members swapped portfolios, including Jim Flaherty, who took over as Attorney General, and Janet Ecker, who took over as Minister of Education. Only five cabinet ministers were unaffected by the shuffle, including Premier Harris himself, John Snobelen, Jim Wilson, Margaret Marland, and, once again, Ernie Eves.
There were four instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:
Thus the number of cabinet ministers swelled in number to 25, while the number of ministries grew to 23. No cabinet members helmed more than one portfolio.

2001 Shuffle

The third and final shuffle occurred February 8, 2001, a few months before the midterm point of the 37th Parliament, triggered by the resignation of first Al Palladini as Minister of Economic Development and Trade, then of Ernie Eves as Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier. Eves was the only cabinet member besides Harris himself to still be in his original role in the ministry, having not yet been involved in a shuffle.
All told, four cabinet members left cabinet, while four new members joined, most notably David Young as Attorney General.
Twelve established cabinet members were involved in this shuffle, most notably Jim Flaherty, Bob Runciman, and Tony Clement,. Janet Ecker took over duties as House Leader from Norm Sterling, who remained in the cabinet in a minor portfolio. Once again, John Snobelen and Jim Wilson were among the nine established cabinet members who remained at their incumbent portfolios.
There were four instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:
Thus the number of ministries swelled to 24, while the number of members of cabinet was steady at 25.

Summary

Mike Harris resigned as Premier April 14, 2002. He was succeeded by Ernie Eves, who had prevailed in the Pc Party leadership election over Harris ministry colleagues Elizabeth Witmer, Tony Clement, Jim Flaherty, and Chris Stockwell.
37 people served in the Harris ministry, including eight cabinet members who served the entirety of the ministry's nearly seven-year duration: Premier Harris himself, Dianne Cunningham, Chris Hodgson, Cam Jackson, John Snobelen, Norm Sterling, David Tsubouchi, and Elizabeth Witmer. All except Harris and Snobelen would go on to serve in the Eves ministry that succeeded the Harris ministry; in total, 24 former Harris ministers would serve under Eves.
Three cabinet members faced suspensions from their portfolios at one time or another: Jim Wilson at Ministry of Health, Bob Runciman at Solicitor General and Correction Services, and Rob Sampson at Ministry of Correctional Services But for their suspensions, Runciman and Wilson also would have served in the Harris ministry for the entire duration. Runciman and Wilson would go on to serve under Eves, but Sampson would not.
Eight women served in the Harris ministry: Isabel Bassett, Dianne Cunningham, Janet Ecker, Brenda Elliott, Helen Johns, Margaret Marland, Marilyn Mushinski, and Elizabeth Witmer. With the exception of David Tsubouchi, every cabinet member was White.
Other than Harris, three cabinet members served continuously in one portfolio for over four years: Ernie Eves served as Minister of Finance from June 26, 1995, to February 8, 2001; Jim Wilson and John Snobelen served as Minister of Energy, Science and Technology and Minister of Natural Resources respectively from October 10, 1997, to April 14, 2002.
Over the course of the Harris ministry the number of portfolios increased from 18 to 24.