MLA Lee gets a promotion

By Dan Hilborn
Published June 18, 2005


Burnaby North MLA Richard T. Lee has a new job in Victoria after he was appointed the parliamentary secretary for Asia-Pacific initiatives on Thursday afternoon.

But speculation that Lee might have been named a full-fledged cabinet minister turned to naught as Premier Gordon Campbell named a leaner 23-member provincial cabinet that saw the return of the Ministry of Environment and the creation of a new Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.

"I'm happy to work in that capacity, to work with the other ministries and to further the link between Asia-Pacific countries and B.C.," Lee said Thursday afternoon, just two hours after the swearing-in ceremony.

In his new role, Lee will work with former finance minister Colin Hansen, who takes over the position of minister of economic development and minister responsible for the Asia-Pacific initiative and the Olympics.

Lee said his new job will be to help promote trade and tourism, and to make sure that B.C. continues to become more competitive.

"There are quite a few projects underway right now, for example tourism," he said. "We would like to promote tourism so we can get more people coming to B.C. to spend money. Also, we have to improve our competitiveness. We need a B.C. competitive council and also an Asia-Pacific trade council."

There were few surprises in the new cabinet. High-profile rookie Vancouver MLA Carole Taylor, a former chair of CBC/Radio Canada, was named the new minister of finance, while former Appeal Court judge Wally Oppal was named attorney general.

Lee said he was happy with the wholesale remaking of the provincial cabinet.

"Yeah, it is a lot of changes, but I believe it's changing for the better," he said. "More ministers are taking responsibility for more than one area, and I believe they will have a heavy role to play. And some of the changes are positive. For example, Colin Hansen's ministry combines economic development with the Asia- Pacific and Olympics. That kind of combination is very positive for B.C. and for Burnaby."

The new cabinet did little to impress Edmonds MLA Raj Chouhan, the only NDP member from Burnaby, who was pleased to see the size of cabinet reduced, but is still waiting to see real proof that the premier will listen to everyone's concerns.

"Whether he really changed will depend on his actions, not words," Chouhan said. "Being an MLA from Burnaby, I am quite disappointed that he has ignored and continues to ignore Burnaby by not appointing any of the three Liberals MLAs to cabinet. Burnaby is not a small little town tucked into the corner of B.C. It's an important city and should have been at the top of the list. Unfortunately, it's been ignored again and totally left out."

When asked why Burnaby was ignored, Chouhan said: "(Campbell) must have looked at the performance of these MLAs in the past four years and must have felt that they did not do what they were supposed to do, so they were left out again, and that's not good for the city of Burnaby. We need the influence of these MLAs at the cabinet table. ... I doubt if they'll have any influence now."

Chouhan was also not impressed by Lee's appointment as a parliamentary secretary. "It's a meaningless appointment in a way. It doesn't do much. It just throws some crumbs," he said.

Meanwhile, Lee predicted the Liberals and NDP will be able to work together.

"The premier obviously had his ears opened," he said. "I believe the two major parties have the will to work cooperatively together in the house. Hopefully, we'll get things done in a more effective way. With more opposition MLAs there will be more debate, and I think it's good for democracy to have a stronger opposition."