Ont. cabinet shuffle creates new economic ministry

Updated: Thu Sep. 18 2008 12:41:06 PM

ctvtoronto.ca

Sandra Pupatello is to become Ontario's minister of international trade when Premier Dalton McGuinty announces a cabinet shuffle later today.

"It's all about the economy," CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss said on Thursday. "Premier McGuinty wants to get maximum investment into this province as we move into more troubled waters."

Pupatello's job will be to attract job-creating investments into Ontario from around the world, he said.

Pupatello, a Windsor MPP, had been economic development minister. Michael Bryant, former attorney general and aboriginal affairs minister, takes over responsibility for the ministry. He will remain as government house leader.

Bliss said Bryant will focus on promoting growth and jobs within Ontario.

Toronto MPP Brad Duguid moves from labour to aboriginal affairs, and fellow Toronto MPP and former Olympic runner Peter Fonseca moves from tourism to labour.

Monique Smith of North Bay will take over tourism. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan will take on her revenue portfolio in addition to his current responsibilities.

McGuinty last shuffled his cabinet in June. He moved George Smitherman into an energy and infrastructure "super ministry" will David Caplan took over the health portfolio.

The shuffle will be announced at 3:45 p.m. McGuinty's freshly-configured cabinet will first face the legislature next Monday.

McGuinty has taken fire from the opposition over the province's economic performance, particularly the loss of 200,000 manufacturing jobs. They accuse the premier of not having a real plan to restore prosperity.

Duncan said Wednesday he's worried about a prolonged slowdown rather than a recession.

Some analysts note the province's has been hurt by the high value of the Canadian dollar in recent years relative to the U.S. greenback, something that has hit export-oriented businesses like manufacturing and forestry.

Roger Martin, dean of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Business, said Thursday that Ontario companies "under-invest" because of the province's high business taxes.

"What we need to do is make sure Ontario is a place where businesses have the strongest possible encouragement to invest, and that has a lot to do with our marginal effective tax rates on investment, which are among the highest in the world," said Martin.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Conservative MP for Whitby-Oshawa, said in late February that Ontario was "the last place" in Canada to start a business and urged the McGuinty government to cut its business taxes.

McGuinty said on March 19 that Ontario couldn't afford major business tax cuts, saying the move would force the province to close schools and hospitals.

The premier has tried to make the equitability of the federal equalization system an issue in this federal election, saying Ontario sends $20 billion more to Ottawa than it gets back.