Wednesday November 20, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
A few days ago BC NDP Premier David Eby announced his cabinet along with other positions for NDP MLAs. All 46 of his MLAs now have an additional role on top of being an MLA.
Together with those MLAs, Eby forms a 47-seat government. That’s the slimmest possible majority (47 being just over half of the 93 seats in the BC Legislature).
The BC NDP cabinet has 28 members (including Eby) comprised of cabinet ministers and ministers of state. Parliamentary secretary positions were awarded to 14 others.
And then there’s the executive council:
- Premier – David Eby (Vancouver-Point Grey)
- Deputy Premier – Niki Sharma (Vancouver-Hastings)
- Government House Leader – Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam)
- Deputy Government House Leader – Ravi Parmar (Langford-Highlands)
- Caucus Chair – Stephanie Higginson (Ladysmith-Oceanside)
- Deputy Caucus Chair –Rohini Arora (Burnaby East)
- Government Whip – Janet Routledge (Burnaby North)
- Deputy Government Whip –Amna Shah (Surrey City Centre)
In addition to the caucus executive, Raj Chouhan (Burnaby-New Westminster) was re-nominated for Speaker of the House. Mable Elmore (Vancouver-Kensington)was announced as the nominee for Deputy Speaker and George Anderson (Nanaimo-Lantzville) was announced as the nominee for Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole. These positions will be elected by the house at the first sitting of the new parliament.
Opposition voice:
Premier Eby is “padding his political payroll” as stated by BC Conservative Leader John Rustad today in a statement to media.
“British Columbians didn’t vote for a political patronage program to rubber-stamp David Eby’s agenda of failure. They voted for solutions—solutions Eby and his team have shown they are unwilling or unable to deliver,” Rustad said.
Support from BC Greens:
The BC Greens are officially the third party in the BC Legislative Assembly, but they will have significant impact to support NDP government legislation.
On Monday the BC Greens issued a positive statement: “I have high expectations for this large group of 42 executive council and parliamentary secretaries. It’s essential that they streamline their efforts and deliver for British Columbians,” said Jeremy Valeriote, MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky in a statement on the day that cabinet was sworn in.
“From climate change to housing to healthcare, our province has many challenges – and also has the people and resources to solve them, if we work together effectively. The B.C. Green Caucus remains committed to working across party lines to deliver for British Columbians, holding government to its promises, and advocating for our key priorities,” said the BC Greens.
===== RELATED:
- Premier Eby appoints his cabinet for the 43rd BC Parliament (November 18, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: POLITICS | BC 2024 PROVINCIAL ELECTION