Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.
If three key Northern Liberal ministers end up back in the Ontario cabinet today, as anticipated, it will be another one of those political ironies that, this time at least, worked in this region’s favour.
Some may recall that Northern Liberal stalwart MPPs Michael Gravelle, Bill Mauro and David Orazietti did not back Kathleen Wynne’s bid for party leader. Despite their support for Liberal warrior Sandra Pupatello, all three were eventually appointed to cabinet after Wynne became the province’s first woman premier.
Wynne’s decision in 2013 to put Gravelle back into Northern Development and Mines and give Orazietti, of Sault Ste. Marie, his first cabinet post at Natural Resources were in keeping with a political strategy to keep key parts of the North in Liberal hands.
This strategy became more apparent when, on the eve of this spring’s election, Mauro was promoted to cabinet to oversee a fairly tricky ministry — Municipal Affairs and Housing.
On the face of it, the appointments seem fairly obvious, especially when one considers how much time Wynne spent in Northern Ontario charming local mayors, as both premier and, before that, in various minister roles that included transportation, municipal affairs and housing, and aboriginal affairs.