Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece is not impressed with new Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne’s decision to appoint herself as agriculture minister.
“The new premier will have a lot on her plate,” said Pettapiece. “Ontario needs a full-time minister of agriculture who has the time needed to do the job. We in Perth-Wellington need to know, will she be a part-time premier or a part-time agriculture minister?”
In a Feb. 13 press release, Pettapiece also noted Wynne served with former Premier Dalton McGuinty.
“This is the same team that ignored rural and small-town Ontario, increased red tape on agriculture and manufacturing, forced industrial wind farms on communities that don’t want them, and devastated the horse racing industry,” he stated.
However, Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Mark Wales has stated his organization looks forward to working with Wynne on issues relevant to Ontario farm families.
“The OFA had the opportunity to reach out to Wynne about the four key issues the association is tackling for the coming year,” Wales said.
“We received some honest answers from her on each issue, and look forward to continuing that dialogue and further developing Wynne’s relationship with agriculture in the months to come.”
Wales said the OFA will be addressing four areas of focus with Wynne and Liberal party policy makers in the upcoming legislative session, including Ontario’s agriculture and food strategy, energy, regulatory modernization and investing in rural Ontario.
Pettapiece was also critical of the size of the incoming premier’s new cabinet. Numbering 27 ministers, Ontario’s new cabinet is “larger and more expensive” than outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty’s last cabinet, he pointed out.
“It shows the Liberal government is still spending too much, and is still out of touch with many of the people I’m privileged to represent,” said Pettapiece, who was at Queen’s Park on Feb. 11 to attend the new cabinet’s swearing-in ceremony.
The local MPP noted that, from a caucus of 52 Liberal MPPs, Wynne appointed 27 as cabinet ministers and 20 as parliamentary assistants. Four Liberal MPPs are planning to retire, and one was elected to serve as Speaker of the legislature.
“The new premier seems to have an aggressive job-creation strategy for Liberal MPPs, but we need one for the rest of the province,” he stated.
