Desi Today Magazine
PREMIER John Horgan has set out his priorities for a better B.C. in mandate letters to each of his cabinet ministers. These letters were released publicly on Monday.
“Under the Liberal government, families were ignored and left behind. Our priority is helping people and finding solutions to the problems they face,” said Horgan.
“I expect my ministers to work hard every day to deliver on our commitments and make life better for people. It will take time to fix the problems, but we’re committed to getting it done, one step at a time.”
Horgan has instructed his cabinet to deliver on three key priorities for a better British Columbia:
- Relief for families from rising costs and fees;
- Better services for people, including health care and education; and
- Good jobs and economic opportunity throughout B.C.
The letters outline specific commitments in each minister’s area of responsibility that achieve these three aims.
Ministers’ mandate letters can be viewed online: http://gov.bc.ca/premier/cabinet_ministers
LABOUR Minister Harry Bains’ mandate:
“In your role as Minister of Labour I expect that you will make substantive progress on the following priorities:
“* Establish a Fair Wage Commission to support the work of implementing the $15-per-hour minimum wage by 2021 and to bring forward recommendations to close the gap between the minimum wage and livable wages. The commission will make its first report within 90 days of its first meeting.
“* Create a Temporary Foreign Worker registry to help protect vulnerable workers from exploitation and to track the use of temporary workers in our economy.
“* Update employment standards to reflect the changing nature of workplaces and ensure they are applied evenly and enforced.
“* Review and develop options with WorkSafe B.C. to increase compliance with employment laws and standards put in place to protect the lives and safety of workers.
“* Ensure British Columbians have the same rights and protections enjoyed by other Canadians by reviewing the Labour Code to ensure workplaces support a growing, sustainable economy with fair laws for workers and businesses.”
CITIZENS’ Services Minister Jinny Sims’ mandate:
“In your role as Minister of Citizens’ Services I expect that you will make substantive progress on the following priorities:
“* Institute a cap on the value and the length of government IT contracts to save money, increase innovation, improve competition and help our technology sector grow.
“* Ensure government IT and software development procurement work better for companies that hire locally and have a local supply chain.
“* Improve access to information rules to provide greater public accountability.
“* Improve response and processing times for freedom of information requests.”
