P.E.I. cabinet shuffle key to driving province forward, says Premier Wade MacLauchlan

Premier Wade MacLauchlan says today's cabinet shuffle is a key piece of his plan to rejuvenate P.E.I. in 2016, a themehe touted recently in his year-end interview with CBC News: Compass.

If you sent to central casting for an education minister for this time ... this is exactly the person to take our team and the whole educational system in the province forward. Wade MacLauchlan

"When you look at what's going on in the world and nationally, it's very clear to me that Prince Edward Island needs to perform above the average," he told Compass host Bruce Rainnie on Thursday following the cabinet shuffle.

"That's going to require a lot of sense of purpose, a lot of leadership, a lot of working together at the cabinet table and well beyond to really ensure that our province moves forward."

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MacLauchlan said it was the right time to switch things up: he's been in government for 10 months and it's the start of a new year.

"We've got a big plan of initiatives that have to be pursued in the new year, including two legislative sessions, a couple of budgets, and a lot of progress that we need to make as a province."

One of the most-high profile cabinet changes comes to education: former minister Hal Perry is out of cabinet, and the portfolio is being taken over by Doug Currie.

The moves comes just a few months after the province's surprise announcement that the English Language School Board was being dissolved, and its functions integrated into Department of Education.

"What Mr. Perry did was lead us through the biggest changes, in structural terms and in governance, that we've seen in decades," MacLauchlan said.

"That was a big job to do with a lot of changes. But what I'm pleased about is that starting into the new year I believe that Prince Edward Islanders and people in the education system are ready for those changes, and that's what we're moving forward with."

He said Currie who fired the trustees of the Eastern School Board while he briefly held the portfolio from January 2010 to October 2011 is the perfect candidate the oversee the changes.

"If you sent to central casting for an education minister for this time experienced minister, parent, educator, educational administrator, and someone very committed, in fact has served previously as minister of education this is exactly the person to take our team and the whole educational system in the province forward."