TORONTO - There will be four new faces around the Ontario cabinet table -- and three veterans will be gone -- as Premier Dalton McGuinty shuffles his inner circle to fill a couple of big vacancies and to prepare the Liberal's lineup heading into the 2011 provincial election.

Newcomers to cabinet in Monday's shuffle include Hamilton's Sofia Aggelonitis as minister of consumer services, Huron Bruce's Carol Mitchell as agriculture minister, Brampton's Linda Jeffrey as natural resources minister and Toronto's Dr. Eric Hoskins as minister of citizenship and immigration.

"I just called them up from the minors," McGuinty joked as he introduced the four newly minted ministers to the media.

McGuinty has successfully courted women voters for years and is trying to put a younger, more female face on his cabinet, said Henry Jacek, a politics professor at Hamilton's McMaster University.

"You always want to look like you have an energetic cabinet -- you're not sticking with old warhorses," said Jacek. "And you don't want to look like you're tired and your government is aging, so the whole notion of renewal is to make yourself look younger."

The premier said he hadn't set a specific goal of having 50 per cent of the cabinet women, but added it had been on his mind when he was deciding who was in and who was out.

"I think most folks would agree that in an ideal world, my cabinet would be reflective in every way of the people that we represent, not only in terms of gender but in terms of our diversity," said McGuinty.

"You do what you can given the people that are elected."

Those dropped from cabinet include former consumer minister Ted McMeekin, former natural resources minister Donna Cansfield and former culture minister Aileen Carroll, a former federal MP.

Toronto's Brad Duguid got a big promotion, moving from the low-profile aboriginal affairs portfolio to the combined ministries of energy and infrastructure.

Duguid will be in charge of building on the Green Energy Act to transform Ontario's economy into one that takes advantage of growing demand for renewable forms of energy. He will also have to decide how to refurbish the province's aging nuclear reactors.

Liberal veteran Gerry Phillips, who had temporarily accepted the energy post when George Smitherman quit cabinet to run for mayor of Toronto, returns to his old role as minister without portfolio responsible for seniors. He will remain as cabinet chairman.

Attorney General Chris Bentley will add the aboriginal affairs portfolio to his duties. However, a separate minister for the post was a key recommendation of the report into fatal shooting of native protester Dudley George by police at Ipperwash provincial park in 1995.

"We're not amalgamating or merging the ministries," McGuinty said as he defended the move. "There is one minister who is taking responsibility for both separate ministries and I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Chris Bentley."

Murray Klippenstein, the lawyer for Sam George, brother of Dudley George, said Monday his client would have been upset by the move.

"This seems to be a step backwards," said Klippenstein. "I know Sam would be saddened by that, and it would cause him some concern."

Cabinet veteran Jim Bradley moves from transportation to municipal affairs and housing, Kathleen Wynne moves from education to transportation while former agriculture minister Leona Dombrowsky takes over from Wynne in education.

It wasn't a demotion for Wynne, insisted McGuinty, who called transportation a key economic ministry because of large-scale projects she will be responsible for implementing.

Markham's Michael Chan takes over tourism and culture, while North Bay's Monique Smith moves from tourism to become government house leader and minister of intergovernmental affairs.

Deb Matthews stays on in health after her steady handling of the H1N1 outbreak. Dwight Duncan remains in the key finance portfolio and John Wilkinson stays in revenue to oversee the implementation of the 13 per cent harmonized sales tax this summer.

Former finance minister Greg Sorbara and former health minister David Caplan will not return to cabinet, although some had predicted they would. Sorbara dismissed the idea last week and said he would concentrate on co-chairing the Liberal's re-election campaign.

"Greg has seen the light," quipped McGuinty, who refused to say if he had asked Sorbara to return to the cabinet table.

In addition to Smitherman's resignation, McGuinty had to fill the seat vacated by housing minister Jim Watson, who quit the post last week to run for Ottawa mayor. Watson has said he will resign his seat before the legislature resumes sitting, which is scheduled for Feb. 15.

McGuinty said he hadn't decided yet if he would prorogue the legislature to give his new ministers more time to get up to speed on their files and return in March with a throne speech and a budget.

Duncan and other ministers should have been kicked out of cabinet for mismanaging Ontario's economy, said Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.

"Dalton McGuinty tried to slap a fresh coat of paint on Canada's worst government, with Canada's worst economic record," said Hudak.

The New Democrats agreed McGuinty should have taken much bolder action if he really wanted a new face on cabinet.

"I don't think it's much of a change because the guys at the top are exactly the same," said NDP finance critic Michael Prue.

Ontario's new cabinet following Monday's shuffle:

Dalton McGuinty: Premier

Leona Dombrowsky: Minister of Education

Brad Duguid: Minister of Energy and Infrastructure

Chris Bentley: Attorney General and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs

Monique Smith: Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and government house leader

Jim Bradley: Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Sophia Aggelonitis: Minister of Consumer Services

Michael Chan: Minister of Tourism and Culture

Carol Mitchell: Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Linda Jeffrey: Minister of Natural Resources

Eric Hoskins: Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

Kathleen Wynne: Minister of Transportation

John Milloy: Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities

Rick Bartolucci: Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services

Margarett Best: Minister of Health Promotion

Laurel Broten: Minister of Children and Youth Services

Sandra Pupatello: Minister of Economic Development and Trade

Harinder Takhar: Minister of Government Services

John Gerretsen: Minister of the Environment

Dwight Duncan: Minister of Finance

Peter Fonseca: Minister of Labour

Deb Matthews: Minister of Health and Long-Term Care

Michael Gravelle: Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry

Madeleine Meilleur: Minister of Community and Social Services, Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs

John Wilkinson: Minister of Revenue

Gerry Phillips: Minister without portfolio, Minister Responsible for Seniors and cabinet chairman