B.C. premier appoints Josie Osborne as Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship

British Columbia Premier John Horgan has named Vancouver Island MLA Josie Osborne as Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship and Minister Responsible for Fisheries.

Osborne, the representative from Mid Island-Pacific Rim and former mayor of Tofino, was appointed to the newly created role at Government House in Victoria on Friday.

The B.C. government says the new ministry will help address its natural resource sector goals of Indigenous reconciliation, economic stability and environmental sustainability.

Portfolio responsibilities will include building a co-managed land and resource management system with First Nations, leading the co-ordination of a clean drinking water strategy, overseeing ecosystem health including the species-at-risk program, and bringing more certainty to the resource sector for investors and communities.

The fisheries, aquaculture and wild salmon files will also be moved under the new ministry. 

Osborne was previously Minister of Municipal Affairs. That role has now been given to Stikine MLA Nathan Cullen.

"The new ministry for land stewardship reflects the fact that natural resources are foundational to our province and they are the backbone of many local economies," said Horgan in a prepared statement.

"Minister Josie Osborne's experience and skill will help government bring more predictability to the land base, while protecting B.C.'s natural heritage and ensuring the benefits are shared more widely now and in the future."

Earlier this month, the NDP government said in its throne speech that management of B.C.'s land and resources are two of the government's greatest responsibilities.

It said the government has spent more than a year planning a new ministry to support those goals.

According to background information from the province, the other natural resource sector ministries in B.C. are not set up to implement the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and advance reconciliation in a meaningful way.

Specifically, the province says it is seeking a new vision for land co-management with First Nations that embraces shared decision making.

In 2019, the province passed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) Act into law. It sets out a framework for reconciliation in B.C. and seeks to ensure the human rights of Indigenous peoples are respected.

The 2022 budget announced Tuesday provides $12 million over the next three years to support that work through a new Declaration Act Secretariat. It will guide provincial legislation and engagement with First Nations to implement goals set out in the act.