Friday October 29, 2021 | VANCOUVER ISLAND, BC
by Mary P Brooke, Editor | Island Social Trends
This week, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has announced the critic roles as assigned to members of the NDP caucus for the 44th Parliament of Canada.
Six NDP Members of Parliament (MPs) are on Vancouver Island, and several more on the BC mainland. This provides a good shot at islanders and British Columbians overall having their interests well-represented in the House of Commons (which first sits on November 22).
On South Vancouver Island, three re-elected MPs carry the weight for Agriculture and Food (Alistair MacGregor, Cowichan-Malahat-Langford), Public Safety (also Alistair MacGregor), Justice and also 2SLGBTQI+Rights (Randall Garrison, Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke), and Environment and Climate Change (Laurel Collins, Victoria). Collins is also the deputy critic for Families, Children and Social Development.
Two central Vancouver Island NDP MPs are taking on the critic roles for Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard: newly elected Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo-Ladysmith) gets that post, with re-elected Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni) being the deputy critic.
An important health & social programs file — Mental Health & Addictions — sees the NDP critic role handed to Gord Johns with the deputy role for that with Lisa Marie Barron.
Experienced MP Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River) will carry the NDP critic role for Seniors (with the GIS clawback still not addressed by the Liberal government), as well as Veteran Affairs, and Rural Economic Development. She’s the party Whip as well.
The Emergency Preparedness critic role has been handed to Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay) with that role carrying the subtitle of ‘Climate Change Resilience’. He’s also critic for Small Business and Tourism.
===== Links:
Agriculture & AgriFood Canada government website
Fisheries and Oceans Canada government website
