HORGAN’S HEROES: PREMIER UNVEILS HIS NDP CABINET
When John Horgan was sworn in as B.C.’s latest premier, he did so alongside the men and women who will serve as cabinet ministers in the NDP government. Rob Shaw dissects who goes where, and what they’ll do:
INNER CIRCLE FINANCE AND DEPUTY PREMIER, Carole James (Victoria-Beacon Hill)
Arguably the most important ministry in government, finance will oversee an almost $51-billion budget and a booming provincial treasury that closed the last fiscal year April 30 with a $2.8-billion surplus ($1.3 billion higher than expected). It will also be in charge of implementing promised tax changes, including restoring a personal tax hike on incomes of more than $150,000, an increase to the general corporate income tax rate by one percentage point to 12 per cent, a reduction of the small business tax to two per cent, and the $2.3-billion phaseout of Medical Services Plan premiums over four years. A ban on corporate and union political donations will also fall to this ministry. All spending eventually passes through finance, such as the $10-billion five-year capital plan for transit and schools and $10-a-day child-care program. As deputy premier, James will serve as acting premier should Horgan be absent or incapacitated.
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE, Claire Trevena (North Island)
The key to the NDP’s political health in Metro Vancouver rests on executing its plans to eliminate Metro Vancouver bridge tolls, accelerate the Pattullo Bridge replacement and give mayors more money (a 40 per cent provincial share) to help kick-start rapid transit projects along Vancouver’s Broadway line and through Surrey. The minister will likely have to scrap the planned $3.5-billion Massey bridge project and propose a new solution for the aging tunnel. Bowinn Ma (North Vancouver) is parliamentary secretary for TransLink.
HEALTH, Adrian Dix (Vancouver-Kingsway)
Health is the most expensive of all ministries, eating up more than 40 per cent of government revenues. It will need to enact NDP campaign promises for new urgent care centres across B.C. that bring doctors, nurses and pharmacists together and are open evenings and weekends. New hospitals, improved seniors-care funding and care hours, a reduction in the cost of prescription drugs and expanded funding for the Therapeutics Initiative program are all priorities. The agreement with the Greens stipulates a plan to implement an “essential drugs program” to reduce prescription drug costs in the first NDP budget.
MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTIONS, Judy Darcy (New Westminster)
A new NDP creation, this ministry will spearhead the NDP’s promise to speed up and expand mental health services, prioritize patients and emphasize early treatment through an “ask once, get help fast” approach the NDP promised in the election. Its scope will also include the overdose crisis — for which the NDP has promised a provincewide strategy — a boost to the availability of naloxone kits, more police and stiffer penalties for drug dealers. Public health officials have warned the new ministry might create silos on government mental health response.
EDUCATION, Rob Fleming (Victoria-Swan Lake)
The education ministry will face intense pressure from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation to increase the previous Liberal government’s $360-million classroom enhancement fund, which the union and school boards say is inadequate to hire the more than 2,600 new teachers required to settle a lengthy BCTF court dispute. As well, the NDP promised a large capital infusion to eliminate school portables in Surrey and accelerate seismic upgrades on aging schools.
MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS AND HOUSING, Selina Robinson (Coquitlam-Maillardville)
An ambitious housing plan was key to the NDP election success, and the new minister will have to implement a renters rebate of $400 a year, as well as a two per cent speculation tax on some owners with the proceeds flowing into a housing affordability fund. The ministry must also construct 114,000 new rental, co-op and social housing units promised in its platform. Overall, the new ministry will have to address the issue of housing affordability in Metro Vancouver, though exactly how remains unclear.
ATTORNEY GENERAL, David Eby (Vancouver-Point Grey)
Justice is a hot-button ministry for a variety of issues, but a key priority for the new minister will be boosting the number of court sheriffs to avoid the postponement of more trials and closure of more courtrooms, as promised by the NDP. The new minister will also need to follow through on boosting legal aid funding, increasing Crown duty counsel, increasing Court Services Branch staff, expanding poverty law services, expanding First Nations legal services and improving the dispute-resolution system. Eby’s ministry will include the ICBC, liquor and gambling. This ministry will also have to tackle rising auto insurance rates and financial pressures facing the Insurance Corp. of B.C. The Liberal government was sitting on a report commissioned before the election which outlined some problems and solutions for the ICBC, which the NDP will now inherit.
OTHER KEY PORTFOLIOS CHILDREN AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT, Katrine Conroy (Kootenay West)
The beleaguered ministry in charge of child welfare is perpetually under fire for mismanagement of children-in-care cases and underfunding. It will be a political hot seat for the new minister. Implementing the NDP’s 10year plan for $10-a-day child care could also fall under this portfolio. Other tasks include boosting supports and post-secondary tuition waivers for young adults aging out of government care and reducing the number of Aboriginal children in the child-welfare system. Katrina Chen (Burnaby-Lougheed) is minister of state for child care. The NDP plans to build child-care spaces across the province while inviting licensed family homes and centres into the new system.
ENERGY, MINES AND PETROLEUM, Michelle Mungall (Nelson-Creston)
A key campaign promise to send the $9-billion Site C dam for a review to the B.C. Utilities Commission will be the main priority for the new energy minister. Stick-handling that file will be fraught with political consequences, with more than 2,000 workers on a dam that’s well under construction. The ministry will also look at reforming B.C. Hydro’s board and senior leadership, as well as grappling with a promised NDP freeze on immediate rate increases. If any companies make final investment decisions to build liquefied natural gas terminals, the new minister and NDP will then have to decide what to do about LNG projects the new government may or may not support.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION, Shane Simpson (Vancouver-Hastings)
The NDP has promised to raise welfare and disability rates by $100 a month and expand earning exemptions by $200 a month. But the larger focus will be a poverty-reduction plan, with legislated targets and timelines that could set a ticking clock for NDP action. Homelessness issues bleed into this ministry too, with shelter support rate changes and a provincewide homeless count promised.
REST OF CABINET AGRICULTURE, Lana Popham (Saanich South)
Not typically a hotbed of activity, the NDP has nonetheless promised a “Grow B.C., feed B.C., buy B.C.” program to put more local food inside hospitals and boost provincial marketing with an enhanced Buy B.C. program. But the most contentious priority item will be plans to revitalize the Agricultural Land Reserve and commission, which governs protected farm land in B.C. and which the Liberals overhauled several years ago to mixed reviews. Even minor changes to the ALR have proven hugely contentious in the past.
INDIGENOUS RELATIONS AND RECONCILIATION, Scott Fraser (Mid Island-Pacific Rim)
The NDP’s promise to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — which some believe means giving First Nations a veto over resource projects on their land — could prove to be the highest priority for this ministry. That declaration will influence mandate letters to every minister.
PUBLIC SAFETY AND SOLICITOR GENERAL, Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam)
The NDP appealed to Surrey voters in particular with a promise to crack down on gang violence and crime, which the new minister will have to now implement. The party also pledged to boost funding to combat domestic violence by $8 million a year.
FORESTS, LANDS, NATURAL RESOURCE OPERATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, Doug Donaldson (Stikine)
The ongoing softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States will consume most of the attention of the new minister, and Horgan plans to visit Washington, D.C., in July to address the issue. When that settles, the NDP has promised renewed emphasis on reforestation, modernizing land-use planning to include First Nations and communities, restricting raw log exports to process more at home, and using the Great Bear Rainforest as a model for future ecosystem-based management of Crown lands, which could have implications for logging. The new minister will also have to keep cabinet colleagues aware of a pledge to use more B.C. wood products in public building projects.
ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY, George Heyman (Vancouver-Fairview)
Key priorities will include a renewed climate plan, legislated greenhouse gas reduction targets, renewing the climate leadership panel within the first 100 days, increases to the carbon tax offset and a review of the environmental assessment process for natural resource projects. Both the Greens and NDP have suggested they will introduce endangered species legislation.
ADVANCED EDUCATION, SKILLS AND TRAINING, Melanie Mark (Vancouver-Mount Pleasant)
The new minister will need to follow through on the NDP promise to institute a $1,000 completion grant for postsecondary graduates, change the student loan program to make it interest-free, eliminate adult basic education and ESL fees and continue a cap on college and university tuition fees.
LABOUR, Harry Bains (Surrey-Newton)
The NDP has promised to get to a $15 minimum wage by 2021 and set up a fair wages commission. The party’s agreement with the Greens includes a pilot project on whether giving people a basic income reduces poverty and improves health. Horgan has also promised to rewrite the labour code to eliminate the requirement for secret ballots on union certification votes, but his Green partners oppose the move.
JOBS, TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY, Bruce Ralston (Surrey-Whalley)
The NDP pledged in its platform to create 96,000 construction jobs through infrastructure projects, as well as jobs in the tech and creative industries, while revitalizing the forestry and mining industries. The platform spells out several measures to encourage growth in the technology sector, but its agreement with the Greens makes the key priority the creation of a new innovation commissioner to advocate for B.C.’s tech sector abroad, and an innovation commission of Green and NDP MLAs. George Chow (Vancouver-Fraserview) is minister of state for trade.
TOURISM, ARTS AND CULTURE, Lisa Beare (Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows)
The NDP said it would expand a tax credit to include B.C. writers to boost the film and television industries, and plans to double investment in the B.C. Arts Council over four years, invest in an arts infrastructure fund and boost funding to Creative B.C. The party pledged to send representatives from B.C.’s tourism sector on all trade missions, and increasing the number of camping sites will require hiring more rangers and conservation officers.
CITIZENS’ SERVICES, Jinny Sims (Surrey-Panorama)
The NDP pledges to improve access-to-information rules, which will be among the duties of this ministry, which is tasked with ensuring the delivery of cost-effective, accessible and responsive services.