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.

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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.