Caroline Mulroney says she will leave Ontario cabinet and elected office on June 5 after eight years in Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government.
Ontario cabinet minister Caroline Mulroney is leaving Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet and her seat in the legislature, announcing Monday that she will step down June 5 after eight years in elected office.
Mulroney, the Progressive Conservative MPP for York-Simcoe, said in a public letter that she wants to begin a new chapter. She linked the timing to personal changes in recent years, including the death of her father, former prime minister Brian Mulroney, two years ago, and her family’s transition to being empty nesters.
“Together, they have led me to the conclusion that now is the right time to step back from elected life and begin a new chapter, one I am genuinely excited about,” Mulroney wrote.
Her departure removes one of the most recognizable names from Ford’s cabinet and will force a byelection in York-Simcoe. It also adds to the government’s electoral calendar: Ford must also call a byelection in Scarborough Southwest by the end of the summer.
Mulroney was first elected in 2018 as part of Ford’s first government. She has held several cabinet posts, including attorney general, transportation minister and minister of francophone affairs. At the time of her resignation announcement, she was president of the Treasury Board and minister of francophone affairs.
Ford said in a statement that Ontario had benefited from Mulroney’s “calm and steady leadership,” and said the Ontario PC Party and the conservative movement would continue to benefit from her ideas. He pointed to her work on a funding agreement for what he described as the largest expansion of public transit in North America.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy will serve as interim president of the Treasury Board after Mulroney’s resignation takes effect on June 5, Ford said.
Mulroney held the francophone affairs file throughout her eight years in government, a tenure that began with controversy over funding cuts in 2018. In her letter, she said she would miss the people she worked with in elected life.
The next formal step is for Ford to set the timing of the York-Simcoe byelection, alongside the pending vote in Scarborough Southwest.
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