Women outnumber men in the younger and more diverse cabinet of 23 cabinet ministers and four ministers of state.
Niki Sharma is B.C.’s new attorney general, Katrine Conroy will hold the province’s purse strings as finance minister and Ravi Kahlon is B.C.’s first housing minister in Premier David Eby’s new, larger cabinet.
Eby’s cabinet picks prioritize housing and climate change with a new ministry for emergency management and climate readiness headed by rising star Bowinn Ma. The stand-alone ministry is a nod to the historic floods, fires and heat events that have plagued the province in the last two years.
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Women outnumber men in the cabinet of 23 ministers and four ministers of state. They swore the oath of office Wednesday before Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin during a ceremony at Government House. Climate protesters gathered outside and called for the end to fracking as the 27 ministers walked into Government House.
Conroy’s promotion bumps Selina Robinson from the finance portfolio, serving her a demotion to the ministry of post-secondary education and future skills.
Robinson and Eby have been at odds over issues. Eby was removed from the Treasury Board after Robinson became finance minister and Eby recently dismissed the entire B.C. Housing board of directors installed by Robinson when she was housing minister.
In picking Kahlon as housing minister, Eby rewarded a trusted ally with the task of boosting B.C.’s housing stock, a key plank of Eby’s campaign. Eby created the new housing ministry, which was formerly lumped into the attorney general’s ministry, to signal that housing development is one of the top priorities for his government.
Kahlon decided not to run for the B.C. NDP leadership and instead threw his support behind Eby by co-chairing his campaign. Kahlon is also the new government house leader, taking over from Mike Farnworth who maintains his position as public safety minister and deputy premier.
Eight backbenchers have been promoted to cabinet including Sharma, Rachna Singh as education minister, Grace Lore as minister of state for child care, Pam Alexis as agriculture minister, Brenda Bailey as jobs minister, Jagrup Brar as minister of state for trade, Dan Coulter as minister of state for infrastructure and Andrew Mercier leading the new ministry of state for workforce development.
Several experienced ministers have kept their jobs including Health Minister Adrian Dix, Labour Minister Harry Bains, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Murray Rankin, Transportation Minister Rob Fleming, Environment Minister George Heyman and Citizens’ Services Minister Lisa Beare.
Mitzi Dean remains minister for children and family development, a surprise to some considering Eby recently reversed the government’s plan to cut individualized funding for children with autism that prompted criticism from parents who said Dean wasn’t taking their concerns seriously.
George Chow and Nicholas Simons have been dropped from cabinet. Chow was minister of state for trade, a position now filled by Brar. Simons was minister of social development and poverty reduction, a post now headed by Sheila Malcolmson.
Jennifer Whiteside has been moved from the education ministry to the ministry of mental health and addictions. As education minister, she was praised for avoiding a teachers’ strike so it’s likely Eby will tap her experience in improving B.C.’s mental health and addictions system, which has been criticized for major gaps amid the toxic drug crisis.
Anne Kang will be tasked with maintaining the province’s relationship with municipalities in her new role as municipal affairs minister, previously held by Nathan Cullen. This could be a difficult feat as one of Eby’s first pieces of legislation was a bill that would allow the province to overrule local governments if they fail to meet housing targets.
The ministry of tourism, arts, culture and sport will be led by Lana Popham, formerly the agriculture and food minister.
Cullen replaces Josie Osborne as minister for water, land and resource stewardship as Osborne now heads the ministry of energy, mines and low carbon innovation.
Bruce Ralston has moved from the energy ministry to the forestry ministry.
Katrina Chen, who previously spearheaded the province’s affordable child care roll out as minister of state for child care, asked not to be included in the new cabinet. In a deeply personal statement Monday, Chen said she’s a survivor of gender-based violence, the trauma of which continues to impact her life. Chen, who co-chaired Eby’s campaign and was heading for a promotion, said she told Eby she wants to focus on herself and her son.
kderosa@postmedia.com
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