Ontario's major teachers' unions are welcoming a change in education ministers in a cabinet shuffle, saying they hope it signals a new path forward with Premier Doug Ford's government.
Stephen Lecce served as education minister since 2019, through two rounds of collective bargaining with teachers and education workers, and now becomes minister of energy and electrification, as part of a cabinet shuffle Ford announced Thursday.
Lecce swaps portfolios with Todd Smith, who has held several cabinet portfolios including energy, and before that spent seven years on the opposition benches, representing the eastern Ontario riding currently known as Bay of Quinte.