When asked about the new-look provincial cabinet announced on Thursday by Premier Doug Ford, Nipissing MPP — and still Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade — Vic Fedeli compared the moves to a hockey coach's decision to freshen up the lineup.
See related: Ford shuffles and expands cabinet as legislature rises
Fedeli acknowledged he had used a similar sports analogy some years back when he saw his portfolio reassigned by Ford, landing him his current role.
"We're refreshing the people who are going to be involved in the various ministries," Fedeli said at a funding announcement on Friday. "The Premier has that option. Five years ago, I paralleled it with a hockey team, whether you're moving the one guy from defence up to right wing or moving the centre to defence. These were the premier's options. He's seen his team, he innately knows the expertise of each and every person and can pull the best out of people, I think. That's one thing I would say about Premier Ford is that he has that capability to absolutely just draw the best out of everybody and you put you in the right spot to be able to deliver the best results for the people."
Fedeli is excited to get to work with the new line combinations, so to speak.
"The Premier has a tremendous amount of respect for the members of the caucus," he said. "Ontario is a world leader. We have so many projects underway. We're trying to — and I think successfully — rebuild Ontario from an almost bankrupt province six years ago. We're now investing billions in roads, bridges, highways, jails, courthouses, schools, and long-term care facilities. All of this needs a tremendous amount of administration, even my own Ministry of Economic Development, we went from virtually zero investment in Ontario to tens of billions of dollars each and every year we've been there, it takes a lot of people. It takes a big machine to do that and I feel absolutely thrilled with the fact that we now have a larger cabinet with a greater focus on delivering for the people."
See also: Fedeli survives Ford shuffle
Not all Queen's Park movers and shakers were sporting the proverbial foam (index) finger to cheer on the new Ford lineup. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles were quick to blast the unnecessary cost to taxpayers for pay raises. Forty-five per cent of the Progressive Conservative caucus is now in cabinet and is now the biggest in provincial history at 36 ministers.
Cabinet ministers in Ontario receive $165,000 in salary, which is 42 per cent more than a base MPP salary of $116,500. If the cabinet still had 21 members, as it did six years ago when Ford took power, Ontario taxpayers would be saving more than $700,000 on additional ministerial salary alone.
