TORONTO – Former Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Harinder Takhar resigned suddenly this week from Premier Kathleen Wynne’s cabinet due to “medical issues.” Takhar, 61, one of the longest serving ministers at Queen’s Park, will continue on as MPP for Mississauga—Erindale, reported Toronto Star.
Sources say the former government services minister fell ill Saturday and almost missed his mother’s funeral that day. However, he was back at Queen’s Park earlier this week and met briefly with the premier in private on Tuesday.
“I wish Harinder a speedy recovery and thank him for the role he has played in my new government,” Wynne said in a statement Wednesday. There was no reference in her terse news release about a possible return to cabinet once he is on the mend.
Government House leader John Milloy will now oversee Ministry of Government Services. Finance Minister Charles Sousa is taking on Takhar’s role as chair of the Management Board of Cabinet. The two ministers were quietly sworn in — away from media cameras — on Wednesday afternoon.
Takhar finished respectable fourth in the January Ontario Liberal leadership contest, ahead of Sousa. First elected in 2003, the successful self-made businessman went straight into then premier Dalton McGuinty’s first cabinet. In 2006, he violated the Members’ Integrity Act over conflict-of-interest rules related to a blind trust for his personal assets.
Courtesy Toronto Star
