Portuguese-Canadian career politian, Charles Sousa, 54, was appointed Ontario’s new Finance Minister by Ontario’s 25th new elected Premier, Kathleen Wynne, the Canadian press reported Monday.

Sousa, a two-term Mississauga South MPP and former bank executive, will inherit a treasure deficit estimated at $11.9 billion.

Sousa, the former Citizen and Immigration Minister, was the MPP for Mississauga South since 2007. He also served as Minister of Labour from 2010 to 2011, after having been Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

In January, Sousa sought the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party but dropped out of the race to endorse rival Kathleen Wynne who became officially Premier of Ontario on Monday.

On January 26, Wynne won the party leadership at the Liberal Party Leadership Convention, in Toronto, to become the first female Premier in Ontario’s history.

Both Charles Sousa and his wife Zenaida are first generation Canadians with roots on São Miguel island, in the Azores. Over 400 thousand people of Portuguese descent live in Canada, about 1.3% of the nation’s total population, the majority from Azorean-Portuguese origin.

Correction: Charles Sousa is the son of Portuguese immigrants from Nazaré, mainland Portugal. His wife Zenaida, born in Rabo de Peixe, São Miguel, Azores, immigrated to Canada age 13.

Charles Sousa MPP >> Official Website >> Wikipedia >>

 paj.cm

updated with corrections 02/13/13