Wanted: A British Columbia agriculture minister.
People skills required. Must be willing to travel. Ability to solve complex problems is a plus — but, in the absence of that, an ability to not disappear from the face of the earth whenever a crisis occurs is required. No experience necessary. Compensation comes with a gold-plated, taxpayer-funded pension.
Quick, somebody with a LinkedIn Premium account get this online for the BC NDP. They are in desperate need of a good applicant. The current minister, Pam Alexis, is missing in action.
In the weeks since the collapse of the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative, Alexis has gone invisible.
Farmers have issued emotional public pleas for help, as apple season begins without the critical packing and cold storage services of the 88-year-old cooperative to help get product onto store shelves.
Livelihoods, and in some cases generations of farms, are on the line. Grown men have shed tears in meetings. And the minister? Her only response has been a series of canned statements, issued through her communications officials, that read like they were generated by ChatGPT. It’s not even clear if she’s working, or on holiday.
The ministry she leads hasn’t done much better. As the cooperative imploded into court proceedings, agriculture staff, which had observer roles at the board, did nothing to stop it. The province remains flatfooted as the cooperative prepares to sell off its critical assets.
The absence of any meetings, appearances, town halls, visits, roundtables, phone calls, crisis communiques, or simple check-ins by the minister has left the BC Fruit Growers’ Association furious.
And how embarrassing it must be for the few rural MLAs in the New Democrat caucus, whose phones are ringing from upset constituents.
Folks like Roly Russell, the MLA for Boundary-Similkameen, who has done an able job as parliamentary secretary for rural development, and stepped up to help the beleaguered wine sector.
Russell and others have been forced to watch as the BC United and Conservative parties have stomped a mud hole in the reputation of the BC NDP the last few weeks.
United leader Kevin Falcon held packed meetings in the Okanagan on the issue. He emerged to promise a bailout of the cooperative, aid for the sector and an audit of how government dropped the ball. “Where is the minister of agriculture?” he demanded.
Conservative leader John Rustad convened a large town hall at Sandher Fruit Packers in Kelowna on Tuesday. He accused the NDP of neglecting and mismanaging the agriculture sector.
The situation has gotten so bad, Premier David Eby’s office has had to intervene — while the premier is on vacation. The BC Fruit Growers’ Association is set to meet with officials from the premier’s office Tuesday afternoon, I’m told, and Alexis herself will even make a rare guest appearance.
This is not the first time Alexis has found herself under fire from the agriculture community. She’s received poor reviews for her handling of last year’s hay shortage, drought response and agricultural aid programs, to name a few. Her predecessor, Lana Popham, was much better regarded by the farming community.
Stakeholder relations is one thing. But if the premier can’t even go on holiday for a couple of weeks without a crisis exploding in the agriculture ministry that requires his office to intervene — well, that’s a pretty sad state of affairs indeed.
There’s only 73 days until the provincial election. But New Democrats would still be wise to consider the job posting for a new minister. Even if the NDP wins, the chances of Alexis returning to this portfolio are slim indeed.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 16 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
