Premier moves ministers, adds new position
Thousands of MGEU members have a new boss this morning as Premier Greg Selinger switched almost his entire cabinet and shook up the names and responsibilities of several departments.
Yesterday Selinger announced that all but four current cabinet ministers would get new jobs. He also added three MLAs from the backbenches to bring the number of cabinet ministers up by one to 19.
The new ministers are:
• Jennifer Howard – minister of labour and immigration and minister responsible for persons with disabilities;
• Bill Blaikie – minister of conservation; and
• Flor Marcelino – minister of culture, heritage and tourism;
Veteran MLAs Rosann Wowchuk and Eric Robinson will serve as deputy premiers.
Other changes to the cabinet include:
• Wowchuk – minister of finance;
• Andrew Swan – minister of justice and attorney general;
• Stan Struthers – minister of agriculture, food and rural initiatives;
• Kerri Irvin-Ross – minister of housing and community development;
• Robinson – minister of Aboriginal and northern affairs;
• Steve Ashton – minister of infrastructure and transportation;
• Jim Rondeau – minister of healthy living, citizenship and youth;
• Peter Bjornson – minister of entrepreneurship, training and trade;
• Dave Chomiak – minister of innovation, energy and mines;
• Nancy Allan – minister of education; and
• Ron Lemieux – minister of local government.
Theresa Oswald remains as minister of health, Gord Mackintosh will remain as minister of family services and takes on the additional responsibility of consumer affairs, Diane McGifford will remain as minister of advanced education and literacy, and Christine Melnick remains as minister of water stewardship. Selinger assumes responsibility for federal-provincial relations and retains responsibility for francophone affairs.
“We will continue to build upon the progress that we have made in the past decade,” said Selinger. “With this team of experienced, bright, hard-working people, I know we will continue to make progress on the priorities of all Manitobans.”