Wynne to tweak cabinet to fill vacancy
Ontario premier is tinkering to fill the vacancy left by the departure of former community safety and corrections minister.

TheStar.com
Jan. 11, 2017
Robert Benzie

Premier Kathleen Wynne is tinkering with her cabinet to fill the vacancy left by the surprise Christmas departure of former community safety and corrections Minister David Orazietti.

Wynne will unveil the minor changes Thursday morning at Queen’s Park at a swearing-in ceremony with Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell.

Labour Minister Kevin Flynn had been serving as a part-time solicitor general and corrections minister for the past month.

“We made it clear that when David Orazietti resigned that there would be an interim situation — so, yes, we will be changing that in the new future,” the premier told reporters Tuesday at an event at the YMCA on Grosvenor St.

Asked if there would be any other ministers changing jobs, Wynne said: “Stay tuned.”

Orazietti, 48, resigned Dec. 16 in what he called “a very difficult decision, and one I do not make lightly” to spend more time with his family.

Earlier this week, the one-time teacher was named the dean of aviation, trades and technology, natural environment and business at Sault College in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie.

His successor at corrections will inherit the fallout over the controversy swirling around Thunder Bay jail inmate Adam Capay, who was kept in solitary confinement for four years after being charged with killing a fellow prisoner.

Amid a national outcry, Capay was finally moved to a better cell with access to recreational facilities in October.

In his final act as minister, Orazietti hired 239 more prison staff and asked former federal corrections investigator Howard Sapers to conduct a 60-day review, which began last week.

Wynne, who must call a byelection in Sault Ste. Marie by June 30, may also have to make other changes to her executive council when appointing the new minister.

It will be the first shuffle since the Nov. 17 by-election victory in Ottawa-Vanier of Nathalie Des Rosiers.

Des Rosiers, former general counsel to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and a dean of the University of Ottawa law school, has been touted by the Liberals as cabinet material.