Rod Phillips Just Resigned & Ford Has Already Announced His Replacement
After multiple days of statements and apologies, Doug Ford announced that Ontario's Finance Minister Rod Phillips had submitted his resignation.
In a statement published on Thursday afternoon, Ford said he accepted the resignation and announced MPP Peter Bethlenfalvy — Ontario's current President of the Treasury Board — as the new finance minister.
Editor's Choice: Canada's Top Baby Names In 2020 Are So Different From 20 Years Ago
I want to once again thank every person in Ontario for their ongoing resolve in the face of this terrible global pandemic.
Doug Ford
"At a time when the people of Ontario have sacrificed so much, today's resignation is a demonstration that our government takes seriously the obligation to hold ourselves to a higher standard," Ford said.
In his own statement emailed to Narcity, Phillips offered another "unreserved apology" and said he made the wrong decision by travelling over the holidays.*
Phillips will continue in his role as the MPP for Ajax.*
Two days ago, Phillips released a statement confirming he had left the country to vacation on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy — despite Ford calling for people to stop all non-essential travel.
That same day, Ford said he had told Phillips to return "immediately," though he later said he had known Phillips was out of the country for at least a couple of weeks.
The Ontario NDP had called for his resignation and even Canadian YouTubers mocked the former finance minister, who is now back in Canada and self-isolating for the mandated two weeks.
*This article has been updated.