VICTORIA – Down in the polls and getting burned by the summer heat and her rosy LNG job projections under attack, Premier Christy Clark shuffled her cabinet with two significant changes, including appointing a rookie MLA to Education portfolio and moving existing Education Minister Peter Fassbender to a new Community, Sports and Cultural Development but with the addition of a significant duties as the minister of the troubled Translink.
Here are the changes:
* Peter Fassbender is now Minister of Community, Sport, Cultural Development and Minister Responsible for Translink.
* Coralee Oakes is Minister of Small Business, Red-Tape Reduction and Minister Responsible for the Liquor Distribution Branch.
* Naomi Yamamoto is Minister of State for Emergency Preparedness, which will now be in the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
* Mike Bernier is Minister of Education.
“Today’s changes are about making sure British Columbians in every region benefit from our plan to create jobs by growing our strong and diverse economy,” Clark said. “We have the opportunity now to build on a record of student achievement with long-term labour peace in place, to strengthen our support for small business, which is the backbone of our economy, to work together with communities to prepare for the future, and to put in place a plan to prevent and manage emergencies or natural disasters so that our province can recover with our future secured.”
Clark also made changes to parliamentary secretaries with Jordan Sturdy is now Parliamentary Secretary for Energy Literacy and the Environment for Minister of Environment Mary Polak. Sturdy also will chair the Climate Leadership Panel.
