- Ministers without portfolio in Ontario, 1993-1995
On
February 3 ,1993 , Ontario PremierBob Rae appointed six members of his governing caucus as ministers without portfolio. These ministers were not full members of cabinet, but provided policy assistance to specific cabinet ministers in certain fields. They were generally described as "junior ministers".The only one of the original junior ministers to be given a specific job responsibility was Richard Allen, who oversaw international trade. The others did not have formally defined responsibilities. Some opposition politicians argued that these positions were unnecessary, as there were already several
parliamentary assistant s to members of cabinet.The junior ministry positions were eliminated in
1995 , by the incoming government ofMike Harris .Minister responsible for Economic Development
Richard Allen held this position from
February 3 ,1993 toAugust 18 ,1994 , when he was appointed to a full cabinet position. His replacement wasBob Huget , who served untilJune 26 ,1995 .Minister responsible for Finance
Brad Ward held this position fromFebruary 3 ,1993 toJune 26 ,1995 , providing assistance to Finance MinisterFloyd Laughren . He was given responsibility for overseeing public pre-budgetary consultations in 1994.Minister responsible for Culture, Tourism and Recreation
Shirley Coppen held this position fromFebruary 3 ,1993 toOctober 21 ,1994 , when she was appointed to a full cabinet position. Her replacement wasIrene Mathyssen , who served untilJune 26 ,1995 .Minister responsible for Health
Karen Haslam held this position fromFebruary 3 toJune 14 ,1993 , when she resigned to protest the Rae government's Social Contact legislation. Her replacement wasShelley Wark-Martyn , who served untilJune 26 ,1995 .Minister responsible for Municipal Affairs
Allan Pilkey held this position fromFebruary 3 ,1993 toJune 26 ,1995 .Minister responsible for Education and Training
Shelley Wark-Martyn held this position fromFebruary 3 untilJune 17 ,1993 , when she was re-assigned asMinister without portfolio responsible for Health. Her replacement wasMike Farnan , who served until his appointment to a full cabinet portfolio onOctober 21 ,1994 . Farnan, in turn, was replaced bySteve Owens , who served untilJune 26 ,1995 .Other
Chief Government Whip Fred Wilson was also appointed as a minister without portfolio in February 1993, although the responsibilities associated with his position were of longer standing. He was not considered as a "junior minister".
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