On June 20, 2019, Premier Doug Ford shuffled his cabinet and added five new Associate Ministers to the mix. Christine Elliott has retained her position as Deputy Premier and a slightly revised title as Minister of Health, losing the long-term care file.
Along with moving some senior Ministers, Ford’s cabinet now includes seven new backbenchers including Doug Downey (Attorney General), Stephen Lecce (Minister of Education), Paul Calandra (House Leader), Jill Dunlop (Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues), Kinga Surma (Associate Minister of Transportation in the GTA), Prabmeet Sarkaria (Associate Minister of Small Businesses and Red Tape Reduction), and Ross Romano (Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities). The new cabinet has increased from 22 positions to 28 since the last cabinet shuffle that occurred on November 5, 2018.
Some major changes include swapping Vic Fedeli from Finance to Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Lisa Thompson from Education to Government and Consumer Affairs and Lisa MacLeod to Tourism, Culture and Sport from Children, Community and Social Services.
Changes to health portfolio
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has been split among two Ministers. Christine Elliott remains as Minister of Health as well as Deputy Premier while Merrilee Fullerton is now the Minister of Long-Term Care. A new position, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, was also created with Michael Tibollo assuming the role.
New portfolios
New portfolios also include Associate Minister of Small Businesses and Red Tape Reduction (Prabmeet Sarkaria), Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues (Jill Dunlop), Associate Minister of Energy (Bill Walker), and Associate Minister of Transportation in the GTA (Kinga Surma).
New Ministers
- Stephen Lecce (King-Vaughan), will replace Lisa Thompson as Minister of Education.
- Paul Calandra (Markham-Stouffville), will replace Todd Smith as Government House Leader.
- Doug Downey (Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte), will replace Caroline Mulroney as Attorney General.
- Ross Romano (Sault Ste. Marie), will replace Merrilee Fullerton as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.
Associate Ministers
- Michael Tibollo (Vaughan-Woodbridge), becomes Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.
- Prabmeet Sarkaria (Brampton South), becomes Associate Minister of Small Businesses and Red Tape Reduction.
- Jill Dunlop (Simcoe North), becomes Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues.
- Bill Walker (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound), becomes Associate Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines.
- Kinga Surma (Etobicoke Centre), becomes Associate Minister of Transportation in the GTA.
Ministers shuffled within cabinet include:
- Merrilee Fullerton (Kanata-Carleton), who becomes Long-Term Care Minister after serving as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.
- Rod Phillips (Ajax), who becomes Finance Minister after serving as Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks.
- Vic Fedeli (Nipissing), who becomes Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade as well as Chair of Cabinet after serving as Minister of Finance.
- Jeff Yurek (Elgin-Middlesex-London), who becomes Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister after serving as Minister of Transportation.
- Todd Smith (Bay of Quinte), who becomes Children, Community and Social Services Minister after serving as Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
- Monte McNaughton (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex), who becomes Labour Minister after serving as Minister of Infrastructure.
- Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock), who becomes Infrastructure Minister after serving as Minister of Labour.
- Caroline Mulroney (York-Simcoe), who becomes Minister of Transportation after serving as Attorney General and remains as Minister of Francophone Affairs.
- Lisa MacLeod (Nepean), who becomes Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport after serving as Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.
- Lisa Thompson (Huron-Bruce), who becomes Minister of Government and Consumer Affairs after serving as Minister of Education.’