MPP Elizabeth Witmer resigns
Posted April 27, 2012 2:16 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Progressive Conservative MPP Elizabeth Witmer (Kitchener-Waterloo) is stepping down to take over Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.
Witmer made the announcement Friday, saying it was a “difficult” decision.
“To my colleagues on both sides of the House, I have valued your support and friendship and I leave with many fond memories of what we have accomplished together,” Witmer said.
Premier Dalton McGuinty nominated Witmer to the board.
Witmer has served at Queen’s Park for nearly 22 years — the longest-serving female MPP in Ontario’s history — and was just reelected six months ago.
The Oct. 6, 2011 election saw the Liberals form a minority government, with 52 seats in the 107-seat legislature excluding the Speaker, while the New Democrats have 17 seats and the PCs have 37.
If the Liberals win the Kitchener-Waterloo by-election, they will have a majority government.
Witmer was deputy premier from 1995 to 2003, and has been the minister of several portfolios, including labour, health and long-term care, environment, and education.
