How do new Cabinet mandate letters stack up when it comes to addressing environmental & climate concerns?
When new Cabinet ministers are appointed in British Columbia, they are typically given their “marching orders” through mandate letters issued by the Premier. In the past such letters have identified specific commitments and initiatives that each minister, often in conjunction with other ministries, is to accomplish during the mandate of the current government. While many promises are made during the election period, mandate letters typically put a finer point on what exactly will be prioritized in the years ahead.
Following the BC election in fall 2024, Premier David Eby sent mandate letters to the new provincial Cabinet on January 16th, outlining the government’s core commitments and policy direction for the current term.
All of the January 2025 mandate letters name the “profoundly challenging geopolitical environment” BC is in and promise to tackle “kitchen table” worries of British Columbians by growing the economy and good jobs, reducing costs for families, strengthening health care, and making neighbourhoods and communities safer.
In this blog, we return to our pre-election analysis of key issues (“Five questions to ask your candidates in BC’s 2024 Election”) to assess how well the government’s new directions outlined in the mandate letters stack up against important priorities for land, air, water, climate action and healthy communities.
We note at the onset that since issuing the mandate letters, elected officials and provincial staff have been at pains to emphasize that a different approach was taken to mandate letters this year – keeping things at a much higher level than in the past to allow for flexibility and nimbleness given uncertainties on the horizon, such as the threat of US tariffs – and that the absence of specific references to past commitments does not mean the Province will not honour these. Time will tell if this holds true.
Meeting BC’s emissions-reduction targets to fight climate change (Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions)
Responsibility for climate action appears to have moved from the Minister of Environment to the Minister of Energy. However, Minister Adrian Dix, the Minister responsible for Energy and Climate Solutions, is given few specific responsibilities related to climate change or to achieving BC’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, which seems to us a shocking omission.
Rather than making Minister Dix’s responsibilities clear, all of the mandate letters include a general mention that “Our commitment to take action on climate change remains foundational and will be key to a healthy and prosperous BC for future generations.” The letters also refer to the “accord with the BC Green Caucus,” which includes a commitment to review and update the CleanBC climate plan in 2025, as complementing “the direction in these mandate letters.”
Perhaps a more charitable interpretation of the letters is that the government is planning to rely on negotiations with the BC Greens to put us back on track to meeting our climate targets. However, if so, this leaves the impression of a government that does not have its own priorities on how to address the climate crisis, particularly when we will miss those targets largely due to liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other matters falling within Minister Dix’s ministry’s jurisdiction.
Dealing with increasing climate impacts and costs (Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness)
In addition to getting the province back on track to achieving its climate targets, we’ve raised important questions about how the government will protect British Columbians from the impacts and costs of climate change.
With regard to spending what it takes to keep us safe from climate change, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Kelly Greene’s mandate letter instructed her to:
- “Lead cross-ministry coordination for our government’s work to enhance BC’s resilience, such as our work through the Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy and the BC Flood Strategy, and seek a more appropriate level of support from the Federal Government;” and,
- “Develop provincial and regional hazard risk assessments, including modernized tools for access, to improve transparency, awareness, and informed planning and preparedness for communities to enhance resilience.”
In our view, this direction does not convey the urgency or cost of preparing for climate change. However, it certainly provides a home for this work, and Minister Kelly Greene, as a former Councillor and MLA for flood-vulnerable Richmond, is well aware of the importance of proactive work to guard against climate disasters.
That said, we understand that the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (WLRS) – the ministry that has been responsible for the development and future implementation of the Flood Strategy up to this time – continues to be the focal point for next steps with the Strategy; it is concerning, therefore, that the Flood Strategy wasn’t even mentioned in the WLRS mandate letter.
Protecting the coast with a strong Coastal Marine Strategy and law (Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship)
Ensuring a healthy and resilient coast is more important to BC than ever due to the rising threats of marine pollution, food insecurity, shoreline and marine habitat degradation, and climate change.
Last year BC released its first ever Coastal Marine Strategy, a province-wide plan to ensure coastal and marine areas remain healthy and resilient. It contains 116 different activities that seek to address these threats to our coast – from co-creating a “Healthy Shellfish Initiative” with First Nations, to expediting permits for nature-based shoreline projects, to pressuring the federal government to reform the way fisheries licences are allocated.
We were heartened to see that Premier Eby’s January 16 mandate letter to the new Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Randene Neill, outlines priorities for a healthy coast – including restoring estuaries, intertidal zones, and critical salmon spawning habitats. However, the Coastal Marine Strategy was not explicitly mentioned. This has emboldened us to work even harder, alongside the diverse groups that are calling for the actions in this Strategy to be implemented.
The goals of the Strategy – including diverse marine life, abundant wild Pacific salmon, a clean coast, climate-ready communities and a sustainable coastal economy – are too important to risk this Strategy being shelved by future governments. For this reason, we will continue to push to ensure that the Strategy is enshrined in law, so that its goals are realized over its 20-year time horizon.
Creating pathways for supporting Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) under BC law (Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Ministry of Environment and Parks)
Despite First Nations’ calls to action urging the provincial government to mandate the new Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (WLRS) to support and implement IPCAs in BC, there were zero commitments to IPCAs or any form of Indigenous-led conservation in any of the mandate letters. Instead, the Premier instructed the Minister of WLRS to continue with provincially-led land-use planning processes (which to date fail to recognize IPCAs), while encouraging “large-scale” deal-making to expedite resource development.
If the provincial government is serious about achieving its commitments to reconciliation, implementing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030, and taking action on climate change, it is absolutely necessary for BC to support the implementation of IPCAs moving forward.
IPCAs represent one of the most promising ways to address the biodiversity and climate crises we all face today, as well as offering a practical way to implement DRIPA. Given the widespread fears held by the public, industry and provincial government that IPCAs are bad for the economy, it is important to note that IPCAs, when supported, will also play an important role in restoring Indigenous economies in ways that are beneficial to Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities alike.
First Nations have a right to care for and make decisions with respect to their territories and it’s long overdue for the provincial government to support First Nations in this critical work. Since the mandate letters were issued, Premier Eby made a commitment at the First Nations Leadership Gathering that IPCAs will be a key part of the protection of critical ecosystems going forward in the province.
Enacting a new mineral tenure law that is consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ensuring the public plays a meaningful role in the process of reforming BC’s mining laws (Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals)
There was a strong resource development and critical minerals focus not only in the mandate letter for Minister Jagrup Brar, the new Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals, but also in mandate letters for other ministries. For example, the mandate letter to Tamara Davidson, Minister of Environment and Parks, directed her to:
- “Direct the Environmental Assessment Office to work with key permitting ministries to develop specific measures that will expedite authorizations and permitting for major projects;” and,
- “Support BC’s energy transition and climate targets”… by directing the EAO to “exempt other relevant classes of projects from environmental assessment.”
Similarly, the only reference to the Province’s previous commitment to protect 30% of lands and waters by 2030 was explicitly tied to mining in Minister Neill’s mandate letter:
- “Work with the Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals to enable mining exploration and development in British Columbia’s northwest in partnership with First Nations in a manner that helps achieve our Provincial commitment to protect 30% of lands and waters by 2030 and creates economic growth and opportunity in the region.”
On the critical issue of reforming BC’s gold rush era mineral tenure regime, Minister Brar’s mandate letter contains the following:
- “Following the court judgment, update the Mineral Tenure Act in a manner that engages directly with and is respectful of First Nations rights and interests and also protects mineral resource development opportunities in the province to deliver prosperity for all British Columbians.”
Given BC’s continued refusal to concede in court that its mineral tenure regime is inconsistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, it is regretfully noteworthy that the mandate letter does not refer to aligning the Mineral Tenure Act with the UN Declaration, co-developing the new regime with First Nations, nor to addressing broader environmental and community concerns with the current regime.
Enacting a Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Law to prioritize biodiversity and ecosystem health across all sectors (Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship)
As we have previously written, in late 2023, the provincial government released a draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework, which put forward a new paradigm that would prioritize these values across all provincial decision-making. The draft Framework included a commitment to introduce an associated Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Law, as recommended by the Province’s Old Growth Strategic Review.
In West Coast’s view, a new Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Law is essential to give teeth to the Framework and ensure it meets its goals. An act that protects biodiversity and ecosystem health could also help address concerns reflected in the high-level mandate letters that briefly touched on a myriad of conflicting issues such as old growth, supply chains, flood strategies, climate preparedness and adaptation, trades, mining and hydropower. The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Law has the potential to be an all-encompassing law that includes measures to protect ecosystems and ensure that they’re maintained sustainably for the long term.
Regretfully, there was no reference to the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework nor to a new biodiversity and ecosystem law (or other implementation of the Old Growth Strategic Review) in Minister Neill’s mandate letter or that of the new Minister of Forests.
There was direction in Minister Neill’s letter to: “Continue land use planning with First Nations, industry, and local communities” (although the austerity message in every mandate letter suggests that little to no new budget may be available for this), and to: “Work collaboratively to protect critical ecosystems alongside First Nations, communities, workers, industry, organizations, and the public.”
While the Minister and WLRS staff have since said that finalization and implementation of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework remains a priority, a strong, whole-of-government commitment – and a mandate for new legislation – is going to be required to implement the envisioned paradigm shift in decision-making across resource sectors to prioritize ecosystem health and biodiversity.
British Columbians might not specifically be talking about biodiversity at the “kitchen table,” but when talking about jobs (especially in natural resource sectors) they are essentially talking about biodiversity. The health of ecosystems is not an afterthought for the protection of the environment and jobs, it is the main character. Without a healthy ecosystem there would be no economy.
Regardless of what the mandate letters include (or omit), we’ll be paying close attention to the commitments and actions of the BC government this term – and urging them to make good on their promises related to these and other important environmental and social justice priorities.