Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has shuffled his Cabinet to make up for the loss of George Smitherman and Jim Watson.
The move we find most interesting: Scarborough’s Brad Duguid goes from Aboriginal Affairs to Energy and Infrastructure (MEI), the super-ministry specially created for Smitherman.
Many groups in the construction sector had pushed to separate energy and infrastructure, arguing that the scope of major decision on the energy file meant infrastructure was getting short shrift. The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) was one of those groups advocating for a separation of the ministries of energy and infrastructure, which hasn’t happened.
RCCAO’s Andy Manahan says, “Perhaps the Premier was sending out a signal by maintaining MEI that the ‘super-ministry’ was not just created for George Smitherman but that the decision was made for synergistic purposes.” For instance, if a streamlined approval process works for alternate energy projects they should work for approved Growth Plan projects.
“It is our hope that greater use will be made of Parliamentary Assistants to work on the energy and infrastructure files, respectively, so that the views of the construction industry are heard,” says Manahan.
One thing the RCCAO is happy about: Duguid’s promotion. In his previous role, he dealt extensively and fairly with the construction and infrastructure communities. But he does have a daunting task on his hands, given some of the major decisions pending in the super-ministry: marketing the Green Energy Act, including attracting new renewable investment, dealing with NIMBYism over wind farms, and selling the public on rising energy costs for green electricity; dealing with local concerns around new gas-fired plants in Northern York Region and Oakville; determining the fate of Ontario’s next-generation nuclear procurement; establishing a framework for long-term infrastructure planning; moving forward on Smitherman’s commitment to introduce new legislation to ensure long-term self funding for water and waste water infrastructure; rolling out the $2.3 billion transmission line expansion; completing the massive federal-provincial stimulus spending; and much more.
