Ontario Premier Doug Ford was dealt another blow on Friday, Global News has learned, after Labour Minister Monte McNaughton told the premier he would leave cabinet and step down as MPP to pursue a position in the private sector.
Sources told Global News that McNaughton, who was first elected as the MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex in 2011, was considering the shift for months before informing the premier of his decision to step down.
Ford released a statement confirming McNaughton’s departure and thanking him for his time in office.
“He made this decision based on what is best for him and his family at this point in his life and career,” Ford said.
“In the last two years alone, he introduced three separate pieces of legislation focused solely on working for workers. Monte helped build a coalition of private-sector union support that has never existed in the history of the Ontario PC Party. He introduced ground-breaking measures to protect workers’ rights and ensure that more workers are in the driver’s seat of their own careers.
“Whether tackling Ontario’s generational labour shortage, connecting workers to better jobs with bigger paycheques, or breaking the stigma of skilled trades, Monte has been instrumental in our government’s plan to put workers at the centre of Ontario’s economy and unprecedented growth.”
The resignation, however, comes during the height of the Greenbelt controversy that has claimed the positions of at least two cabinet ministers and two senior government staffers, and has forced the premier to backtrack on the unpopular policy.
Ford, who met with Progressive Conservative MPPs at a caucus retreat in Niagara Falls this week, said he learned more about the province-wide blowback to the decision to open up 7,400 acres of protected Greenbelt land for development.
“It was a mistake to open the Greenbelt,” Ford said. “As a first step to earn back your trust, I’ll be reversing the changes we made and won’t make any changes to the Greenbelt in the future.”
While the move was aimed at regaining political balance, the loss of McNaughton could raise questions about whether the premier has lost the confidence of his cabinet ministers.
McNaughton has been a highly regarded labour minister who helped transform the PC party’s relationship with private-sector unions giving the party an electoral boost in the 2022 general election.
McNaughton is also widely viewed in Conservative circles as a future leadership candidate who has been slowly building a base of support to potentially seek the position after Ford.
— With files from Ryan Rocca
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