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October 11, 2005
Sorbara steps down
Resignation forces shuffle of McGuinty Cabinet
Ontario's Finance Minister, Greg Sorbara, has resigned after police raided his family's real estate company as part of an investigation into another company, Royal Group Technologies. Mr. Sorbara had served on the Board of Directors of Royal Group until the McGuinty Liberals were elected in 2003.
According to the Toronto Star, the company has been under investigation since February 2004 "for interactions between Royal Group subsidiaries Royal Building Systems, Roycon Ltd., Royal St. Kitts Beach Resort Ltd. and a numbered Ontario company."
The resignation forced Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to make the most significant changes to his Cabinet since he assumed the Premiership. Dwight Duncan, formerly the Energy Minister and Government House Leader, replaces Sorbara in the Finance Ministry. The Tourism Minister, Jim Bradley, adds House Leader to his portfolio and backbencher Donna Cansfield is promoted to Minister of Energy.
A series of investigations into Royal Group have been a burr on the saddle of the McGuinty Liberals for at least the last 18 months. In particular, the association of the Finance Minister with the company prompted calls for Mr. Sorbara's resignation last year. At the time, the Premier said his Finance Minister would step aside if he were the subject of an investigation.
That is what happened this afternoon. The search warrant the RCMP executed in their raid on Mr. Sorbara's real estate company named the former Finance Minister as the subject of an investigation. It is thought the investigation surrounds a real estate transaction between Mr. Sorbara's Sorbara Group and Royal Group, however none of the allegations in the warrant has been proven.
As bad as this is for Mr. Sorbara - and it is always bad when you have to resign as a Minister of the Crown because you are the subject of a police investigation - it is potentially worse for the McGuinty Liberals. The buzz around Queen's Park has been about Mr. Sorbara cementing his position as the de facto Premier of Ontario. As the story goes, the apparently directionless Liberals would have been even worse off without the Minister of Finance calling the shots.
If that is true, watch for the McGuinty Liberals to list from side to side as they try to find their way without Mr. Sorbara. And all of this comes the day before a Throne Speech that was to set the tone for the run up to the 2007election - I think the tone has already been set.
Further Reading:
Statement by the Hon. Greg Sorbara, Minister of Finance (News Release)
Premier McGuinty announces changes to Cabinet (News Release)
Sorbara steps down amid police probe (Toronto Star)
Ontario Finance Minister resigns (Globe and Mail)
Posted by maxthecat on October 11, 2005 at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)
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