The Wynne ministry was the cabinet of the Government of Ontario, a province in Canada, from February 11, 2013, to June 29, 2018. It was led by Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, the first woman to serve as Premier of Ontario, as well as the first openly LGBT person to head a ministry in Canada.
Wynne was invited to form a government upon her election two weeks prior as the leader of Ontario's governing party, the Ontario Liberal Party. The Wynne ministry inherited a minority governing mandate from the McGuinty ministry, the province's government from 2003 to 2013, which Ms. Wynne (along with many of her ministers) was a part of. Under her leadership, the Ontario Liberal Party won an upset victory in the 2014 Ontario provincial election and regained a parliamentary majority in the 41st Parliament of Ontario. The ministry governed until its electoral defeat in the 2018 election. It was succeeded by the Ford ministry.
Composition overview A total of forty-four individuals served in the Wynne ministry over its five-year tenure. As the first woman to lead Canada's largest province, Wynne brought eighteen other women into her cabinet. While shy of reaching gender parity, the Wynne ministry surpassed the previous records of number of women in Ontario cabinet (eleven) and proportion of women presence in cabinet (42%), both previously set by the McGuinty ministry in August 2010). Wynne's final cabinet, with thirteen women out of twenty-eight, or 46%, remains the largest number and highest proportion of women in Ontario cabinet to date.
The Wynne ministry was also the first Ontario ministry to substantively reflect the racial and cultural diversity of the province's population. The forty-four members of the ministry included nine were persons of colour (including four women), three members were francophone Canadian, and one openly LGBT person other than the Premier herself. A number of them occupied some of the most prominent roles. She appointed to her inaugural cabinet the first two persons of Muslim faith to serve in Ontario cabinet — Yasir Naqvi, a trade lawyer born in Pakistan (who served as Minister of Labour and later became her Attorney General) and Reza Moridi, a nuclear physicist born in Iran (who served as Minister of Research and Innovation and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities) — and both served for the full duration of the ministry. She also put two black women, Mitzie Hunter and Indira Naidoo-Harris in charge of Ministry Education, one of the largest and most sensitive provincial portfolio, and a ministry she herself once headed.
Wynne's inaugural cabinet consisted of twenty-seven members including herself, eleven among them served for her entire premiership. Five of them held their portfolios for the entire duration of the ministry: Charles Sousa at Ministry of Finance Michael Gravelle at Ministry of Northern Development and Mines Jeff Leal at Ministry of Rural Affairs (including the term after it merged with Ministry of Agriculture and Food) Reza Moridi at Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science David Zimmer at Ministry of Indigenous Relations / Aboriginal Affairs.
For a seven-month period between June 2016 and January 2017, Wynne's cabinet consist of thirty members, the largest cabinet since the short-lived Progressive Conservative Miller ministry in 1985 (which had thirty-three members). The number in hindsight appeared rather modest, with her successor Doug Ford leading a cabinet of thirty-seven since 2024.
Wynne first secured her Don Valley West seat in 2003, and was the first out lesbian elected to any legislature in Canada. She served as parliamentary assistant to two ministers, coincidentally her two strongest leadership rivals in the 2013 leadership contest, before being promoted to the crucial education portfolio by her predecessor Dalton McGuinty in 2006. She had in many occasions highlighted the crucial value of her own time spent on the backbench in preparing her for her ministerial career. During her premiership, no rookie entered cabinet immediately following their election. Three high profile recruits, former CivicAction head Mitzie Hunter, former NDP MP Glenn Thibeault and former Canadian Civil Liberties Association head Nathalie Des Rosier spent respectively ten, sixteen and fourteen months on the backbench before being elevated into cabinet.
During her five-year premiership, Wynne conducted two major cabinet shuffles. At its inauguration and on these two occasions, all ministers, including those retaining their portfolio, took their oaths of office. The composition of cabinet also saw minor changes on a number of occasions.
+ Changes to Wynne ministry Date Context Size Women February 11, 2013 Inauguration of Wynne ministry 27 8 (30%) Adjustment upon resignation of Harinder Takhar (for health reasons) 26 8 (31%) Adjustment upon resignation of Laurel Broten (retirement from politics) 25 7 (28%) Adjustment upon resignation of Linda Jeffrey (to seek the mayoralty of Brampton) 26 6 (23%) Major shuffle following majority victory in 2014 election, three ministers no longer in legislature exited, four new ministers promoted including future party leader Steven Del Duca. 27 8 (30%) Major shuffle at halfway point of legislative term, with expressed objectives of renewal and improving diversity and gender balance, four ministers exited, seven new ministers promoted, largest cabinet since the 1980 30 12 (40%) Reassignment of Indira Naidoo-Harris following the agreement on CPP with the federal government 30 12 (40%) Adjustment upon resignation of David Orazietti (departure from politics) 29 12 (41%) Adjustment upon resignation of Glen Murray (departure from politics) 29 12 (41%) Pre-election shuffle with three ministers exited (all signaled intention to retire), three new minister promoted 29 13 (45%) Adjustment upon resignation of Eric Hoskins (accepted federal appointment) 28 13 (46%)
Formation in February 2013 Departed (members of McGuinty ministry) (5): Dalton McGuinty (Premier), Chris Bentley (energy), Dwight Duncan (finance), Margarett Best (health promotion), Rick Bartolucci (northern development and mines) Re-entered (members of McGuinty ministry) (3): Charles Sousa (finance, management board), Harinder Takhar (government services), Glen Murray (infrastructure, transportation) Newly elevated (9): David Zimmer (aboriginal affairs), Teresa Piruzza (children and youth), Tracy MacCharles (consumer services), Liz Sandals (education), Yasir Naqvi (labour), David Orazietti (natural resources), Reza Moridi (research and innovation), Jeff Leal (rural affairs), Mario Sergio (without portfolio responsible for seniors)
Having secured a surprise come-from-behind victory over former cabinet colleague Sandra Pupatello two weeks prior, Kathleen Wynne and her ministry were sworn into office by Lieutenant Governor David Onley on February 11, 2013. The new ministry consisted of twenty-seven cabinet members. Among them seventeen served in the McGuinty ministry, with one member, Jim Bradley, having served in both the McGuinty ministry and the Peterson ministry in the late 1980s.The composition of her new team was influenced by the recent leadership contest in a number of notable ways:
All ten caucus supporters of Wynne's leadership bid were included in the cabinet. The five incumbent ministers were all given prominent roles - Deb Matthews, Wynne's most trusted confidant in caucus and chair of her come-from-behind leadership bid, was named Deputy Premier while retaining her role running the largest ministry in the government as Minister of Health and Long Term Care. Linda Jeffrey, a loyal ally who urged Wynne to contest the leadership and the first incumbent minister to endorsed her leadership bid, was named chair of cabinet in addition to being promoted to head Wynne's former portfolio of municipal affairs and housing. John Gerretsen, the most senior caucus members among her supporters and a contestant in the 1996 contest, remained Attorney General. Ted McMeekin, one of the most prominent left-leaning voices in caucus with a social justice background, was named Minister of Community and Social Services. Erstwhile rival Glen Murray, who dropped out of race before the convention and campaigned with Wynne in the contest's final two weeks, was given two crucial portfolios with large budget, transportation as well as the infrastructure. The five other caucus members who supported her leadership bid were all promoted to cabinet, most prominent among them Liz Sandals, who was named Minister of Education. Wynne included in her cabinet all four of her leadership rivals who were in caucus at the time, with significant promotions for the three who backed her on the final ballot. In addition to Murray, Charles Sousa was promoted to be her Minister of Finance. Eric Hoskins, whose dramatic move on the convention floor gave her a major momentum boost was named Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment. Fulfilling one of her campaign promises, Wynne served as the inaugural agriculture minister for the ministry's first year, sharing the portfolio with newly appointed Minister of Rural Affairs Jeff Leal, who took over the entire portfolio after a year. The ministry consisted of a number of minister with extensive ministerial experience. Minister of the Environment Jim Bradley was the most senior member, with over fourteen years of service, spanning the entire durations of the two previous Liberal ministries of Premiers David Peterson (1985–90) and Dalton McGuinty (2003–13). Gerretsen (remained Attorney General), Madeleine Meilleur (remained Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services), and Takhar (resumed Minister of Government Services) all served for the entire duration of the McGuinty ministry. Wynne retained most of her former cabinet colleagues, and almost all the ministers exited have previously signaled their intention to retire from politics either publicly or internally. The only reported involuntary departure was Margarett Best, who would in turn resign her seat shortly after. Wynne promoted into cabinet three backbench supporters of frontrunner Sandra Pupatello, including aforementioned Leal, and also Teresa Piruzza (who was previously Pupatello's aide and local campaign manager), and David Orazietti (who mused of his own bid in the early months of the contest). These moves very likely have made the difference between majority and minority the following year, as it would have been highly unlikely for the Liberals to retain Leal and Orazietti's seats were they not the candidates.
Wynne's frontbench included eight women, including the aforementioned Matthews, Jeffrey, Sandals, Meilleur, Piruzza and Wynne herself; along with holdovers from the McGuinty ministry Laurel Broten; and newly appointed Tracey MacCharles.