VICTORIA — Premier David Eby has unveiled a drastically revamped British Columbia cabinet at Government House that features a mix of new and familiar faces drawn from an NDP caucus greatly reduced in last month's narrow election win.
Previous ministers were reshuffled, including Adrian Dix and Josie Osborne who switched portfolios, Dix moving to energy and climate solutions and Osborne taking on health.
Brenda Bailey moves into the crucial finance portfolio, while Garry Begg got one of the biggest cheers when he was introduced by Eby as the new solicitor general and public safety minister.
Begg — who Eby introduced by the nickname "Landslide" in a nod to his 21-vote victory that gave the government its one-seat majority — moves from the backbench to take over from Mike Farnworth, who shifts to transportation and transit.
Newly elected MLAs also feature in the cabinet, with former broadcaster Randene Neill becoming minister of land, water and resource management, and Vancouver Police veteran Terry Yung named minister of state for community safety.
Among the senior cabinet ministers who kept their jobs were Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, and Attorney General Niki Sharma, whose first duty upon being reappointed was accepting the Great Seal of British Columbia from Lt-Gov. Janet Austin.
Austin opened Monday's swearing-in ceremony by paying tribute to former premier John Horgan, who died of thyroid cancer last week.
She called Horgan "a fine man" who loved B.C., and said she would miss his "dad jokes" and "corny" sense of humour.
Eby said after the ceremony that his team would tackle kitchen-table issues including affordability.
"(For) those families hit hard by inflation and rising costs, our focus will be on controlling your costs, supporting you with the cost of everything from housing to car insurance and delivering a middle-income tax cut to support you and your family in these challenging times," he said.
During the campaign, Eby had promised a $1,000 tax cut for the average family, starting next year and benefiting 90 per cent of British Columbians.
Eby had faced the challenge of filling the cabinet from a caucus reduced to 47 members in the Oct. 19 election, which gave the NDP the narrowest of majorities in the 93-seat legislature.
Former B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Mike Bernier, who ran unsuccessfully as an Independent last month in his Dawson Creek-area riding, said Eby had to find ways to bring rural representation into the cabinet even though most of his members were from Metro Vancouver or Vancouver Island.
Brittny Anderson, who won in Kootenay-Central, helps fulfil that goal, becoming minister of state for local government and rural communities.
Energy and mining were carved into two separate portfolios, with Jagrup Brar taking on the latter, now renamed mining and critical minerals.
"We have two separate ministries dedicated to major economic growth sectors for us," Eby said.
The legislature's youngest MLA, Ravi Parmar, meanwhile enters cabinet as forests minister.
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said Eby had been invisible when it comes to rural B.C., and he and his 44-member caucus were looking forward to holding the government to account on numerous issues.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.
Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
