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Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty moved quickly Thursday to replace his labour minister after Peter Fonseca said he was considering an offer from Michael Ignatieff to be a federal Liberal candidate.

In the afternoon, Mr. Fonseca confirmed what started as a Tweet Wednesday night from the Liberal leader's Christmas party in Ottawa that the Mississauga East-Cooksville MPP would leave Queen's Park and run in the next federal election.

By supper time, he was out of the McGuinty cabinet.

The problem for Mr. McGuinty was Mr. Fonseca made the statement about running federally during the official release of a government report sparked by the death last Christmas Eve of four workers who fell from a broken scaffold in Toronto.

"I've been approached and I'll think about it on my free time over the holidays," Mr. Fonseca confirmed at the news conference.

Mr. Fonseca paraphrased former prime minister Pierre Trudeau's famous 'walk in the snow' line, and then surprised the media by saying he had not told Mr. McGuinty about his plans to jump ship.

One reporter told Mr. Fonseca he could probably expect a voicemail message from the premier to be waiting for him after the news conference.

Mr. McGuinty issued a terse statement Thursday night saying he had appointed Mississauga South MPP Charles Sousa to take over Mr. Fonseca's job as labour minister.

Sources say the two met in Mr. McGuinty's office hours after the news conference where Mr. Fonseca at first played coy about his bid to quit the Ontario cabinet and try for a seat in the House of Commons.

There was no word on whether it was Mr. McGuinty or Mr. Fonseca who requested the meeting, but Mr. Fonseca offered his resignation and Mr. McGuinty accepted it, said one source.

The premier was aware the federal Liberals were interested in Mr. Fonseca, added the source.

In his statement, Mr. McGuinty thanked Mr. Fonseca for the "tremendous job" he has done on behalf of Ontario families as labour minister.

"He has helped to double the number of workplace inspectors, reduce the number of lost-time injuries in the workplace and increase the minimum wage," Mr. McGuinty said in the only reference to Mr. Fonseca.

Commenting before Mr. Fonseca's resignation, Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan said he was concerned by reports Mr. Fonseca would quit, wondering who would champion the recommendations in the workplace safety report Mr. Fonseca had just released.

New Democrat Cheri DiNovo questioned Mr. Fonseca's career choice.

"If he's going from the McGuinty Liberals to the Ignatieff Liberals, there's something about frying pans and fires that comes to mind," said Ms. DiNovo.

Mr. McGuinty's Liberals are trailing the Progressive Conservatives in public opinion polls, and many Liberals are said to be worried about their chances next fall.

Five other Ontario Liberals have also announced that they won't run in the Ontario election Oct. 6, 2011, including Government House Leader Monique Smith and Speaker Steve Peters.

Mr. Fonseca, 44, will remain an MPP for now, said Mr. McGuinty's office.

The Liberal MP for the riding, Albina Guarnieri, is not planning to run in the next federal election, which has yet to be called.

Mr. Ignatieff said Thursday his party is ready for an election, despite public-opinion polls that suggest the Liberals are hovering around 30 per cent — slightly behind the Conservatives and far from the support levels needed to win a majority.

"We are ready for an election and we think Canadians are ready for an election," Mr. Ignatieff told The Canadian Press in a year-end interview.

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