Doug Ford shuffles cabinet again as latest minister resigns

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced a sweeping round of changes to his cabinet following multiple recent departures.

Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton announced on Friday he would be leaving provincial politics to take a job in the private sector. McNaughton is the third minister to leave the Ford cabinet in recent weeks.

McNaughton, who has represented the riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex since 2011, has served as minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development since 2019.

The changes include the following:

• David Piccini becomes Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
• Andrea Khanjin becomes Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
• Todd McCarthy becomes Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery
• Vijay Thanigasalam becomes Associate Minister of Transportation

Ford’s office added that Andrea Khanjin will retain additional responsibilities as Deputy Government House Leader. All other ministers maintain their existing portfolios.

Known for striking cross-partisan friendships, McNaughton got his start at the legislature long before his election, serving as a legislative page in 1991. He also ran for the party’s leadership in 2015, though he ultimately backed out of the race and threw his support behind Patrick Brown.

Ford publicly apologized for his part in the Greenbelt controversy at a press conference on Thursday, saying he promised the people of Ontario not to touch the protected lands and that he broke that promise.

“It was a mistake to open a process that moved too fast,” Ford added. “For that, I am very, very sorry… it was a mistake to open the Greenbelt.”

RELATED: Ontario housing minister violated Integrity Act in Greenbelt land swap: Integrity commissioner

The Premier said to earn back people’s trust, he would reverse the changes he made to the Greenbelt and put the lands back under Greenbelt protections.

Several high-profile resignations have occurred recently, including Director of Housing Policy Jae Truesdell, who stepped down during the Premier’s press conference. Ford acknowledged he had accepted the latest resignation.

On Wednesday, Kaleed Rasheed, who was Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery of Ontario, stepped down after questions surrounding a trip he took to Las Vegas at the same time as a developer who owns land that was removed from the Greenbelt.

Earlier this month, Steve Clark, Ontario’s housing minister since 2018, resigned from his role days after a damning report from the integrity commissioner found he violated ethics rules when the province opened up parts of the protected Greenbelt for development.

The integrity commissioner found Clark’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, was the driving force behind the land swap that benefited certain developers. Amato was one of the first members of Ford’s cabinet to step away due to the Greenbelt scandal.

With files from The Canadian Press