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Like our Prime Minister, I’ve never been afraid to call myself a feminist

“Like our Prime Minister, I’ve never been afraid to call myself a feminist,” the outgoing minister added, but he also admitted it wasn’t an easy decision.

“Even with all of my privilege and advantages, there’s a part of me that still wants to cry out ‘this isn’t fair.’ It has caused me some soul searching,” McMeekin said.

The former social worker is a well-liked and gregarious presence in the house who has worked with members on all sides to draft a developmental disabilities strategy, create a Local Food Act and more.

He’s represented his Hamilton-area riding since 2000, even after it flipped Conservative federally. He’s held a number of cabinet posts, including community and social services and agriculture, food and rural affairs. Prior to running provincially, he served first as a city councillor and later as mayor of Flamborough.

In the past, McMeekin has been described as the conscience of cabinet; his strong social justice bent representing Wynne’s more left-leaning tendencies even as a tough fiscal situation forced her to swing right on a number of issues. And he wants to serve as that moral compass one last time.

It appears his goal is to encourage some of the other men in cabinet, who’ve been there for decades, to take the initiative to clear the way for the next generation.

“Ultimately, I support the premier’s leadership in this matter and I want to do what I can to help her achieve it,” he said.

There have for months been rumblings that Wynne would refresh her cabinet after the spring sitting ends this coming Thursday. She’s recently pledged that when that cabinet shuffle arrives, she will strive for gender parity, just as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau so famously did last fall, garnering global praise for the move. But that also creates a dilemma for Wynne, whose cabinet includes 26 ministers in addition to herself. Only seven of those ministers are currently women, including deputy premier Deb Matthews. That means she needs to either dramatically increase her cabinet or cut a few old timers.