It is now, officially, Premier Doug Ford.Ford and his 20 fellow cabinet ministers were sworn in Friday at Queen’s Park by Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell three weeks after toppling former premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals.“We have an all-star team that’s ready right now to give the people of Ontario the kind of leadership and direction they deserve,” the new premier, who is also intergovernmental affairs minister, said of his 14-man, seven-woman cabinet.Christine Elliott, runner-up to Ford in the March 10 PC leadership, is the deputy premier and health minister. The Newmarket-Aurora MPP served as Wynne’s patient ombudsman before resigning to return to politics.Vic Fedeli, who was interim Tory leader after Patrick Brown resigned in January, is the new finance minister. The Nipissing MPP was his party’s long-time opposition finance critic.In a surprise move, MPP Lisa Thompson (Huron-Bruce), is the education minister. Thompson, a farmer, will have to stick-handle Ford’s controversial rewriting of the province’s sex-education curriculum.Caroline Mulroney, who finished third in the March leadership, is the attorney general and minister responsible for francophone affairs. The bilingual daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney was elected for the first time in York Simcoe on June 7.Rod Phillips, the newly elected Ajax MPP, has the daunting job of environment, conservation, and parks ministry. Phillips, the former head of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., and Postmedia, will be tasked with keeping Ford’s promise to extricate the province from its cap-and-trade alliance with Quebec and California.Peter Bethlenfalvy, newly elected in Pickering-Uxbridge, is the president of the treasury board. The Bay Street veteran will be responsible for the government’s purse strings — a key post as Ford has promised to cut $6 billion in annual spending.Another new MPP, Merrilee Fullerton, a do ...
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