Comox Valley MLA Don McRae has been named Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation by Premier Christy Clark.
According to Clark, who shuffled the cabinet Friday, the former education minister will:
• Ensure that significant reforms … at Community Living B.C. are fully implemented and benefiting families;
• Continue efforts to assist people with disabilities earn an income;
• Deliver on the government's commitment "to make B.C. Canada's most progressive province for people and families living with disabilities."
Community Living BC (CLBC), a provincial crown agency mandated under the Community Living Authority Act, delivers supports and services to adults with developmental disabilities and their families in the province. CLBC works to create communities where people with developmental disabilities have more choices about how they live, work and contribute.
McRae successfully defended his Comox Valley seat in last month's provincial election, defying a trend in which the NDP won all but two Vancouver Island seats. McRae earned 12,817 votes, taking nearly 45 per cent of the popular vote. NDP candidate Kassandra Dycke was second with 11,024 votes.
McRae was a high school teacher before becoming a member of Courtenay council in 2002. He captured the B.C. Liberal nomination for the Comox Valley in 2009 following the untimely death of Stan Hagen. McRae was elected MLA in the May provincial election, defeating NDP candidate Leslie McNabb 13,016 to 11,593 votes.
After serving as a backbencher, McRae was appointed agriculture minister before being promoted to head the education portfolio. He was the subject of a recall campaign in 2011, spearheaded by Kathryn Askew, a former teacher of McRae's. The campaign — which ultimately failed — was a response to the way in which the BC Liberals introduced the HST, and McRae's support of the tax.
McRae has not been available for comment.
See editorial, under Opinion.
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Other members of the cabinet are:
• Premier - Christy Clark
• Deputy Premier and Minister Natural Gas Development and Minister
Responsible for Housing - Rich Coleman
• Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation - John
Rustad
• Minister of Advanced Education - Amrik Virk
• Minister of Agriculture - Pat Pimm
• Minister of Children and Family Development - Stephanie
Cadieux
• Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development - Coralee Oakes
• Minister of Education - Peter Fassbender
• Minister of Energy and Mines and Minister Responsible for Core
Review - Bill Bennett
• Minister of Environment - Mary Polak
• Minister of Finance and Government House Leader - Michael de
Jong
• Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations -
Steve Thomson
• Minister of Health - Terry Lake
• Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for the
Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism - Teresa Wat
• Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister
Responsible for Labour - Shirley Bond
• Minister of Justice and Attorney General - Suzanne Anton
• Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services -
Andrew Wilkinson
• Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and Deputy House
Leader - Todd Stone
• Minister of State for Tourism and Small Business - Naomi
Yamamoto.