McGuinty ministry


The McGuinty ministry was the combined cabinet that governed Ontario from October 23, 2003, to February 11, 2013. It was led by the 24th Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty. The ministry was made up of members of the Ontario Liberal Party, which commanded at first a majority and later a minority in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
The ministry replaced the Eves ministry following the 2003 Ontario general election. The ministry governed through all of the 38th and 39th Parliaments of Ontario, as well as just over a year of the 40th Parliament of Ontario; after the Ontario Liberal Party secured only a minority in the 2011 election, McGuinty eventually resigned, and was succeeded as Premier of Ontario by Kathleen Wynne.

History

The McGuinty Cabinet is formed

Dalton McGuinty's first cabinet was sworn in October 23, 2003. It had 23 members.
There were several instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation as McGuinty took over from Eves:
Thus the McGuinty ministry began with 23 cabinet members serving in 25 portfolios. Two cabinet members held multiple portfolios.

2005

First Midterm Shuffle

McGuinty's first cabinet shuffle occurred June 29, 2005, about four months before reaching the midway point of his first mandate.
None of the established cabinet ministers stepped down from the ministry, but eight of them moved into a new role.
There were several instances of ministerial portfolio reorganization, all involving established cabinet ministers:
Thus, the number of portfolios swelled to 26, held by 25 cabinet members.

Sorbara Scandal

Months later, the first high-profile cabinet scandal rocked the McGuinty ministry as Greg Sorbara resigned as Minister of Finance October 12, 2005, when it was revealed that he was named as a target in the criminal fraud investigation by the RCMP of Royal Group technologies Inc.
Dwight Duncan took over from Sorbara as Finance Minister. Duncan remained Cabinet Chair, but established cabinet minister Jim Bradley took the role of House Leader from him. Duncan was replaced as Minister of Energy by newly appointed cabinet minister Donna Cansfield. Her addition to the ministry brought the number of women serving to seven, as Laurel Broten had also been added in the shuffle earlier in the year; placing more women in cabinet positions was reported to be a priority for McGuinty.

2006

Kennedy Departs

McGuinty lost a second high-profile cabinet minister on April 5, 2006, when Gerard Kennedy stepped down as Minister of Education to pursue the leadership of the federal Liberal Party.
In a shuffle involving two other cabinet members,
Kennedy ultimately failed to secure leadership of the federal Liberal Party.

Sorbara returns

McGuinty recovered a valued colleague when Greg Sorbara was cleared of fraud charges and restored to his role as Minister of Finance on May 23,. In a minor shuffle involving only two other cabinet members, a new portfolio was created:

Wynne Joins

On September 18, Joseph Cordiano stepped down as Minister of Economic Development and Trade, retiring from the ministry and from parliament for personal reasons.
Days later, September 21, McGuinty named George Smitherman to the until-now vacant post of [Deputy Premier of Ontario|Premier of Ontario|Deputy Premier].
The year ended with the number of cabinet members at 26, while the number of portfolios stood at 27.

2007

New Portfolios

McGuinty created two new portfolios over the course of the year:
Thus the number of cabinet members swelled to 27, even as the number of portfolios increased to 29.

Post Election Shuffle

An extensive cabinet shuffle occurred October 30, a few weeks after the 2007 Ontario general election, in which the Liberals secured another majority with nearly identical results to the last election, winning 71 out of 107 seats.
Greg Sorbara, who was re-elected to parliament, declined to continue to serve as Minister of Finance.
Ten newly appointed cabinet ministers were brought in, including two newly elected MPPs. Only seven established cabinet ministers retained their portfolios and were not shuffled. All told, eleven established cabinet ministers changed portfolios.
There were no new ministries created in this shuffle, but one instance of ministerial reorganization:
Thus, with this shuffle, the ministry expanded to 28 cabinet members, even as the number of ministries remained steady at 29.

2008

On June 20, 2008, in the wake of a controversy surrounding a wave of C. diff infections at Ontario hospitals, George Smitherman was replaced as Minister Health and Long Term Care by Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal David Caplan. A new portfolio would be created:
A second small shuffle occurred September 18, 2008, when, in an effort to confront Ontario's sagging economy and shrinking manufacturing sector during the Great Recession McGuinty reorganised several ministerial portfolios:
Three other established cabinet ministers were involved in the September 18 shuffle. The year ended with the number of cabinet members and number of portfolios equal at 28, with Dalton McGuinty himself still covering two portfolios, while Gerry Phillips was minister without portfolio.

2009

Bryant Departs

Ambitious high-profile minister Michael Bryant was eased out of cabinet, surrendering first his position as House Leader to his deputy Monique Smith February 4, 2009, and later stepping down as Ministry of Economic Development on May 25. He would move on to become CEO of Invest Toronto, and his vacancy would be filled by McGuinty himself in the interim. It was reported that McGuinty felt that Bryant represented a challenge to his authority.

Ministries Realigned

On June 24, 2009, a minor shuffle involving six established cabinet ministers occurred. In regards to two of the changes, this shuffle could be considered largely an undoing of changes made in September of the previous year:
There were also two other instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:
While several ministries thus took on new looks, there would be no new faces in the ministry.

Caplan, Smitherman Depart

The embattled Ministry of Health and Long term Care faced a serious scandal for the second year in a row.
Former Minister of Health George Smitherman was also not long for the ministry. On November 9, he resigned from his post as Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and Deputy Premier of Ontario to run for mayor of Toronto.
The number of cabinet members at the end of the year sat at 26, while the number of portfolios was steady at 28.

2010

Second Midterm shuffle, Part One

Days before the big mid-term cabinet shuffle January 18, 2010, Jim Watson resigned from his post as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to run for mayor of Ottawa. He became the second cabinet member to resign to pursue the mayoralty of a major Ontario city; unlike Smitherman, Watson would be successful and was elected mayor of Ottawa later in the year.
There was one instance of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:
The number of cabinet members remained steady at 26, while the number of portfolios fell to 27.

Second Midterm shuffle, Part Two

On August 18, the second extensive shuffle of the year occurred; such sweeping changes occurring so close together is unusual, and indicated that the McGuinty ministry was struggling.
There were two instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:
There would not be any instance of a cabinet member stepping down in this shuffle. In the end, both the number of cabinet members and the number of portfolios swelled to 28.
The final newly appointed cabinet minister to join the McGuinty ministry was Charles Sousa, brought on December 7 to replace Peter Fonseca at Ministry of Labour, who resigned

2011

Post Election Shuffle

The 2011 Ontario general election resulted in the loss of 17 Liberal seats, leaving McGuinty one seat shy of a majority in Parliament.
Seven vacancies opened up in the McGuinty cabinet:
Six of the seven vacancies were filled thusly: the number of established cabinet ministers holding multiple portfolios increased from one to three, and three ministries ceased to exist:
Thus the cabinet shrunk to 22, smaller than it had been at its inception in 2003, when it had 23 cabinet members. There were 25 portfolios.

2012

Dalton McGuinty announced his retirement as Premier October 15, pending the election of a new Liberal Party leader.
Wynne succeeded to the Premiership February 11, 2013, and thus the McGuinty ministry came to a close.

Summary

46 different people served as cabinet members in the McGuinty ministry.
Sixteen women served, although never more than eleven at any given time. McGuinty began with only five women in his cabinet, and all of them in minor portfolios, whereas his predecessor had six women in his cabinet, including his Minister of Finance and his and Deputy Premier. However, in McGuinty's ministry, several women eventually achieved positions from which they exercised significant influence, including Deb Matthews as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care from October 7, 2009 to February 11, 2013, Sandra Pupatello as Minister of Economic Development from September 18, 2006 to October 20, 2011, and of course Kathleen Wynne, as Minister of Education from September 18, 2006 to January 18, 2010.

Trivia

Madeleine Meilleur's last name is French for "best;" Margarett Best's last name is English for "meilleur."
Meilleur was "Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs" from October 23, 2003 to February 11, 2013.
David Caplan, in taking over as Minister of Health on June 20, 2008, holds the same position his mother Elinor held under Premier David Peterson 1987-1990.