Greg Sorbara Resigns Suddenly As Ontario Finance Minister
Posted October 26, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
He was re-elected just two weeks ago, but Greg Sorbara now says he’s leaving cabinet at Queen’s Park. It means he’ll no longer be serving as the province’s Finance Minister effective Tuesday.
In a surprise announcement Friday afternoon, the 61-year-old veteran politician confirmed he’s leaving his post for personal reasons, although he has no intention of giving up his seat as the MPP for Vaughan.
An emotional Sorbara didn’t get into specifics about the reasons for his sudden departure, calling the decision “the most difficult of my political life” and saying he wanted to devote more time to his family. “The past seven years I’ve given the bulk of my energy to the viability of our party, and since October 2003, to the success of our government. It is time now for me to redirect that energy to those who are more dear to me than anything in my life, and that is my family.
“I have six kids and each of them have partners, and their lives are so interesting and so attractive to me, and yet I can only get little snippets of them. There are now ten grandchildren, some of whom need to learn how to throw a baseball in the way in which only I can.”
He claims he heard “the clock ticking” and wanted to shift focus on how much time he’s spent serving the public. And he feels it’s time to give the returning Liberals a new look. But he refused to say who might replace him.
Premier Dalton McGuinty issued a statement praising his money man’s term at the helm, noting he’ll be missed. ” I accept his decision to not seek a Cabinet post with some regret. Greg has been a driving force within our government, and has done a tremendous job as Minister of Finance.”
Even the opposition leader offered a backhanded compliment. “I think Mr. McGuinty and his government are going to be in some trouble without Greg Sorbara,” asserts PC leader John Tory. “I think the average I.Q. around that table just crashed with his departure.”
The question on many minds is why Sorbara didn’t say anything before the election. But he insists he only made his decision after the polls closed on October 10th, and didn’t finalize them until this week. “I want to make it clear to all of you, and particularly to the people of Vaughan, that this doesn’t compromise my commitment to the people of Vaughan, to represent them in the new parliament as diligently as I can. But this decision will give me time to look to those people who have looked to me and looked after me for so many years.”
Sorbara was easily re-elected on October 10th, part of the Liberal landslide that sent Dalton McGuinty back to Queen’s Park.
It’s not the first time he’s left his post. He served as Finance Minister from 2003 to 2005 but was forced to temporarily step aside after the RCMP investigated a personal stake he had in some land transactions. He was later cleared of all the allegations and came back to the Fin. Min’s position shortly afterwards.
