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Cabinet Reshuffled

The Premier today announced a significant reshuffle of the Provincial Government.
These changes were initiated by the announcement by Carole Taylor, Rick Thorpe, Olga Ilich and Claude Richmond that they would not seek re-election. While the Premier called these changes “a mild review and renewal for cabinet” the scale of the changes to both Ministries and to Ministers were more than many commentators had been expecting.

In terms of changes to the actual structure of government the Premier announced the following changes;

New Ministries

• Healthy Living and Sports
• Housing and Social Development
• Technology, Trade and Economic Development

New Ministers

• Ian Black - Minister of Labour and Citizen Services
• Blair Lekstrom - Minister of Community Development
• Mary Polak - Minister of Healthy Living and Sports
• Bill Bennett - Minister of Tourism Culture and the Arts
• Joan McIntyre, Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations

Ministers with new responsibilities

• Colin Hansen – Minister of Finance and Minister Responsible for the Olympics
• Kevin Krueger – Minister of Small Business
• Gorden Hogg – Minister of State for Mining
• Pat Bell – Minister of Forests and Range
• Rich Coleman – Minister of Housing and Social Development
• Stan Hagan – Minister of Agriculture and Lands
• Ida Chong – Minister of Technology, Trade and Economic Development and Minister
• Responsible for the Asia-Pacific Initiative
• Murray Coell - Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development

Chamber Comment

The following comments are preliminary. The Chamber will be reviewing the purpose of the Ministries, along with their strategic context, goals, objectives, and strategies, to determine how they relate to the policy issues.

The changes announced today, while forced by the retirement of several cabinet Ministers, clearly demonstrates the focus for the government as we enter the coming election year.

In terms of the new Ministries, we can see the importance placed on healthy living (a key priority for the Premier) with the creation of a new Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport.

From the perspective of the chamber several other changes are worthy of note:

The refocusing of the Ministry of Economic Development to the Ministry of Technology, Trade and Economic Development is a logical acknowledgement of the role technology and trade will play in economic development for communities across the province. This is particularly important as communities face the challenge of developing new economic opportunities with the decline of more traditional industries.

For many commentators in BC, perhaps the weakest element of the provincial government in terms of public opinion is housing and BC’s ongoing challenge regarding the social conditions for many British Columbians. The creation of the Ministry of Housing and Social Development, and the appointment of Rich Coleman as the Minister is a recognition of the success Minister Coleman has had with regards to housing initiatives.

Given the priority areas identified by the Chamber one new initiative we are pleased to see is that the Ministry of Advanced Education’s responsibilities have been expanded to include responsibility for Labour Market Development. The Chamber hopes that the ongoing skills and labour challenges being experienced in BC will finally have focused attention from government, as well as a champion in cabinet.

New BC Cabinet

Premier

Hon. Gordon Campbell

Solicitor General

Hon. John van Dongen

Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation and Government House Leader

Hon. Mike De Jong

Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development

Hon. Murray Coell

Minister of Agriculture and Lands

Hon. Stan Hagen

Attorney General (and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism)

Hon. Wally Oppal

Minister of Children and Family Development

Hon. Tom Christensen

Minister of State for Childcare

Hon. Linda Reid

Minister of Community Development 

Hon. Blair Lekstrom

Minister of Education and Deputy Premier (and Minister responsible for Early Learning and literacy)

Hon. Shirley Bond

Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources

Hon. Richard Neufeld

Minister of Environment (and Minister responsible for Water Stewardship and Sustainable Communities)

Hon. Barry Penner

Minister of Finance (and Minister responsible for the Olympics)

Hon. Colin Hansen

Minister of Forests and Range

Hon. Pat Bell

Minister of Health

Hon. George Abbott

Minister of Healthy Living

Hon. Mary Polak

Minister of Labour and Citizens' Services

Hon. Iain Black

Minister of State for Mining

Hon. Gordon Hogg

Minister of Small Business and Revenue and Minister responsible for Regulatory Reform

Hon. Kevin Krueger

Minister of Technology, Trade and Economic Development (and Minister responsible for the Asia-Pacific Initiative)

Hon. Ida Chong

Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts

Hon. Bill Bennett

Minister of Transportation

Hon. Kevin Falcon