B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 new premier shook up cabinet this week, and Nanaimo乌鸦传媒檚 MLA was part of the shuffle.

Sheila Malcolmson, who had been the minister of mental health and addictions for the past two years, is now minister of social development and poverty reduction.

The new cabinet was sworn in Wednesday, Dec. 7, at Government House in Victoria by Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin.

乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 really excited to take on this new role with social development and poverty reduction,乌鸦传媒� Malcolmson said. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 going to have some huge impacts for people in our community.乌鸦传媒�

She said she met with Premier David Eby last month to talk about community priorities, passion projects and other files she乌鸦传媒檇 like to focus on. Then, at the beginning of this week, she received a phone call from the premier asking her to take on a new role in cabinet.

乌鸦传媒淚 really thought that I would be staying in mental health and addictions. We乌鸦传媒檝e got some really good momentum on a lot of projects and there乌鸦传媒檚 more to do, no doubt,乌鸦传媒� Malcolmson said.

She talked about challenges and accomplishments during her time leading that ministry, during a pandemic, as drug toxicity increased and factors such as renewed residential school trauma, for example, created mental health pressures. She pointed to new programs and services such as complex care, hundreds of new treatment beds and staff positions, expansion of safe supply, and approval for decriminalization.

乌鸦传媒淭here isn乌鸦传媒檛 a jurisdiction that has used more tools that are available to provinces to try to save lives during the toxic drug crisis,乌鸦传媒� Malcolmson said. 乌鸦传媒淏ut I can乌鸦传媒檛 say that the work is done while we continue to lose so many lives 乌鸦传媒� So it乌鸦传媒檚 very much mixed feelings that way. The imperative to build that system of care is even stronger than before.乌鸦传媒�

Her work in mental health and addictions was life-or-death, and there is also urgency in her new role. British Columbians who have lost housing, for example, or who are vulnerable for a range of reasons rely on income assistance and other support. There乌鸦传媒檚 a complex system in place to get people their cheques and help them in other ways.

乌鸦传媒淭o now be minister for such a huge service-delivery ministry is going to be a very different job 乌鸦传媒� it乌鸦传媒檚 a $4.5-billion budget, it乌鸦传媒檚 got hundreds of employees,乌鸦传媒� Malcolmson said.

She乌鸦传媒檚 got 乌鸦传媒渂inders upon binders乌鸦传媒� of reading to do and had her first stakeholders乌鸦传媒� meeting Friday, Dec. 9, with an employers乌鸦传媒� group committed to hiring people with disabilities. She looks forward to working on food security and exploring ways community members can work together for better outcomes on that front. And she乌鸦传媒檚 been asked to figure out further ways to reduce costs for British Columbians and get more money into their wallets.

乌鸦传媒淲here we can add income supports and where we can get at the roots of poverty, that is an even more heightened responsibility given the [affordability] crisis that we乌鸦传媒檙e feeling乌鸦传媒ξ谘淮�媒� Malcolmson said. 乌鸦传媒淧remier Eby has directed all of us in cabinet to work fast to get results for people because we know people are hurting.乌鸦传媒�

The minister said the premier has assembled a strong and diverse cabinet and said she乌鸦传媒檚 honoured to be a part of it.

乌鸦传媒淚 was delighted to see who walked across the stage yesterday and I really commend the premier for his choices,乌鸦传媒� Malcolmson said.

Both of Nanaimo乌鸦传媒檚 other MLAs will have parliamentary secretary roles. Doug Routley, Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLA, is parliamentary secretary for forests and Adam Walker, Parksville-Qualicum MLA, is parliamentary secretary for sustainable economy.

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There were some major changes to cabinet, the most noteworthy being Katrine Conroy乌鸦传媒檚 promotion to finance minister, replacing Selina Robinson who becomes minister for post-secondary education. Jennifer Whiteside succeeds Malcolmson as minister of mental health and addictions and Rachna Singh is the new minister of education and child care. Niki Sharma was announced as attorney general, Ravi Kahlon is minister of housing, Bruce Ralston is minister of forests, Anne Kang is minister of municipal affairs and Brenda Bailey becomes jobs minister.

Immediately following the appointments, Eby remarked that the new cabinet brings 乌鸦传媒渋ncredible experience and a diversity of perspectives,乌鸦传媒� and represents a 乌鸦传媒渟trong team乌鸦传媒� facing headwinds of inflation, economic uncertainty, health-care challenges, labour shortages, climate disasters and a toxic drug crisis.

乌鸦传媒淏ritish Columbians understand we乌鸦传媒檙e not going to solve all of these very significant problems overnight. Individually these are massive challenges; together, they set out the path of work for us ahead,乌鸦传媒� Eby said. 乌鸦传媒淏ritish Columbians expect us to show progress on these issues in ways that they can see, feel and touch in their communities 乌鸦传媒� very real ways.乌鸦传媒�

A day after the NDP government announced its cabinet, the B.C. Liberal Party announced its shadow cabinet. The B.C. Liberal caucus issued a press release calling the NDP乌鸦传媒檚 new cabinet 乌鸦传媒渟upersized乌鸦传媒� and stating that things aren乌鸦传媒檛 improving under B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 current government.

乌鸦传媒淥ur B.C. Liberal caucus remains committed to holding them to account for that lack of action in areas like health care, affordability and public safety, all while continuing to push government for bold responses to the various crises we must collectively tackle,乌鸦传媒� said Kevin Falcon, leader of the B.C. Liberals, in a statement.

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