Cabinet

CABINET, formally known as the executive council, is composed of members of the LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY elected as representatives of the majority political party. Cabinet members are selected by the PREMIER; each is a minister responsible for at least one government department, or ministry, sometimes more. They also serve on a variety of cabinet committees. The cabinet is the principal decision-making body in the government. It determines policy, and individual members are held responsible for the affairs of their departments, or portfolios. On occasion ministers serve in the cabinet with no direct responsibility for a department; they are known as ministers without portfolio. Very rarely a cabinet minister is chosen from outside the legislature; in such a case it is expected that the minister will seek election as soon as possible, because it is an established principle that cabinet ministers should be available in the legislature to explain and defend government policy. Once a decision is made by cabinet after full discussion, all members are expected to endorse it. When a member feels unable to keep cabinet solidarity, he or she is expected to resign: one may not publicly criticize the government from within the cabinet.

Government ministries have changed in scope and number over the years. In 2001 the newly-elected premier, Gordon CAMPBELL, appointed 28 ministers, the largest cabinet in BC history to that time. When he was re-elected in 2005, Premier Campbell formed a cabinet of 23 members.