Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA Ida Chong has – yet again – changed ministerial portfolios in a cabinet shuffle this week that puts her in charge of the province’s sports and arts funding.
Chong is the new minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development as announced by the newly sworn-in Premier Christy Clark on Monday.
“We will focus on non-profit groups,” Clark said in her first address. “They create the incredible sense of community that makes each of our lives richer.”
Among the items under Chong’s umbrella are sports and recreation, arts and culture programs, community gaming grants, property assessments, local government, community charter, and film policy and classification.
She takes over the portfolio from MLA Stephanie Cadieux.
Chong has been a relatively high-profile Liberal MLA in the last six months, being named the first target of a provincial recall campaign stemming from her support of the harmonized sales tax. The campaign failed.
Chong has been an MLA since 1996 and has previously been in charge of eight other ministries including, most recently, science and universities.
Clark split and reassigned that portfolio to Naomi Yamamoto (Advanced Education) and Pat Bell (Jobs, Tourism and Innovation).
kslavin@saanichnews.com
