was planning to defect to the Progressive Conservatives in the event that he was defeated. As it happened, there was never an opportunity to test this speculation—Kwinter was able to defeat Castrilli, who defected to the Tories herself shortly thereafter. Kwinter's nomination difficulties proved to be his only real challenge of the 1999 campaign, and he was again returned by a significant margin in the general election. The Progressive Conservatives were again victorious across the province, and Kwinter remained on the opposition benches. In 2002, Kwinter publicly opposed the Liberal Party's position on tax credits for parents who send their children to private and non-Catholic denominational schools. The party opposes such credits as a detrimental to the public system. Kwinter referred to the distinction between publicly funded Catholic Separate Schools and non-Catholic denominational schools as one of discrimination, though he also opposed funding for non-denominational private schools. McGuinty government Kwinter's was again re-elected in the 2003 election without difficulty. The election was won by the Liberals, and there was considerable media speculation as to whether or not Dalton McGuinty would appoint the septuagenarian Kwinter to cabinet again. Ultimately, Kwinter's public disagreements with party policy were not enough to sideline his career: he was appointed Ontario Minister of Public Safety and Security (essentially a retitled Solicitor-General's position) on October 23, 2003. Kwinter put forward a plan to combat marijuana grow-ops in Ontario that would permit local utilities to cut off electrical power to those in the illegal industry. There were many who opposed this plan on the grounds that innocent citizens could see their power cut off without warning in the event of an administrative or legal error. Kwinter was re-elected in the 2007 provincial election despite a stronger challenge from the Progressive Conservative Party due to its support for extending funding to Jewish and other religious day schools. Kwinter broke with the Liberal platform and cabinet solidarity by supporting the Progressive Conservative's proposal. The Liberal government was re-elected however Kwinter was dropped from Cabinet in the post-election cabinet shuffle. While no official reason was given for the demotion the Jewish Tribune claimed that it was a result of the position he took on school funding during the election campaign though it did not name its source for this claim. Following the cabinet shuffle Premier McGuinty appointed Kwinter to the position of chair Ontario investment and trade advisory council and the