Bill Mauro says cabinet needs to represent the whole province.
It’s one of the reasons the Liberal MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan said he wasn’t included when Premier Kathleen Wynne announced her 27-member cabinet, out of 53 total Liberal seats, Monday.
MPP Michael Gravelle (Lib., Thunder Bay-Superior North) was given the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. There couldn’t be two MPPs from the same area with portfolios.
“I don’t think it was too much of a surprise unfortunately the decisions are made basically on geography on gender and all of those reasons that’s the way it went down,” Mauro said.
“That’s just the nature of the beast.”
Instead Mauro, first elected in 2003, was made Parliamentary Assistant to Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Linda Jeffrey. He said it will help him keep in close contact with mayors, reeves and councils across the province.
“I think there will be some good opportunity there,” he said.
