The Executive Council of British Columbia (informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of British Columbia) is the cabinet of that Canadian province.
Almost always made up of members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia the Cabinet is similar in structure and role to the Cabinet of Canada while being smaller in size. As federal and provincial responsibilities differ there are a number of different portfolios between the federal and provincial governments.
The Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, as representative of the Queen in Right of British Columbia, heads the council, and is referred to as the Lieutenant Governor in Council. Other members of the Cabinet, who advise, or minister, the vice-regal, are selected by the Premier of British Columbia and appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor. Most cabinet ministers are the head of a ministry, but this is not always the case.
As at the federal level the most important Cabinet post after that of the leader is Minister of Finance, although notably during the regimes of Premiers WAC Bennett and Dave Barrett that position was conjoint with that of the Premier. Today the next most powerful positions are the Forestry and Health portfolios which have huge budgets and are of central political importance. Other powerful portfolios include Education, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.
In the crown colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, the Executive Councils were largely appointed by the Governor and included military and judicial officials, their role that of the Governor's cabinet, similar to the present except that the Governor took part in cabinet meetings and political decisions, which a Lieutenant-Governor does not. The colonial Legislative Assemblies were subordinate to the Governor and the Council and served more as a sounding-board than a legislative body.
The current ministry has been in place since the Christy Clark was sworn into office on March 14, 2011 [1], with a shuffle on September 26, 2011 [2].
| Lieutenant-Governor | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| His Honour The Honourable Steven Point | (2007–) | ||||
| Portfolio | Minister | ||||
| Premier of British Columbia | (List) | Christy Clark | (2011–) | ||
| Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation | Mary Polak | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Advanced Education | Naomi Yamamoto | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Agriculture | Don McRae | (2011–) | |||
| Attorney General of British Columbia | Shirley Bond | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Children and Family Development | Mary McNeil | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development | Ida Chong | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Education | George Abbott | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Energy and Mines and Minister responsible for Housing and Government House Leader |
Rich Coleman | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Environment and Deputy Government House Leader |
Terry Lake | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier |
Kevin Falcon | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations | Steve Thomson | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Health | Mike de Jong | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation | Pat Bell | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government | Margaret MacDiarmid | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General | Shirley Bond | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Social Development | Stephanie Cadieux | (2011–) | |||
| Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure | Blair Lekstrom | (2011–) | |||
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