MLA Nathan Cullen moves into Municipal Affairs Portfolio with cabinet change announced today

John Horgan has made some changes to his cabinet and among those to gain 
new duties is Stikine MLA Nathan Cullen now in charge of Municipal Affairs

As we surmised late last week, some internal changes were in store for the John Horgan Cabinet and while not a full scale cabinet shuffle, the moves announced today will see some MLA's assigned some new duties.

This afternoon, the Premier announced that  Stikine MLA Nathan Cullen will be moving up to a new post as Minister of Municipal Affairs, he takes on his duties as MLA Josie Osborne shifts portfolios to take on the duties of Minister of Land, Water and Resources Stewardship and Minster for Fisheries.

To the appointment of Mr. Cullen to his new post the Premier had the following to say.

"I have now also appointed Nathan Cullen to be the Minister for Municipal Affairs. And I have known Nathan for almost twenty years, he served fifteen years as a Member of Parliament in one of the vastest constituencies in Canada ...  He's also been of course at our table working with the professional public service to put in place the foundations for the Ministry that we are announcing today. 

I want to thank Nathan very much for that work. And of course thank him and acknowledge that his skill set coming to this new position as minister responsible for Municipal Affairs is absolutely critical to how we move forward with respect to climate change and of course coming out of the pandemic.

Nathan is a superior communicator, which means that in my mind he listens, he synthesizes complex issues and he's able to communicate those back in a way that the public can understand. 

So I'm very much looking forward to the work that he will be doing with Regional Governments, Municipal Governments, Indigenous Governments to ensure that the province of British Columbia the government that I have the honour of running and overseeing is focused on making sure that the needs of municipal governments, the needs of local government are being heard at our cabinet table and  steps are being taken to meet the extraordinary challenges that that level of government is focused on each and every day"

As for the new ministry that Ms. Osborne will take on the scope of the position looks as follows"

“The new ministry for land stewardship reflects the fact that natural resources are foundational to our province and they are the backbone of many local economies. Minister Josie Osborne’s experience and skill will help government bring more predictability to the land base, while protecting B.C.’s natural heritage and ensuring the benefits are shared more widely now and in the future.”

The expanded focus resource stewardship was outlined as follows:

The establishment of the Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship follows government’s commitment on reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, protecting B.C.’s environment and building a strong economic recovery that works for people. 

Minister Osborne will work with First Nations, local communities and industry to build a vision for land and resource management that will embrace shared decision making on the land base and to build certainty and create further opportunity for everyone.

In their information release today, the government noted that in Municipal Affairs Mr. Cullen will be in place to offer support on a range of key municipal themes.

Mr. Cullen will work with local governments to support their communities as they recover and rebuild stronger after COVID-19 and extreme weather. Cullen will support municipalities to address their priorities, from building infrastructure to responding to challenges posed to businesses and neighbourhoods by homelessness.

Two other changes were noted by the Premier today.

MLA Doug Routley will also gain some new duties, that as Parliamentary Secretary for Forests to support the important work of Minister Katrine Conroy to modernize forestry in British Columbia.

The fisheries, aquaculture and wild salmon files will be moved under the new ministry. Fin Donnelly, Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture, will work with Osborne, while continuing his collaboration with federal, First Nations and local governments to protect fish habitat.

“By working together and putting people first, we have laid the foundation for B.C. to come through these challenging times even stronger. The people of B.C. can count on Josie, Nathan and Doug to work hard every day to deliver on our commitments to build a stronger B.C. where no one is left behind.” -- Premier John Horgan

More notes on the changes of today can be explored here.

The Premier's moves made for a short information and Q and A with the media today.

You can review that session from the video below:

Following today's announcement, Mr. Cullen made note of the changes through his social media stream.

More notes on the Legislature can be explored from our archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.