Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne shuffled a few members of her cabinet this morning, a move triggered by the departure of her environment minister to the Pembina Institute.
Environment Minister Glen Murray is leaving his cabinet position and will resign his Toronto Centre seat on Sept. 1.
The announcement comes as a surprise, as Murray had previously indicated he would run again in next year's provincial election.
Murray will become the executive director of the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank.
Chris Ballard, who had been serving as Ontario's housing minister, moves to the environment portfolio, and Peter Milczyn is promoted to cabinet to take over at housing.
Murray has been a fierce defender of his environmental positions and under his tenure the ministry implemented an ambitious cap-and-trade program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.