McGuinty ministry
24th ministry of Ontario
Premier Dalton McGuinty in 2007
Date formed	October 23, 2003 (2003-10-23)
Date dissolved	February 11, 2013 (2013-02-11)
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Lieutenant Governor	James Bartleman (2002–2007) David Onley (2007–2014)
Premier	Dalton McGuinty
Deputy Premier	vacant (2003–2006) George Smitherman (2006–2009) vacant (2009–2001) Dwight Duncan (2011–2013)
Member party	Liberal
Status in legislature	Majority (2003–2011) Minority (2011–2014)
Opposition party	Progressive Conservative
Opposition leader	Ernie Eves (2003–2004) Bob Runciman (2004–2005) (interim) John Tory (2005–2007) Bob Runciman (2007–2009) (interim) Tim Hudak (2009–2014)
History
Election	2003
Legislature terms	38th Parliament of Ontario 40th Parliament of Ontario
Incoming formation	2003 Ontario general election
Outgoing formation	2013 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election
Predecessor	Eves ministry
Successor	Wynne ministry

The McGuinty ministry was the combined cabinet (formally the Executive Council of Ontario) that governed Ontario from October 23, 2003, to February 11, 2013. It was led by the 24th Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty. The ministry was made up of members of the Ontario Liberal Party, which commanded at first a majority and later a minority in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

The ministry replaced the Eves ministry following the 2003 Ontario general election. The ministry governed through all of the 38th and 39th Parliaments of Ontario, as well as just over a year of the 40th Parliament of Ontario; after the Ontario Liberal Party secured only a minority in the 2011 election, McGuinty eventually resigned, and was succeeded by Kathleen Wynne.

Dalton McGuinty's first cabinet^[1] was sworn in October 23, 2003. It was comprised of 23 members, including four of the candidates who had competed with McGuinty for leadership of the Liberal Party in 1996: Gerard Kennedy (as Minister of Education); Joseph Cordiano (as Minister of Economic Development and Trade); Dwight Duncan (as Minister of Energy, Cabinet Chair and House Leader); and John Gerretsen (as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing).

Other high-profile portfolios were held by Michael Bryant (as Attorney General), George Smitherman (as Minister of Health), Gerry Phillips (as Chair of Management Board of Cabinet) and Greg Sorbara (as Minister of Finance).

Four cabinet members had previous ministerial experience: Greg Sorbara, Jim Bradley, and Monte Kwinter, served for the entire five-year duration of the most recent Liberal ministry (1985-1990) under Premier David Peterson, while Gerry Phillips served for the final three years of Peterson's ministry.

There were several instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation as McGuinty took over from Eves:

• Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services was divided into two ministries: the "Ministry of Children's Services" (renamed "Ministry of Children and Youth Services" in 2004) and assigned to Marie Bountrogianni, and tasked with implementing the government's Best Start Plan and early childhood education commitments; and the "Ministry of Community and Social Services," assigned to Sandra Pupatello.
• Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal was created and assigned to David Caplan, and tasked with replacing Ontario's aging and failing education, health, transportation, housing, and environmental infrastructure. Caplan was also appointed Deputy House Leader.
• Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation was reorganised into the "Ministry of Economic Development and Trade," as it was restored to the role and to the name that it had held before the previous Premier (Ernie Eves) reorganised it, and assigned (as mentioned earlier) to Joseph Cordiano.
• Ministry of Public Safety and Security was renamed "Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services" and assigned to Monte Kwinter
• A new secretariat, headed by a "Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal" (not a cabinet level position in its own right) was also created to improve participation in the democratic process by the youth and broader public. It was headed up at this time by David Caplan.
• all of Eves's "Associate Ministry" positions were eliminated, and McGuinty did not at first appoint any ministers without portfolio.

Thus the McGuinty ministry began with 23 cabinet members serving in 25 portfolios (including the Premiership). Two cabinet members held multiple portfolios: Dalton McGuinty himself, as Premier and as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs; and Marie Bountrogianni as Minister of Citizenship, and as "Minister of Children's Services" (as mentioned earlier).

The cabinet included five women: Sandra Pupatello (who was also appointed "Minister Responsible for Women's Issues"), Marie Bountrogianni, Mary Anne Chambers, Leona Dombrowsky, and Madeleine Meilleur.

McGuinty's first cabinet shuffle occurred June 29, 2005,^[2] about four months before reaching the midway point of his first mandate.

The ministry was expanded by two members: Laurel Broten, appointed Minister of Environment, and Michael Colle, appointed Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. None of the established cabinet ministers stepped down from the ministry, but eight of them moved into a new role; most of the shuffling involved minor portfolios, with the most notable reassignment going to future Speaker Steve Peters, who took over as Minister of Labour.

There were several instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation, all involving established cabinet ministers:

• Ministry of Research and Innovation was created, and headed up by Dalton McGuinty himself, aimed at making Ontario more competitive in the marketplace of ideas.
• Ministry of Health Promotion was created, and assigned to Jim Watson, dedicated to promoting healthy living and illness prevention.
• Ministry of Government Services was created to improve human resources management and internal government operations, and assigned to Gerry Phillips. It also absorbed the "Ministry of Consumer and Business Services."
• Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet ceased to be a cabinet level position in its own right; many of its areas of responsibility were transferred to the new "Ministry of Government Services." Henceforth "Chair of the Management Board" would be the title of the head of a cabinet committee, and always exercised by whoever held the position of Minister of Finance.

Thus, the number of portfolios swelled to 26 (including the Premiership), held by 25 cabinet members. Dalton McGuinty himself was now the only cabinet member to hold multiple portfolios, as both Premier and "Minister of Research and Innovation" (as mentioned previously). He handed off the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs to Marie Bountrogianni in the shuffle; this would be Bountrogianni's only portfolio moving forward (she had previously helmed two portfolios), but she would also take on the non-cabinet level role of Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal from David Caplan.

Months later, the first high-profile cabinet scandal rocked the McGuinty ministry as Greg Sorbara resigned as Minister of Finance October 12, 2005, when it was revealed that he was named as a target in the criminal fraud investigation by the RCMP of Royal Group technologies Inc.^[3]

Dwight Duncan took over from Sorbara as Finance Minister. Duncan remained Cabinet Chair, but established cabinet minister Jim Bradley took the role of House Leader from him. Duncan was replaced as Minister of Energy by newly appointed cabinet minister Donna Cansfield. Her addition to the ministry brought the number of women serving to seven, as Laurel Broten had also been added in the shuffle earlier in the year; placing more women in cabinet positions was reported to be a priority for McGuinty.^[4]

McGuinty lost a second high-profile cabinet minister on April 5, 2006, when Gerard Kennedy stepped down as Minister of Education to pursue the leadership of the federal Liberal Party.^[5] In a shuffle involving two other cabinet members^[6], Kennedy was succeeded by Sandra Pupatello as Minister of Education; his vacancy in the cabinet was filled by Caroline Di Cocco (as Minister of Culture), bringing the number of women to eight.

Kennedy ultimately failed to secure leadership of the federal Liberal Party.

McGuinty recovered a valued colleague when Greg Sorbara was cleared of fraud charges and restored to his role as Minister of Finance on May 23,^[7]. Dwight Duncan returned to his role at Ministry of Energy, and in a minor shuffle involving only two other cabinet members, Harinder Takhar was appointed to a new ministry:

• Ministry of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, a post similar to the "Ministry of Consumer and Business Services" that had been eliminated nearly a year previous.

On September 18, Joseph Cordiano stepped down as Minister of Economic Development and Trade, retiring from the ministry and from parliament for personal reasons.^[8] Sandra Pupatello replaced him in the vacated portfolio, and future Premier Kathleen Wynne joined the ministry for the first time, replacing Pupatello as Minister of Education, and becoming the ninth woman to join cabinet. In assuming these new roles, Pupatello and Wynne represented the first women to hold high-profile cabinet positions in the McGuinty ministry.

Days later, September 21, McGuinty named George Smitherman to the until-now vacant post of Deputy Premier.^[9]

The year ended with the number of cabinet members at 26, while the number of portfolios stood at 27 (including the Premiership); Dalton McGuinty himself served as Premier and Minister of Research and Innovation

McGuinty created two new ministries over the course of the year:

• Ministry of Revenue was created February 21, 2007, to help implement a harmonised corporate tax collection system with the federal government.^[10] Newly appointed cabinet minister Michael Chan was brought into the ministry to helm this portfolio.
• Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs was created June 21, 2007, in response to recommendations by the Ipperwash Inquiry.^[11] It replaced the existing Ontario Native Affairs secretariat, which had been headed by David Ramsay in his capacity as Ministry of Natural Resources; he would henceforth serve as full "Minister of Aboriginal Affairs" concurrently with his former role.

Thus the number of cabinet members swelled to 27, even as the number of portfolios (including the Premiership) increased to 29; McGuinty and Ramsay held two portfolios each.

A minor change occurred July 26 when Michael Colle stepped down as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration; Gerry Phillips took up the portfolio in the interim while also remaining Minister of Government and Consumer Services. The number of cabinet members dipped temporarily to 26.

An extensive cabinet shuffle occurred October 30, a few weeks after the 2007 Ontario general election,^[12] in which the Liberals secured another majority with nearly identical results to the last election, winning 71 out of 107 seats.^[13]

While Caroline Di Cocco was the only cabinet member to lose a seat in the election, both Marie Bountrogianni and Mary Anne Chambers declined to run for re-election; thus three vacancies opened up in the cabinet with the election. A further five spots opened up after the election, as Greg Sorbara, who was re-elected to parliament, declined to continue to serve as Minister of Finance;^[14] also, Dave Ramsay, Steve Peters, Monte Kwinter, and Laurel Broten were relieved of their portfolios and dismissed from the ministry, bringing the number of vacancies to eight.

Ten newly appointed cabinet ministers were brought in, including two newly elected MPPs, Aileen Carroll (as Minister of Culture) and Margarett Best (as Minister of Health Promotion); Monique Smith (as Minister of Revenue) and Deb Matthews (as Minister of Children and Youth Services) were re-elected as MPPs but newly appointed as cabinet ministers; thus four newly appointed women cabinet ministers replaced the four departing women to maintain the number of women in cabinet at nine. Matthews was also named Minister Responsible for Women's Issues.

Only seven established cabinet ministers retained their portfolios and were not shuffled, including high-profile ministers Kathleen Wynne (as Minister of Education) and George Smitherman (as Minister of Health and Long Term Care). The two most notable portfolio reassignments involved Michael Bryant, who was moved to a lower profile post from his position as Attorney General and replaced by Chris Bentley, and Dwight Duncan, who again replaced a departing Greg Sorbara as Minister of Finance. In leadership changes, Kathleen Wynne took over as Cabinet Chair from Dwight Duncan, and the demoted Michael Bryant was consoled with an appointment as House Leader. All told, eleven established cabinet ministers changed portfolios.

There were no new ministries created in this shuffle, but one instance of ministerial reorganisation:

• Ministry of Government Services was reorganised into "Ministry of Government and Consumer Services" and assigned to newly appointed cabinet minister Ted McMeekin.

Thus, with this shuffle, the ministry expanded to 28 cabinet members, even as the number of ministries remained steady at 29. The net gain of two new cabinet members is the result of the number of cabinet members holding multiple portfolios dropping from three (McGuinty, Ramsay, and Phillips) to one (Dalton McGuinty himself, as Premier and continuing as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs).

The position of Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal was eliminated after the recommendations by the Ontario Democratic Renewal Secretariat were resoundingly rejected by voters in the 2007 Ontario electoral reform referendum, held concurrently with the general election. This, however, was never a cabinet level position.

On June 20, 2008, in the wake of a controversy surrounding a wave of C. diff infections at Ontario hospitals, George Smitherman was replaced as Minister Health and Long Term Care by Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal David Caplan.^[15] Smitherman, who would remain at his post as Deputy Premier, had come under fire for refusing to launch an inquiry into the cause of the outbreaks of C. diff infections. Caplan, meanwhile, would surrender his own post as "Minister of Infrastructure"" to Smitherman, as would Gerry Phillips turn over his own post as Minister of Energy to Smitherman, as a new portfolio would be created:

• Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, a super-portfolio combining two existing ministries as consolation to Smitherman for being relieved of the high-profile Health ministry.

Phillips remained in cabinet as minister without portfolio and was consoled for his demotion by being named Cabinet Chair, replacing Kathleen Wynne; established cabinet minister Monique Smith replaced Caplan as Deputy House Leader. Also, Smitherman and Caplan had been the last two cabinet members still at their original portfolios from 2003 (excluding McGuinty at Premier).

A minor instance of ministerial portfolio reorganisation occurred July 9, 2008:

• Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services (assigned to Harinder Takhar) and Ministry of Government Services (remaining with incumbent minister Ted McMeekin) were created out of a reorganised "Ministry of Small Business and Enterprise" and "Ministry of Government and Consumer Services."

A second small shuffle occurred September 18, 2008, when, in an effort to confront Ontario's sagging economy and shrinking manufacturing sector during the Great Recession^[16] McGuinty reorganised several ministerial portfolios:

• Ministry of Economic Development and Trade was divided into two new ministries, the "Ministry of Economic Development", to be headed up by Michael Bryant; and the "Ministry of International Trade and Investment," to be headed up by Sandra Pupatello.
• Ministry of Revenue was folded back into to the Ministry of Finance.

Three other established cabinet ministers were involved in the September 18 shuffle. The year ended with the number of cabinet members and number of portfolios (including the Premiership) equal at 28, with Dalton McGuinty himself still covering two portfolios (Premier and Intergovernmental Affairs), while Gerry Phillips was minister without portfolio.

Ambitious high-profile minister Michael Bryant was eased out of cabinet, surrendering first his position as House Leader to his deputy Monique Smith February 4, 2009, and later stepping down as Ministry of Economic Development on May 25. He would move on to become CEO of Invest Toronto, and his vacancy would be filled by McGuinty himself in the interim. It was reported that McGuinty felt that Bryant represented a challenge to his authority^[17]. Established cabinet minister Brad Duguid would take over as Deputy House Leader.

On June 24, 2009, a minor shuffle involving six established cabinet ministers occurred.^[18] In regards to two of the changes (among the several implemented this day), this shuffle could be considered largely an undoing of changes made in September of the previous year:

• Ministry of Economic Development and Trade was recreated, as the experiment of a separate "Ministry of Trade" and "Ministry of Economic Development" was terminated, and the ministries were reunited into and returned to established cabinet minister Sandra Pupatello;
• Minister of Revenue was recreated, as it was divided from Finance and assigned to established cabinet minister John Wilkinson.

There were also two other instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:

• the responsibility for forestry was moved from Ministry of Natural Resources to the renamed Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry
• the responsibility for small businesses was stripped away from the Ministry of Consumer Services and the ministry was downsized.

While several ministries thus took on new looks, there would be no new faces in the ministry. John Milloy would be assigned to multiple portfolios, taking on the position of Minister of Research and Innovation while retaining the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities; Dalton McGuinty himself would continue to also helm two portfolios, as Premier and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs; Gerry Phillips would continue to serve as minister without portfolio.

The embattled Ministry of Health and Long term Care faced a serious scandal for the second year in a row.^[19] With costs of implementing eHealth spiralling out of control, David Caplan resigned from cabinet October 7, 2009 and turned the portfolio over to Deb Matthews. Laurel Broten, previously dismissed from cabinet in 2007, returned to the ministry to take over as Minister of Children and Youth Services, and increased the number of women in cabinet to ten; Broten also took over as "Minister Responsible for Women's Issues" from Deb Matthews, and would remain at that post for the remainder of the ministry.

Former Minister of Health George Smitherman was also not long for the ministry. On November 9, he resigned from his post as Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and Deputy Premier of Ontario to run for mayor of Toronto.^[20] Established cabinet minister Gerry Phillips, of late minister without portfolio, took over the vacated ministry. Smitherman was unsuccessful in his mayoral bid, losing in an upset to Rob Ford, brother of future Premier Doug Ford.

The number of cabinet members at the end of the year sat at 26, while the number of portfolios (including the Premiership) was steady at 28; Premier McGuinty and John Milloy were helming multiple portfolios.

Days before the big mid-term cabinet shuffle January 18, 2010, ^[21] Jim Watson resigned from his post as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to run for mayor of Ottawa^[22]. He became the second cabinet member to resign to pursue the mayoralty of a major Ontario city; unlike Smitherman, Watson would be successful and was elected mayor of Ottawa later in the year.

Unlike the first mid-term shuffle in 2005, which involved shuffling established cabinet ministers without anyone being dismissed from cabinet, this time Ted McMeekin, Aileen Carroll, and Donna Cansfield joined Watson in departing, as they were dismissed by McGuinty. The four vacancies were filled by four newly appointed cabinet ministers, Sophia Aggelonitis, Eric Hoskins, Carol Mitchell, and Linda Jeffrey (none of them assigned to particularly high-profile ministries). With three women joining and two leaving, the number of women in cabinet rose to eleven.

Nine established cabinet ministers found themselves in altered positions after the shuffle, the most high-profile being Kathleen Wynne, who was moved from Ministry of Education to Ministry of Transportation, and Brad Duguid, who was moved from Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs to Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.

There was one instance of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:

• Ministry of Tourism and Culture, created by combining Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture. Assigned to established cabinet minister Michael Chan.

The number of cabinet members remained steady at 26, while the number of portfolios (including the Premiership) fell to 27. Gerry Phillips returned to his role as minister without portfolio in the shuffle. For the first time in his ministry, McGuinty no longer served in multiple portfolios; but John Milloy continued to do so (in the related positions of Minister of Research and Innovation and Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities), as did Chris Bentley (in the often-paired portfolios of Attorney General and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs).

On August 18, the second extensive shuffle of the year occurred; such sweeping changes occurring so close together is unusual, and indicated that the McGuinty ministry was struggling.^[23]

Seven established cabinet ministers were involved, as were two newly appointed cabinet ministers (see below). Most notably, John Milloy, as of the past thirteen months helming two portfolios, handed off Ministry of Research and Innovation to newcomer Glen Murray while retaining Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities for himself.

There were two instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:

• Ministry of Energy (assigned to established cabinet minister Brad Duguid) and Ministry of Infrastructure (assigned to the other newcomer, Bob Chiarelli) were created with the division of the "Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure" into two new ministries.
• Ministry of Health Promotion was renamed "Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport, and remained with incumbent minister Margarett Best.

There would not be any instance of a cabinet member stepping down in this shuffle. In the end, both the number of cabinet members and the number of portfolios (including the Premiership) swelled to 28. Chris Bentley was now the only cabinet members helming two ministries, as he continued as both Attorney General and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs; Gerry Phillips remained in cabinet as minister without portfolio. The number of women remained at eleven.

The final newly appointed cabinet minister to join the McGuinty ministry was Charles Sousa, brought on December 7 to replace Peter Fonseca at Ministry of Labour, who resigned^[24]

The 2011 Ontario general election resulted in the loss of 17 Liberal seats, leaving McGuinty one seat shy of a majority in Parliament.

Seven vacancies opened up in the McGuinty cabinet:^[25] Sophia Aggelonitis, Leona Dombrowsky, Carol Mitchell, and John Wilkinson were all defeated in their efforts to be re-elected, while Gerry Phillips, Sandra Pupatello, and Monique Smith all chose not to run again.

Six of the seven vacancies (it was unnecessary to replace Gerry Phillips as he was a minister without portfolio) were filled thusly: the number of established cabinet ministers holding multiple portfolios increased from one to three (Bob Chiarelli as Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation; Dalton McGuinty himself continuing as Premier and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs; and Kathleen Wynne as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Aboriginal Affairs; note that Chris Bentley would now serve in only one portfolio as Minister of Energy), and no longer number among those helming two portfolios); recently dismissed minister Ted McMeekin returned to cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs; and three ministries ceased to exist:

• Ministry of Revenue was again returned to Ministry of Finance (Ontario) under Dwight Duncan.
• Ministry of Research and Innovation was absorbed by Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to become Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation and assigned to established cabinet minister Brad Duguid.
• Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport was eliminated.

Thus the cabinet shrunk to 22, smaller than it had been at its inception in 2003, when it had 23 cabinet members. The number of women was nearly halved, dropping to six. There were 25 portfolios (including the Premiership).

Almost every minister was assigned to a new portfolio, with the exception of McGuinty himself as Premier, Michael Chan at Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Dwight Duncan at Finance, Deb Matthews at Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Bob Chiarelli at Infrastructure, and Harinder Takhar at Ministry of Government Services.

Dwight Duncan filled vacancy of nearly two years' duration when he was appointed Deputy Premier of Ontario.

Dalton McGuinty announced his retirement as Premier October 15, pending the election of a new Liberal Party leader.^[26] In the coming weeks, five cabinet members resigned from the ministry to pursue the leadership: Eric Hoskins, Glen Murray, Charles Sousa, Harinder Takhar, as well as the successful candidate, Kathleen Wynne. Each of the six vacancies created was filled on an interim basis by an established cabinet minister (Laurel Broten for Hoskins, John Milloy for Murray, Michael Chan for Sousa, Dwight Duncan for Takhar, and Chris Bentley and Bob Chiarelli for both of Wynne's ministries). And so the cabinet withered to 17 members, six of them helming two of the 25 portfolios, Bob Chiarelli helming three.

Wynne succeeded to the Premiership February 11, 2013, and thus the McGuinty ministry came to a close.

46 different people served as cabinet members in the McGuinty ministry. Seventeen would go on to serve in Wynne ministry.

Sixteen women served, although never more than eleven at any given time. McGuinty began with only five women in his cabinet, and all of them in minor portfolios, whereas his predecessor (Premier Ernie Eves) had six women in his cabinet, including his Minister of Finance (Janet Ecker) and his and Deputy Premier (Elizabeth Witmer). However, in McGuinty's ministry, several women eventually achieved positions from which they exercised significant influence, including Deb Matthews as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care from October 7, 2009 to February 11, 2013, Sandra Pupatello as Minister of Economic Development (or related portfolios) from September 18, 2006 to October 20, 2011, and of course Kathleen Wynne, as Minister of Education from September 18, 2006 to January 18, 2010.

The McGuinty ministry was overwhelmingly White, but a few people of colour also served, most notably Harinder Takhar (born in India), who served for the duration of the ministry, as well as Michael Chan (born in China), and Margarett Best and Mary Anne Chambers (both born in Jamaica). Eves and Harris only appointed one person of colour to cabinet.

The McGuinty ministry was the first to feature openly LGBTQ cabinet members: Glen Murray, George Smitherman, Jim Watson, and Kathleen Wynne were all members of the community.

Madeleine Meilleur's last name is French for "best;" Margarett Best's last name is English for "meilleur."

Meilleur was "Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs" from October 23, 2003 to February 11, 2003. While not a cabinet-level position, Meilleur is the only person other than McGuinty to fill any role for the duration of the ministry, and she would continue in this role several years into the Wynne ministry.

David Caplan, in taking over as Minister of Health on June 20, 2008, holds the same position his mother Elinor held under Premier David Peterson 1987-1990.^[27]