Caroline Mulroney Leaving Ford Cabinet and Ontario Politics

Caroline Mulroney’s time in Queen’s Park will come to an end in early June, as the Ontario cabinet minister has tendered her resignation.

Mulroney, who serves as president of the Treasury Board and minister of francophone affairs, made the announcement on May 25. She said she had informed Premier Doug Ford the previous day of her decision to resign from cabinet and the legislature on June 5.

“It is not a decision I have made lightly,” she said in a letter telling her constituents that serving them has been “one of the greatest privileges of my life.”

Mulroney said family events in recent years, such as the passing of her father, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and her grown-up children leaving home, made her decide to “step back from elected life and begin a new chapter.” Mulroney is the eldest child of the former prime minister, who died in 2024.

She did not say in her statement what she intends to do next.

Aside from thanking her constituents and colleagues, Mulroney praised Ford’s leadership in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and the trade turmoil of recent years.

“When trade pressures threatened our economy and our workers, you stood firm,” she said.

In his public response to Mulroney’s decision to leave Ontario politics, Ford called Mulroney a “close personal friend” and said the conservative movement “will no doubt continue to benefit from her ideas and ideals.”

Ford credited Mulroney for expanding public transit in Ontario and for overseeing “disciplined fiscal policies.”

Mulroney was first elected in 2018 with the Progressive Conservatives and served in various capacities in Ford’s cabinets. She retained her role as minister of francophone affairs over the years while also serving as attorney general during her first year in office. Mulroney held the transportation portfolio from 2019 to 2023 before becoming president of the Treasury Board in 2023.

As transport minister, Mulroney oversaw the province’s multi-billion-dollar initiative to expand public transit. This includes the creation of the new Ontario Line in Toronto, a 15.6 kilometre subway line across the city core. Tunnelling began on the project in mid-April.

Ford said Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy will serve as interim Treasury Board president until a replacement for Mulroney is named.

Mulroney’s resignation will trigger a byelection in the York-Simcoe riding north of Toronto. Another byelection needs to be held to replace Doly Begum in the Scarborough Southwest, after the former NDP MPP made the jump to federal politics and became a Liberal MP in April.

Ford’s Progressive Conservatives won a third-straight majority in a snap election last year, but recent polling suggests the party is losing some ground to the Liberals and the NDP. Projections by 338Canada.com show Ford’s party would likely win a minority government if a vote was held today.