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Ontario names new ag minister in shuffle

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Published: January 19, 2010

A southwestern Ontario MPP from one of the province’s key farming regions will be Premier Dalton McGuinty’s new agriculture minister.

McGuinty on Monday announced a thorough cabinet shuffle that will see Carol Mitchell, the two-term MPP for Huron-Bruce and a former parliamentary assistant to the minister of agriculture (2003-06), become Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs.

As minister, Mitchell replaces Prince Edward-Hastings MPP Leona Dombrowsky, who has been shuffled to the education portfolio.

“Since 2003, Ontario has ensured that farms transferred within a family are exempted from land transfer taxes and has increased efforts to promote locally-grown food,” the province said in a release Monday.

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“Now, Minister Mitchell will continue the government’s efforts to help our farmers build a thriving rural Ontario through our high-tech agriculture and food sectors.”

Mitchell’s background is in retail business, having operated children’s clothing stores before entering politics. She served on Clinton’s town council, becoming its reeve after one term and joining Huron County’s council.

In the first election for the amalgamated municipality of Central Huron, merging Clinton, Goderich and Hullet, Mitchell was elected reeve.

Mitchell in 1999 was elected warden of Huron County and re-elected in 2000, making her the first warden to be elected to two consecutive terms in over 100 years.

Huron County bills itself as the “most agriculturally productive county in Ontario,” and is considered a largely ag-driven local economy.

Mitchell moved to provincial politics in 2002, when she won the provincial Liberla nomination, followed by her election as MPP in 2003 and again in 2007.

Since then, Mitchell has served as parliamentary assistant in several portfolios, including agriculture, public infrastructure renewal (2006-07), municipal affairs (2007-09) and, since September last year, health and long-term care. She was also named chair of the provincial Liberal caucus in 2007.

McGuinty characterized Monday’s shuffle as a way to drive the government’s “economic, education and green energy agenda.” In all, 12 cabinet ministers were reassigned and “three new women,” Mitchell included, were promoted to the 26-member cabinet.

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