Wynne will 'try' for gender-equal cabinet
Ontario premier talks about the challenges facing women in politics, “hypothetical” cabinet shuffle this June.

TheStar.com
May 28, 2016
Alex Boutilier

Premier Kathleen Wynne says she’s going to “try” for an equal number of women and men around the cabinet table in a coming cabinet shakeup.

But Wynne stopped short of committing to follow Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s lead in creating a gender-equal ministry.

“I’m going to be pushed very hard, Prime Minister, on (a gender equal cabinet), thank you very much,” Wynne told Liberal activists at their Winnipeg policy convention on Saturday.

“We have to recognize that we have to look at the numbers, we have to look at the experience, you have to look at the regions, and I will do my best to have representation from around the province, experience, gender, all of those things, and if I fall short (on gender equality) I will continue to try.”

The Star reported Wednesday that speculation about the coming shuffle, said to be planned soon after the legislature breaks for the summer on June 9, has kicked into high gear in recent weeks.

Former Queen’s Park staffers in Winnipeg for the federal convention said Friday night there seems to be an unusual level of anxiety about what is being called a major cabinet shakeup.

Wynne is said to be looking at changes the structure of some ministries, and bringing in a number of MPPs currently warming the backbench into cabinet.

Government insiders told the Star’s Robert Benzie that MPPs Glenn Thibeault (Sudbury), Eleanor McMahon (Burlington), Indira Naidoo-Harris (Halton), Daiene Vernile (Kitchener Centre), Kathryn McGarry (Cambridge), Yvan Baker (Etobicoke Centre), and Marie-France Lalonde (Ottawa Orleans) are all being considered for cabinet spots. With a number of ministers expected to stay on the front bench, the cabinet may be expanded beyond its current membership of 26 MPPs.

The premier was speaking Saturday morning about the challenges facing women in politics, in a rather friendly on-stage interview with American journalist Liz Plank.

The conversation came two days after the Alberta Wildrose Party stirred controversy by asking pointed questions to Premier Rachel Notley about Wynne’s administration, while Wynne watched on from the legislature’s gallery.

Wildrose house leader Nathan Cooper told the Canadian Press that they regret the incident, saying the questions criticizing Wynne’s administration were fair, but they didn’t expect Wynne to actually be in attendance.

“The intention was never to embarrass the (Alberta) premier or the premier of Ontario,” Cooper told CP.

Wynne said she accepted the apologies from Wildrose members. But the controversy trudged on, with Wildrose Leader Brian Jean suspending his finance critic, Derek Fildebrandt, for approvingly commenting on a homophobic social media comment about Wynne.

Fildebrandt later said he did not read the full comment before replying, and said it did not represent his views.

“In this conversation about women in politics and inclusion, we have to pay attention to what’s going on around us,” Wynne said.

“Yes, I accept the apology, but it’s an interesting confluence of things. There’s a woman premier in Alberta, I’m there as a woman, we’re talking about climate change, and I think the attack, the viciousness of the attack, had a certain quality to it. So I will just say we need to pay attention to that.”