B.C. Premier David Eby’s cabinet shuffle shows the provincial government is taking recent concerns from the business community very seriously, according to one expert.
One of the biggest changes announced Thursday is MLA Ravi Kahlon being shuffled from his previous post at the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs to the Ministry of Jobs and Economic Growth.
Kahlon is widely seen as the NDP’s top performer, says University of the Fraser Valley political science professor Hamish Telford, and moving him to the jobs ministry is like telling the business sphere, “I’m giving you my best guy.”
“I don’t think the business community can ask for anything more than that,” Telford said.
“Ravi Kahlon seems to get along well with people, and he seems to be very capable, so he’s the problem-solver for the government, and now he’s got to go solve the problem.”
Eby trusts Kahlon with the portfolio with the most pressing need, Telford said, which used to be housing.
“Now, with Donald Trump tariffs and looming economic problems, that’s the major challenge,” he said.
Telford also says Christine Boyle — formerly with the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation — being shifted to Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs could mean some tensions when it comes to housing discussions between the province and the City of Vancouver. Boyle is an ex-city councillor who didn’t always see eye-to-eye with Mayor Ken Sim.
But Telford says Sim doesn’t have a choice in the matter, and they should be prepared to work together.
“The premier has appointed his minister, and that’s the person he’s got to work with,” he said.
“So if he wants results, and if she wants results, they’re going to have to
make it work.”
Telford notes there are common goals with both the province and the city, focused on increasing housing, and hopefully they can put clashes aside as they work together in different roles.