Vaughn Palmer: Ravi Kahlon moving into key B.C. housing ministry

VICTORIA — Premier David Eby launched a sweeping makeover Wednesday of the cabinet he inherited from John Horgan, reassigning half of the incumbents and promoting eight backbenchers to cabinet rank.

The result was a dozen-and-a-half ministers who’ll spend the coming months getting a handle on their portfolios, even as Eby committed them to carry out his promised 100 days of action.

The new, stand-alone Ministry of Housing poses one of the biggest challenges because Eby made “attainable and affordable housing” a key priority.

The premier’s choice to head the ministry, Ravi Kahlon, told reporters he’ll approach the challenge with an emphasis on “speed, supply and synergy.”

Meaning, as he explained, moving quickly to increase the housing supply in co-operation with local government. He has a lot of ground to make up. By most indicators, housing has become less attainable and less affordable under the NDP.

B.C. Housing, the agency for delivering government-funded social housing, is in the midst of an Eby-ordered transformation. There’s a new board, the search for a new CEO, and a forensic audit that is scheduled to report out next year.

If that weren’t enough to keep Kahlon busy, Eby also appointed him government house leader, putting him in charge steering the government legislative agenda when the house resumes in February.

Sidelined was Mike Farnworth, who has presided over house duties for the New Democrats for most of the last dozen and half years, both in government and in opposition.

Farnworth remains deputy premier, a post that comes with as much authority as the premier chooses to delegate — or withhold. In Eby’s case, he is already showing signs of delegating less and centralizing more than did Horgan.

Farnworth does retain the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor-General. In removing the house duties, Eby was signalling that he wants greater concentration on “safer communities,” another of his key priorities.

Also gone from Farnworth’s bailiwick (this time at his behest) is responsibility for emergency management services.

They’ll now reside in the second of two new stand-alone ministries, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.

The new minister there is Bowinn Ma. She’s energetic with an independent streak, but the new ministry will put a premium on the skills of getting along with other members of the cabinet.

There are now three separate ministries charged with aspects of climate change.

Ma has responsibility for “climate readiness,” the new Energy Minister Josie Osborne is charged with “low carbon innovation” and Environment Minister George Heyman still has “climate change strategy” as he did under Horgan.

A recipe for inspired teamwork? Or for endless jurisdictional squabbles?

The latter appears to be the case with the new ministry of land, water and resource stewardship, which Horgan created in his second term. Bureaucratically, it overlaps with the resource ministries, environment and Indigenous relations. I’m told it is an organizational mess.

Eby tried to give the stewardship ministry a new start under Nathan Cullen, who had a hand in setting it up two years ago.

Along with the new minister, there’s a slightly new name: Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. As if that would make any difference, other than to the printers of letterheads and business cards.

The premier’s biggest appointment Wednesday was the elevation of MLA Niki Sharma from the backbench to the ministry of the attorney general. Hers was the only cabinet appointment to be greeted with a standing ovation from the assembled crowd of NDP MLAs, supporters and family members.

She’ll presumably be sharing responsibility with Farnworth for delivering on Eby’s promise of safer communities.

But like Eby himself, Sharma hails from the left-activist side of the NDP, where the emphasis is on addressing the “root causes” of crime more than getting tough on the crime itself.

Eby’s other big move was appointing Katrine Conroy as minister of finance, after demoting Selina Robinson to the ministry overseeing post-secondary education and skills training.

Conroy said she “asked to stay with forests,” the ministry she’s headed for the past two years. But Eby and Robinson had clashed in the past and despite the recent forecast of a record $5.7 billion surplus, he did not have confidence in her continuing to preside over provincial finances.

The switch comes late in the annual budget cycle, with many of the ministry spending plans already vetted by the cabinet’s treasury board committee.

Still, Eby insisted that the budget “is not finalized” and that is especially true of the surplus.

When Conroy was asked about the surplus, she told reporters “the premier and I will be working together closely,” and “the premier has priorities,” rightly guessing that Eby will have the first call on the disposition of the $5.7 billion windfall.

He needs to make creative use of it.

In her last act as finance minister, Robinson received the reports of the government’s economic forecast council, which together point to meagre economic growth next year and a slow recovery after that.

However else Eby fares with his ambitious agenda, the current financial situation is as likely as good as it gets for the remaining two years in the NDP mandate.

vpalmer@postmedia.com

1. B.C. Premier David Eby unveils new cabinet with Niki Sharma, Katrine Conroy and Ravi Kahlon in top posts

2. Vaughn Palmer: Eby shows he's not afraid to reverse course on key issues

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