TORONTO - Ontario's newly re-elected Liberal government will be officially sworn in Oct. 30, three weeks after it won a second straight majority, but there was still no word Monday on when the legislature would resume sitting.
Premier Dalton McGuinty is taking the week off after the Liberals won 71 of the 107 seats up for grabs in last week's election, holding the Conservatives to 26 seats -- a gain of one -- and keeping the New Democrats at 10, the same number they held at dissolution.
Job one for McGuinty on his return will be to create his new cabinet, always a delicate balancing act for any leader, but even more so for McGuinty with nearly six dozen hopeful ministers who've just won their ridings, and only two dozen or so cabinet positions.
Only one Liberal minister was defeated Oct. 10 -- Culture Minister Caroline Di Cocco lost her Sarnia seat to the Conservatives -- but Citizenship Minister Michael Colle resigned last summer and two other ministers, Marie Bountrogianni and Mary Anne Chambers, did not seek re-election.
Rosemary Spiers, past president of Equal Voice, which lobbies to have more women elected in Canada, said Monday she'd like to see McGuinty follow Quebec Premier Jean Charest's lead and make half of his cabinet appointments women.
"He could do it, and I would love to see him do it,'' Spiers said in an interview.
"We didn't elect as many women as we hoped in this election -- it's still only 27 per cent of the house -- so it would be a wonderful statement on his part that he considers the advancement of women important in politics.''
Spiers said there are lots of talented, experienced women that McGuinty could appoint to his cabinet, and she'd like to see them get some senior ministries, not just junior portfolios.
"After an election is usually the time when even cautious premiers do make more major changes,'' she said.
"It's very important that women be seen able to handle senior portfolios, and the women he has there now have enough experience for some of them to move up I would think.''
McGuinty has always shown a reluctance to change ministers, and has done only the minimum amount of tinkering whenever he has been forced by circumstances, such as a resignation or scandal, to replace a cabinet minister.
Energy Minister Dwight Duncan was promoted temporarily to Finance when Finance Minister Greg Sorbara had to resign because of an RCMP investigation. But once Sorbara was cleared by police, he resumed his duties at Finance, Duncan went back to Energy, and Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield -- who briefly replaced Duncan in Energy -- returned to her Transportation portfolio.
When Colle resigned last summer as citizenship and immigration minister following a spending scandal involving year-end grants to multicultural groups, McGuinty simply handed Colle's duties over to Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips.
Other minor cabinet shuffles followed the resignations of former education minister Gerard Kennedy and former economic development minister Joe Cordiano, but in each case McGuinty moved only one or two ministers around to fill the vacancies.
Observers say that means McGuinty will likely leave key players in their current positions -- including Sorbara in Finance, George Smitherman in Health and Kathleen Wynne as education minister.
Liberal officials say it's still not known if McGuinty will recall the legislature for a short session before the Christmas break, but there will be plenty of time for a short fall session after the new cabinet is in place.
McGuinty will also need time to prepare a new throne speech outlining his priorities for the next legislative session, and the Liberals may decide to wait until early in the new year rather than trying to rush the preparations in order to squeeze in a brief fall sitting.
The premier will also have to appoint his backbenchers to either roles as parliamentary assistants or to legislative committees.
Lt.-Gov. David Onley will preside over the official swearing-in ceremonies on Oct. 30, a first time for Ontario's newest regal representative.
