Lecce out as education minister in major Ontario government cabinet shuffle

Cabinet shuffle: Lecce out as education minister Stephen Lecce and Todd Smith have switch portfolios as the Ford government unveiled a major cabinet shuffle at Queen's Park.

Stephen Lecce is out as education minister in a major shuffle of Ontario Premier Doug Ford's cabinet.

Lecce, who served in the role since 2019, will now serve as energy and electrification minister in a swap with Todd Smith.

“It's been a singular honour to serve the two million children in Ontario's publicly-funded schools,” Lecce, who was often at odds with teachers’ unions throughout his tenure, told reporters after the announcement was made. “My new mandate is about bringing that energy into a new ministry and helping to ensure that we can build an infrastructure, the largest infrastructure program in Ontario and Canadian history, but we have to have the energy to do it.”

Other highlights of the shuffle include the introduction of former housing minister Steve Clark as government house leader. Clark resigned from his cabinet position in September amid the fallout of the Greenbelt land swap scandal.

In a statement issued announcing the changes, Ford said: “We’re at an important moment in our province’s history with clear choices.” Last month, the Premier declined to commit to a June 2026 election date, which fueled speculation of an early Ontario election.

Key members of Ford’s cabinet, including Health Minister Sylvia Jones, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy and Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra, remain in place.

The shuffle came on the same day the legislature rose for an extended summer break.

Some ministries, such as tourism, culture and sport, as well as agriculture, food and rural affairs, have been split in two and renamed.

Stan Cho becomes the new minister of tourism, culture and gaming with responsibility for the OLG. The former minister of tourism, culture and sport, former CFL star Neil Lumsden, will now be solely responsible for sport. Registered nurse, Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, will take Cho’s place.

Lisa Thompson becomes the new minister of rural affairs, after serving as minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs since 2021 as Rob Flack takes on farming, agriculture and agribusiness.

Mike Harris, son of the former Ontario premier of the same name, becomes the new minister of red tape reduction, filling the vacancy left by Parm Gill, who gave up his cabinet position and seat to run for the federal Conservatives.

A number of new associate minister positions were also created and bring the size of Ford’s new cabinet to 36.

The province confirmed earlier in the day that legislators will return to Queen’s Park on Oct. 21.

NDP Leader calls new cabinet 'bloated'

Speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park, NDP Leader Marit Stiles called the new cabinet “bloated” and accused Ford and his ministers of “hiding” from the public due to the timing of Thursday’s announcement.

“It's gonna be almost Halloween before they come back into this place,” she said. “They don't want to be asked the tough questions…They want to take their bloated cabinet and the big fat paycheques they just gave to a whole bunch of new ministers and they're going to send them all over the province to sell a message and try to buy some more votes.”

Asked about Lecce’s new assignment, Stiles said the outgoing education minister “gutted” and mismanaged schools in the province and expressed doubts about his future on the energy portfolio.

“I am very concerned that this minister will make the same mess of our electrification and energy sector as he did in education,” she said.

A full list of the new cabinet positions is listed below: