We just don't know what hat he'll be wearing.
This morning he's the Minister of Public Infrastructure and Renewal, but by the time he arrives to be the keynote speaker at the groundbreaking for the new A and H wings of the hospital, he may well be Ontario's new Minister of Health and Long Term Care.
The four-storey expansion project will include a new regional maternal child centre. Highlights of the redevelopment plan include 79 new beds, the doubling of the number of labour and delivery rooms from seven to 15, a new high-density radiation therapy suite and resources for expanded cancer treatments.
Meanwhile, there is heavy speculation that current Health Minister George Smitherman will take on duties in a new "superministry" that would include energy and responsibility for guiding the $26 billion nuclear expansion the Province has in mind. Caplan, who has been responsible for securing funding for hospital expansions across Ontario, would move into the health portfolio.
The groundbreaking ceremony, which will take place at 11:30 a.m., will also include remarks from Mississauga's two Ontario Cabinet ministers. Small Business and Entrepreneurship Minister Harinder Takhar represents Mississauga-Erindale while Tourism Minister Peter Fonseca represents Mississauga East-Cooksville.
Fonseca is highly unlikely to get a new job in any Cabinet shuffle as he has been in the portfolio for just a few months.
Also speaking at the ceremony will be Mississauga-Streetsville MPP Bob Delaney and Mississauga-Brampton South MPP Amrit Mangat.
jstewart@mississauga.net
