[Tyee Editor’s note: Mandate letters are issued to cabinet ministers by the premier following their swearing-in. The letters outline the premier’s priorities and objectives for each respective ministry. Inspired by the format of the official mandate letters, members of the BC Climate Emergency Campaign penned their own mock version of a mandate letter, addressing it from Premier David Eby, sharing an urgent message for B.C.’s cabinet.]
Dear Cabinet Ministers:
I am proud to present this mandate letter to cabinet, outlining the urgent and immediate steps that our province must take at this time of converging crises. Disruptive and deadly armed conflict, trade disputes, AI-driven automation and climate breakdown are creating uncertainty for B.C. households and businesses. British Columbians are also facing a crushing cost-of-living crisis, with a poisoned drug supply killing thousands of people every year, and ongoing ripple effects from COVID-19.
We don’t know when the next war, pandemic, recession or climate disaster will hit. Our job is to strengthen our province, prepare our people and create the conditions that will limit the impact of future crises.
Below are the priorities and objectives of B.C.’s cabinet as we leave behind the incrementalism of yesterday and take hold of this once-in-a-generation opportunity.
Reimagining and strengthening BC’s energy future
First and foremost, the Government of British Columbia must tell the truth about the severity of the climate crisis and our responsibility to implement transformative climate solutions.
I direct the new Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions to implement strict advertising regulations to combat greenwashing and the spread of false solutions, particularly by energy providers.
The future is electric, and B.C. is uniquely positioned to benefit from this shift away from fossil fuels. With the right policy changes, we can become a leader in large-scale renewable energy.
In a key and urgent step towards a renewable energy future, we will allow the environmental assessment certificate for the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline proposal to expire. Former premier Christy Clark originally approved the pipeline 10 years ago. The world has changed drastically since then, and so have B.C.’s laws, meaning a new assessment must be ordered or else the project cancelled entirely.
Meeting B.C.’s climate targets will require halting all new LNG terminal and pipeline approvals and cancelling the permits for LNG export projects that are not yet built. We no longer need to rely on extracting fracked methane gas that increases our greenhouse gas emissions and harms the health of local populations.
At the same time, B.C. has approved nine new Indigenous-owned wind projects through BC Hydro’s most recent Call for Power request for proposals. This first wave of large-scale renewable energy projects will unlock billions in new investment, provide thousands of good local jobs and generate as much power as the Site C dam. We will work together with local First Nations to scale up solar and geothermal capacity as well.
To incentivize energy efficiency and generation, we must also increase British Columbia’s net metering program to allow BC Hydro customers to sell surplus energy back into the grid, and expand the public provision of home-based battery systems to store solar-generated electricity.
Diversification and decentralization of energy production and energy storage also protects British Columbians from power outages following severe storms, which are only getting worse with climate change. This is why upgrades to B.C.’s electrical infrastructure must be made to improve reliability and cost savings for BC Hydro customers across the province, while generating revenue from surplus clean power exported to neighbouring provinces and states.
Our clean, made-in-B.C. electricity will go to British Columbians first, not fossil fuel corporations.
I call on Adrian Dix, the new minister of energy and climate solutions, to work with BC Hydro to implement these changes.
Connecting communities across BC
Ensuring all people have access to reliable and affordable transportation will be a crucial priority of this cabinet.
I am directing the minister of transportation and transit, Mike Farnworth, to implement the recommendations of the policy report “Connecting B.C.: A Ten-Year Vision and Investment Plan for Public Transit Throughout B.C.”
This begins with investing in affordable, accessible and convenient public transit within and between all communities to ensure that everyone in British Columbia has the ability to travel safely. Through our accord with the BC Green Party, we have taken the first steps towards restoring public intercity bus routes, and this network must continue to expand.
This will involve reallocating funds away from highway expansion towards public transit and active transportation infrastructure, which will reduce dangerous outdoor air pollution.
Electric vehicles also play a role in this transition. B.C. will mandate zero emissions for all new light vehicles by 2027, and all medium and heavy-duty vehicles by 2030.
Building healthy and safe homes
British Columbians deserve to be healthy and safe indoors as well. During this mandate period, B.C. will eliminate fossil fuel heating in new buildings.
We will also update the building code such that by the end of 2025, no new homes and buildings will be permitted to tie into gas lines. A new Crown corporation will mobilize the workforce to retrofit existing buildings and produce and install heat pumps.
Building a clean, safe, affordable energy future will entail working with BC Hydro on many fronts.
We must begin by freezing BC Hydro rates for the next five years to give families relief on their bills. We must also increase support for switching from “natural” gas stoves to healthier induction stoves to reduce the risk of exposure to harmful pollutants and continue to lower our greenhouse gas emissions.
Furthermore, all families should have access to electric heat pumps and vehicle chargers. For middle- and low-income households, we must move beyond heat pump rebates and install heat pumps for free in every home. These life-saving appliances will pay for themselves through long-term savings on energy bills, reduced air pollution and the fact that they function as air conditioners during dangerously hot weather.
I thank the minister of housing and municipal affairs, Ravi Kahlon, for taking on this work.
Away from harm, towards resilience
B.C. will need substantial new revenue streams in order to finance our transition to a clean, healthy and affordable future.
The biggest revenue source will be a windfall profits tax for the oil and gas sector. Canada’s largest oil and gas companies raked in over $16.7 billion in 2024. These funds can be used to expedite the green transition.
B.C. will also begin spending what it takes to keep British Columbians safe and employed. This requires investing two per cent of B.C.’s GDP (roughly $8.5 billion per year), as recommended by former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern, to advance the zero-emissions economy and create tens of thousands of good jobs.
Our minister of finance, Brenda Bailey, will lead this task.
Minimizing harm necessitates taking better care of our land and waters. I am directing the minister of forests, Ravi Parmar, to impose an immediate moratorium on the industrial logging of all old-growth forests, which are critical carbon sinks. More than half of the most at-risk old-growth forests recommended for deferral in 2021 remain open to logging — it is time for this practice to end.
I ask the minister of water, land and resource stewardship, Randene Neill, to institute water usage restrictions for fracking companies, particularly in drought conditions.
This ministry must also act to protect at least 30 per cent of terrestrial and marine ecosystems by 2030, in line with global targets to halt and reverse the biodiversity and extinction crisis.
Prioritizing Indigenous leadership and sovereignty
In 2019, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act became law in B.C. Unfortunately, its implementation remains incomplete. I charge the new minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, Christine Boyle, to oversee the full implementation of DRIPA and to report annually on progress.
Indigenous leadership must be central in the enactment of B.C.’s climate action. The recommendations of the Assembly of First Nations National Climate Strategy can guide this work.
We must stop fighting a losing battle to impose Crown authority over Indigenous lands, and actively support First Nations to enact their priorities.
I am directing the minister of water, land and resource stewardship, Randene Neill, to explore legislation similar to the Haida Title Lands Agreement, which assigns Haida jurisdiction, sovereignty and decision-making power over Haida territories.
These ministries can also work in tandem with the minister of forests to expand traditional forest management practices such as cultural burning in forests at risk of wildfire.
Promoting public engagement and education
As the government leads the way towards a more sustainable future, we must ensure the public is adequately informed about the climate crisis.
This will entail producing and widely disseminating advertising and educational resources listing the steps the government is taking to address the crisis, and how British Columbians can help us meet our goals.
Of course, our youth will play an integral role in the energy transition. B.C. will support the creation of a Youth Climate Corps, an ambitious new public jobs program that will provide well-paying green jobs to thousands of young people.
Finally, we will develop a robust Just Transition plan for the province, following this Just Transition Guide, which outlines support plans for fossil fuel workers, resource-dependent communities and Indigenous and remote communities that are reliant on fossil fuel production.
This is a time not for incrementalism, but for ambition. Years from now, when your children and grandchildren look back on our time in government, let’s ensure we can truthfully say that we did our best.
Emiko Newman is co-ordinator of the BC Climate Emergency Campaign. Kai Nagata is communications director with Dogwood BC. Tracey Saxby is a marine scientist and co-founder of My Sea to Sky. Melissa Lem is president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
