David Eby's cabinet shuffle likely to prioritize younger, diverse MLAs

David Eby’s new cabinet is likely to include a mix of young and diverse rising political stars and veteran New Democrats who will be expected to move fast on the new premier’s priorities for housing, health care, public safety and the environment.

The new cabinet will be sworn in Wednesday by Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin during a ceremony at Government House in Victoria.

When former premier John Horgan announced his retirement, he said he wanted to make way for the next generation of New Democrats. Eby, 46, has spent his first weeks in the premier’s chair talking to the 56 NDP MLAs to determine who has grand political ambitions and who is unlikely to run in the next election, set for October 2024.

Experienced New Democrats like Adrian Dix, whom Eby recently dubbed the “best health minister in Canada,” Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside and Transportation Minister Rob Fleming, are likely to keep their jobs.

Jeff Ferrier, longtime NDP volunteer and public affairs analyst for Hill+Knowlton Strategies, said he expects many baby boomer cabinet members, those 58 and older, to be replaced with Gen Xers and Millennials.

“It’s going to be a new cabinet with new, younger faces — people in place to deliver on Eby’s priorities. And they’ll be backed up by the strong performers who have positioned themselves really well in recent years under John Horgan,” said Ferrier.

Katrina Chen, minister of state for child care, is a strong bet for promotion due to her successful handling of B.C.’s affordable child care roll out.

The 39-year-old, MLA for Burnaby-Lougheed, is a close ally of Eby’s, co-chairing his NDP leadership campaign alongside Ravi Kahlon, minister of jobs, economic recovery and innovation.

Kahlon, MLA for Delta North, would have been tough competition for Eby had he decided to compete for the premier’s job. He’s trusted by the small business community for his roll out of COVID relief measures and will likely be rewarded with a higher profile ministry.

Finance Minister Selina Robinson recently delivered the good news that B.C. has a $5.7 billion budget surplus, which leaves political watchers divided on whether she’ll remain in the finance post or be reassigned to another ministry.

Bowinn Ma, an engineer who is currently minister of state for infrastructure, could be a possible pick to lead the environment and climate change portfolio following her climate manifesto on Twitter on July 6, before Eby declared his candidacy, calling for a premier who is a “climate champion” and a “sunset to the fossil fuel industry.” Ma is the youngest MLA in the legislature at 37.

However, George Heyman, an environmental activist who previous led the Sierra Club of B.C., has been praised for his work in rolling out the ambitious Clean B.C. climate change plan. That raises the possibility that Eby could split the environment and climate change ministry in two to reflect his priorities in meeting the province’s emission reduction targets, Ferrier said.

When Eby released his 100 day plan just after he was crowned B.C. NDP leader, he promised to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and expand clean energy technology. He could also look to Ma, MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale, to shake up the ministry of energy, mines & low carbon innovation by upping the focus on green technology.

Hamish Telford, associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley, said Eby will be looking to maintain gender parity in the cabinet, promote diversity and ensure representation in key election battlegrounds such as Surrey, Langley and Richmond.

Currently the cabinet is overrepresented with MLAs from Vancouver Island and is under-represented in the Fraser Valley, Telford said. As a result, Dan Coulter, MLA for Chilliwack and parliamentary secretary for accessibility, could be a cabinet contender to boost representation in that region.

With the B.C. Liberals keeping the pressure on the government to deal with prolific offenders, it’s likely Farnworth — a veteran politician dubbed the “janitor” for his reputation in cleaning up other ministers’ messes — is safe in his job.

During the fall session, Farnworth often stepped in to bail out Murray Rankin in question period when his rebuttals to the B.C. Liberals — who detailed a host of violent random crimes plaguing unsuspecting citizens including mothers pushing strollers — amounted to dry facts which appeared to lack empathy.

The 72-year-old Rankin is doing triple duty as minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, attorney general and minister responsible for housing, tapped for the latter two files in July when Eby stepped down to run for leader.

Eby announced Nov. 22 that there will be a stand-alone housing ministry to reflect the government’s focus on expanding the supply of affordable housing. Pundits have speculated Eby could pick a more junior MLA to lead the new housing ministry since the major housing policy decisions will be dictated by the premier’s office.

Possible picks for attorney general include Niki Sharma, a lawyer who focused on representing Indigenous people, including residential school survivors, Aman Singh, a human rights lawyer who represents the Richmond-Queensborough riding or Andrew Mercier, a labour lawyer who is the MLA for Langley. All three were elected in the 2020 election.

As chair of the all-party legislative committee into the toxic drug crisis, Sharma, MLA for Vancouver-Hastings, called for sweeping changes to the province’s mental health and addiction system which also makes her a contender for minister of mental health and addictions.

Rachna Singh, the MLA for Surrey-Green Timbers, worked closely with Eby in the attorney general’s ministry in her role as parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives. The longtime trade-unionist and activist could get a promotion after spearheading the province’s efforts to collect demographic data which the province says will help identify and address systemic racism in government institutions.

There’s an opening in the ministry of tourism, arts, culture and sport as Melanie Mark stepped back from that portfolio in September to focus on “urgent personal matters.” Lisa Beare, minister of citizen services, has been covering that file in the meantime and could be moved to a higher profile ministry.

Accomplished ministers who might be nearing the end of their political careers such as Labour Minister Harry Bains  and Energy Minister Bruce Ralston might find themselves in a mentorship role to the younger cabinet ministers who replace them, Ferrier said.

kderosa@postmedia.com

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