Martel retains cabinet post

A 2-month inquiry into the conduct of Ontario’s mines minister, Shelley Martel, ended recently without reaching a clear-cut conclusion.

Martel, from the Sudbury, Ont., area, remains the minister of Northern Development and Mines in the cabinet of premier Bob Rae following the issue of two reports by the inquiry, one by government MPPs exonerating her and the other, a minority report, by opposition MPPs condemning her. The inquiry cost an estimated $300,000 and was set up to investigate comments by Martel at a cocktail party in Thunder Bay, Ont., last December related to the billings of a Sudbury doctor to the provincial health insurance plan. Martel said she lied about seeing the confidential billing information and apologized. Opposition MPPs, some demanding Martel’s resignation, pressured Rae into establishing the inquiry.