Premier Ford taps two local MPPs to serve in cabinet

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left to right, Minister of Rural Affairs Lisa Thompson and Ontario Lt. Gov. Edith Dumont pose for a photo during a cabinet swearing-in ceremony in Toronto on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette (Nathan Denette/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A new cabinet was named by Premier Doug Ford on Wednesday - with two local politicians once more on the docket.

MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London Rob Flack, previously the agriculture minister, is taking the housing portfolio. Flack was elected MPP in 2022.

MPP for Huron-Bruce Lisa Thompson, was Ontario’s Minister of Rural Affairs when the election was called, and will once more be stepping into her role. She was first elected in 2011.

“As Ontario faces one of the greatest challenges in our history, workers and families are counting on us to stand up for their jobs and well-being,” Ford said in a statement.

“Our government will double down on our plan to build, train and re-skill workers for better jobs and bigger paycheques, tear down internal trade barriers, retool companies for new customers in new markets, attract more investments and cut through red tape to develop our vast natural resources, including critical minerals in the Ring of Fire. No matter what, we will protect Ontario.”

Former housing minister Steve Clark, who resigned in the wake of the Greenbelt land-grab scandal, remains as government house leader, though it’s not a cabinet position.

In general, there were few changes to the lineup, with most minister positions remaining the same as they were prior to the last election.

Some small administrative tweaks were also announced, which will make the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks the authority for conservation authorities, and moved the responsibility of broadband expansion and connectivity into the realm of the Minister of Energy and Mines, and the Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries.

Ford signalled before Wednesday’s ceremony that he wasn’t going to change his leadership group much.

- with files from the Canadian Press