TORONTO - The NDP accuse Premier Dalton McGuinty of appointing veteran Conservative Elizabeth Witmer to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board for purely political reasons.
Witmer surprised everyone but the Liberals when she suddenly quit last Friday after 22 years as an MPP to accept the top job at the WSIB.
During question period, New Democrat Taras Natyshak said there was no doubt Witmer knew the WSIB file from her time as labour minister.
But Natyshak asked if Witmer got the job because McGuinty is desperate to get a majority government.
The Liberals fell one seat short of a majority last October, winning 53 seats compared to 54 seats of the combined Tories and NDP.
McGuinty has up to six months to call a byelection in Kitchener-Waterloo to replace Witmer.
The legislative day opened with leaders from all three parties paying tribute to Witmer for her decades of public service.
