Ontario’s high-profile cabinet minister, Rod Phillips, announced Friday that he will resign at the end of next month and will not seek re-election.
The long-term care minister said the timing of his announcement will allow Prime Minister Doug Ford to appoint another person to lead the ministry, which currently oversees a sector in crisis.
“I have always considered public service a privilege and it has been an honor to serve as MPP for Ajax and in three cabinet portfolios,” Phillips wrote in his statement.
“That said, my professional life has been in the business world and I hope to return to the private sector.”
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Ford thanked Phillips for what he called her tireless work for long-term care, including overseeing the creation of more homes, hiring more nurses and personal support workers, and passing new long-term care legislation. term.
“These initiatives will have a lasting impact as they improve the lives of long-term care residents and their families,” Ford said in a statement.
Phillips served as environment minister during the first year of the Ford government. He was then appointed finance minister, but resigned from that post in December 2020, hours after returning from a controversial two-week trip to St. Barts despite public health regulations prohibiting travel at the time.
Ford brought him back to the cabinet last year as minister for long-term care.
Phillips will step down as the long-term care industry faces major challenges. More than 50 percent of long-term care homes were experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks as of Friday and more staff had confirmed infections than at any other point in the pandemic.
The vaccines mean fewer people are dying than in previous waves of infections, but the Omicron variant is causing severe staffing shortages across the province, leading to calls for military assistance as households scramble to recruit workers.
Phillips entered public life in 2017 when former Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown recruited him to become the Tory candidate for Ajax.
He briefly contemplated a run for party leadership after Brown resigned earlier in 2018, but instead endorsed Caroline Mulroney, who ultimately lost to Ford.
Phillips won a seat in the legislature later that year and, as environment minister, oversaw the dismantling of the previous Liberal government’s cap-and-trade climate change plan and publicly led Ford’s fight against the federal carbon tax.
Before entering politics, Phillips was CEO of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and president of newspaper publisher Postmedia.
He also served as chief of staff to former Progressive Conservative Labor Minister Elizabeth Witmer and former Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman.
Phillips’ announcement comes a week after another caucus member, Jeff Yurek, who was ousted from the cabinet last year, also said he would resign next month and not seek re-election in June.
Several other caucus members have also announced that they will not seek re-election, but will stay on until then.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca