The leaner, not so meaner, cabinet of Gordon Campbell

The BC Liberal government introduced the new A team yesterday, as Gordon Campbell readjusted the deck chairs on his ship of provincial fates. Reducing our ruling class to 23 ministers Campbell surprised many a pundit by rewarding newcomer Carole Taylor with the coveted Finance Minister portfolio.

Taylor recruited as one of Campbell's star candidates has zoomed to the top of the BC political galaxy with her position as the province's main bean counter. She granted her first extensive interview to former BC Liberal turned CKNW talk show host (where all good politicos seem to go) Christy Clark on Friday, click on the audio vault and listen in from 12:30-1:30 for a sample.

To make way for the new belle of the ball, Colin Hanson was moved sideways to Economic Development with a particular focus on all things trading Asian. While many portray his shift as a demotion, it's not being spun that way by Campbell nor Hanson, both of whom point out that trade with Asia is on the cusp of being the dominant factor in Canada's economy.

Another "star" candidate got the job many expected him to get, former BC Supreme Court Justice Wally Oppal is the new Attorney General of BC, a move that was rumoured to be in the bag even before the writ had been dropped.

Former Solicitor General Rich Coleman will have to turn in his Sam Houston belt for a log scalers rig as he takes over the Forestry portfolio. A department that is going to be under the gun right from the start, the Pine Beetle disaster and the continuing Softwood Lumber dispute with the Americans are two high profile headaches for the new minister. Many were surprised by his move, as he had become one of the higher profile Liberals as he became the point man for all things Law and Order. In fact his profile had become such that many pundits were suggesting he was preparing his platform for a bid for the top job should Campbell stumble. It's expected his TV time will be reduced as he heads for the backwoods, making a deep cover leadership campaign a little harder to organize.

Campbell was faced with a few problems this time around as his massive majority of four years ago was reduced by some thirty seats. Many of which were in the "heartland" of the province, making regional representation a bit more trickier to work on this time around. As well a number of his recruits from the ethnic mosaic of BC failed to win seats, putting a bit of a wrench into an all inclusive form of cabinet making.

The 23 will take the summer (and into the fall as the Leg doesn't resume sitting until October) to learn their portfolios and develop some kind of a plan of attack for the session to come. Something new for all of them may be accountability, with a much larger NDP caucus in the Legislature, having the right answers will no longer be something that is done on the fly, or not done at all. Instead, each minister will find that they have a shadow now, intent on pointing each and every flaw in each and every piece of legislation. A welcome return to participatory democracy for the folks of BC!