Vaughn Palmer: B.C. cabinet shuffle was no reboot, just a bit of tinkering
Credit to Author: Massey Padgham| Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2020 01:34:30 +0000
VICTORIA — Premier John Horgan wrapped up last year by indicating that his NDP government, having passed the halfway mark, was due for a makeover.
“A priority for the new year,” said Horgan in a mid-December interview with The Vancouver Sun, “is to build on the successes we’ve had and to reboot and retool on areas where we’re not meeting the same level of success.”
Nor was the NDP cabinet lineup destined to be spared during the rebooting and retooling, according to Horgan.
“Some members are not going to be running again,” he told Keith Baldrey of Global TV at about the same time as he talked to the Sun. “So I am going to have those conversations over the Christmas break, and we will see. There will probably be some changes in the new year. And I think that’s appropriate.”
Those comments, coming as they did from the one in charge of the cabinet lineup, raised expectations that there would be a major shuffle early in the new year.
But when the changes were announced last week, the impact was underwhelming.
“Media are invited to a photo opportunity with premier John Horgan and several ministers, reflecting small changes in ministerial responsibilities to be announced this morning.,” said the release from the premier’s office early on the morning of Jan. 22.
“Small changes,” was right. “Premier Horgan shuffles cabinet,” said the headline on the followup release. But the details barely warranted the description.
Horgan promoted backbencher Anne Kang to the Ministry of Citizens’ Services, replacing Jinny Sims who stepped down last fall pending the outcome of a police investigation.
The choice dashed expectations that higher-profile backbencher Ravi Kahlon was in line for the promotion. But Horgan proudly maintained the gender balance at the cabinet table.
Cabinet ministers Bruce Ralston and Michelle Mungall switched portfolios. Neither change was a demotion.
He took over energy, mines and petroleum resources. She assumed the jobs, trade and technology, renamed jobs, economic development and competitiveness, in keeping with the theme of the government’s new economic plan.
If that was the premier’s idea of a makeover, how would he characterize standing pat?
More likely, he got ahead of himself with those year end comments.
Having a talk with ministers about whether they are running again is common for premiers when governments near the end of the mandate. It sets the stage for moving the pending retirees to the backbench and promoting newcomers to the cabinet.
But in year end interviews, Horgan also maintained that he was not planning an early election. January marked his 30th month in power. The scheduled date for the next election is almost 21 months away. Now would be too soon for a pre-election makeover.
The non-shuffle was interpreted as confirmation that Horgan was in no hurry for an election. It also signalled that he’s not worried about how things are going for his government.
Like other New Democrats who weathered the NDP time in office in the 1990s, Horgan knows what it feels like when a government is back-to-the-wall and needing the temporary distraction of a cabinet shuffle.
NDP Premier Mike Harcourt, in his second year, pretty much blew up his cabinet, moving many ministers, dumping some altogether.
Glen Clark, NDP premier from 1996 to 1999, went through six ministers of labour, five in municipal affairs, five in small business and tourism, four in both environment and finance, and three each in education, Aboriginal relations, agriculture. Members of the Clark cabinet must have been tempted to check the name plate on the office door before starting work every day.
By comparison, the Horgan cabinet line up is almost exactly the same as the one he named on taking office in July 2017.
The bigger news last week was what he didn’t do. Transportation Minister Claire Trevena has seemed ticketed for demotion since she began fumbling ride-hailing in 2017.
But mercifully Horgan left her in place last Wednesday. On the following day, the provincial regulator finally approved the entry of ride-hailing operators Uber and Lyft.
The other dog that did not bark in terms of a cabinet demotion was that of Doug Donaldson. He remains minister of forests, lands, natural resource operations and rural development — each portion of which he has fumbled in his own way.
The forests sector expresses zero confidence in him. But ineffectual as Donaldson seems to outsiders, the premier is content to leave him at his post.
I take that as a sign that he is doing what Horgan wants. In the Interior, that means standing aside during a continuing exercise in creative destruction that will see multiple mill closures, job losses and restructuring.
On the Coast, that means remaining on the sidelines while the strike at Western Forest Products drags on, month after month.
“The NDP’s ultimate goal is to break WFP apart because it holds a near-monopoly on lucrative tenures to log Crown land on the mid-to-north Island,” Rob Shaw wrote in The Vancouver Sun last week. “With control of 30 per cent of the allowable cut in the region, WFP is the largest forestry business on the coast. And the NDP wants to bring it to heel.”
Calling Donaldson a do-nothing misses the point. Right now, that’s his job. Closer to an election, Horgan should be ready to appoint a do-something minister of forests.