Northern Ontario remained well-represented Monday after Ontario’s major cabinet shuffle, returning three veterans from Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, and a new high-profile minister in Sudbury.
In Northwestern Ontario, Michael Gravelle is staying on as head of Northern Development and Mines, while Bill Mauro, a former Thunder Bay city councillor, has been moved back to Municipal Affairs.
“I think that’s fairly positive for us, because (Mauro) was a Municipal Affairs parliamentary assistant, and was briefly the minister before the last election (in 2014),” said Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association president Dave Canfield.
Said Mauro: “I know how important it is to have a strong partnership with our municipal partners and I plan on working to further strengthen those partnerships.”
Gravelle, who has now been in cabinet for eight years, said he would continue to work on the Ring of Fire and mineral development files. As minister, Gravelle also oversees a major funder of regional projects — the Northern Ontario Heritage Corp.
Canfield, who is Kenora’s mayor, noted that the all-important Energy ministry is to be overseen by another Northerner — recently elected Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault.
Thibeault, a former federal NDP MP viewed as an up-and-comer, was recruited by the Liberals to win back the Sudbury seat from Ontario’s NDP in a hotly contested byelection.
Lakehead University political scientist Laure Paquette said it’s significant that both Gravelle and Mauro were able to survive a major shuffle that was specifically aimed at boosting the number of women in Premier Kathleen Wynne’s expanded cabinet.
“I would say, though, that they don’t carry much weight in the cabinet,” Paquette added.
In Sault Ste. Marie, Liberal veteran David Orazietti appears to have received a promotion, moving up to Community Safety and Correctional Services from the relatively junior department of Government and Consumer Services.
Mauro is being replaced at Natural Resources and Forestry by Kitchener-area MPP Kathryn McGarry, a nurse who also has a background in municipal planning.
“I understand what an important role managing Ontario’s natural resources is and how valuable they are to our economy,” McGarry said in a statement.
Nearly half of the cabinet’s 30 members are women.