Premier Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet shuffle last month was nowhere near the biggest ever, but ripples from it continue and harm his chances of reelection.

In what many saw as assembling his team for the 2011 vote, the premier dropped three ministers, brought in four new ones and switched seven to different posts, a sizeable shuffle, although far from a record.

The main concerns initially were that he downgraded aboriginal affairs by placing them under an already stretched attorney general, and education, by moving a reform-minded minister to transportation, but others have developed quickly.

An unusual number of Liberal backbenchers McGuinty passed over have shown resentment publicly. Anytime a premier changes cabinet, some left out feel disappointed, but usually suppress their feelings.

They accept that a premier has only a limited number of posts to fill, or others have stronger claims or represent bigger population areas that must be represented in cabinet, but mostly fear protesting publicly would ruin their chances in future shuffles.

A few have complained openly over the years, including a Progressive Conservative, John Smith, who in the 1970s urged his Hamilton constituents to write premier William Davis saying he should be in cabinet and soon was, although it never was proven the letters motivated the premier.

Backbenchers under McGuinty generally have been fairly docile and suppressed personal disagreements to save their government from appearing disunited and their own seats. But there have been notable exceptions since the shuffle. Dave Levac, who has shown much above average abilities representing Brantford in the legislature for a decade and could easily be in the cabinet on merit, said openly he was disappointed at being passed over again.

Levac has a place in history for, as an opposition MPP, sneaking into Toronto’s Don Jail, which most people are happy to stay out of, and publicizing its appallingly overcrowded conditions, which helped his party, although it still has not fulfilled its promises to improve them.

Levac said he would have been glad to be offered any ministry. But his riding is close to Hamilton, Kitchener and London, all of which have many more voters and therefore ministers, and added he recognized McGuinty had difficulties choosing and will soldier on.

Kevin Daniel Flynn, who has effectively chaired an MPPs’ committee that collected explosive information on mental health, is said by a colleague to be extremely disappointed at being passed over and among several Liberal MPPs considering running municipally.

Mario Sergio, an MPP for 15 years, who speaks rarely but is respected when he does, expressed a different concern, never raised publicly before, that often is inherent in cabinet changes. He had been parliamentary assistant to municipal affairs and housing minister Jim Watson, who left cabinet in the shuffle, and pointed out that he gained useful insights into that area that were wasted when McGuinty suddenly switched him to assistant in community safety.

Ticked off, he wrote McGuinty and received a letter from an aide to the premier rebuking him for putting his disagreement on paper.

Sergio, who previously had never been known to utter oaths stronger than “goodness gracious,” asked “why the hell would they do this?”

He also said unelected advisers have virtually cut off communication between McGuinty and his MPPs and left him isolated. Other backbench Liberals know this but will not speak up, because they still hope to be named to cabinet. Some have been encouraged to complain anonymously that McGuinty did not ask them before taking momentous decisions to harmonize the province’s sales tax with federal taxes and subsidize a foreign consortium to build billions of dollars worth of green energy infrastructure here, which opposition parties and many in the public are criticizing.

The shuffle has exposed large-scale disagreement and discontent in the Liberal government. If it was a family it would be seeking marriage counseling – hardly an image it wants leading up to an election.