Christy Clark demotes supporter in cabinet shuffle
Posted September 26, 2011 4:05 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – Premier Christy Clark has demoted the only MLA who backed her in her bid for the Liberal leadership.
Clark has moved Harry Bloy out of Social Development and has appointed him Minister of State for Multiculturalism.
Stephanie Cadieux takes over in Social Development while Margaret MacDiarmid replaces Cadieux as Labour Minister.
It’s among several changes the premier is making ahead of the fall sitting of Legislature, which starts next Monday.
Clark refuses to call Bloy’s move a demotion, referring to it as a “refocusing” of his responsibilities.
“Being a minister is not just about communicating in question period and in scrums,” says Clark. “Some of us have more a little more skill and expertise in that kind of communication.”
Clark says Bloy has a lot of experience in multiculturalism that he will bring to his new portfolio.
Bloy was viewed as one of Clark’s weaker ministers and may have been a big target for the NDP once the Legislature resumes.
NDP leader Adrian Dix says Premier Christy Clark’s demotion of Harry Bloy is an admission of poor judgment on her part.
“The people who pay the price for this are, amongst many others, adults with developmental disabilities and their families,” Dix says. “They’re the ones who paid the price for the premier’s policies and Mr. Bloy’s policies and there’s no change to that.”
Bloy recently restored funding to a program that employs developmentally-challenged people at a Ridge Meadows recycling plant in the face of mounting public pressure.
