Spokesman for the Premier would not say whether he intends to appoint someone else to the role
Premier Doug Ford has dismissed Ontario’s representative in Washington at a time of unresolved trade talks in the U.S. capital, a move that is part of a broader purge of provincial officials appointed by the former Liberal government.
Ontario’s new Progressive Conservative cabinet fired Monique Smith from her role as the province’s trade representative at a meeting in late June. In an e-mail obtained by The Globe and Mail that Ms. Smith sent to Canadian embassy officials in Washington, she informed them that she would be leaving her post the week of July 16.
The rookie Premier has moved quickly to remove former premier Kathleen Wynne’s appointees during his first weeks in office, sacking Ontario’s chief scientist and chief investment officer, as well as removing former Toronto-Dominion Bank chief executive Ed Clark from his role as the premier’s business adviser.
Doug Ford, who promised on the campaign trail that “no one is getting laid off,” has laid off another government employee. Ontario’s trade representative, Monique Smith, was fired and may not be replaced.