The new leader of the B.C. New Democrats, Adrian Dix, announced his shadow cabinet, saying his team will deliver for British Columbians, inside and outside the legislature.

“With its collective expertise and energy, our team will present a clear contrast to a BC Liberal government that is out of ideas and out of touch. We will present concrete proposals on the economy, public health care, public education, the environment and social justice that addresses the needs of working families and communities,” said Dix.

Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald will continue on with a role of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations critic, which he held prior to the NDP leadership race.

“I am really pleased to have that role. I think it is obviously logical for most of the main critic roles to remain the same…with an area as broad and complex as Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, you want critics who have had the opportunity to learn the ministry,”  Macdonald said.

He went on to say that this role is one that has a great deal to do with the people in the Columbia River-Revelstoke area.

“We are exploring the issues of a community forest. We have employment concerns over the hopefully temporary shutdown of the Canfor operation. It is an important ministry and relevant to the people that I represent,” he said.

Being the critic of such a large based portfolio is a challenge that Macdonald is ready to continue doing. “It is a massive ministry. It is a ministry that is very confused. So we will be looking at the structure of the ministry as well because for some time it has not been functioning very well,” he said.

The new leader of B.C.’s New Democrats also underscored how articulating policies that serve the greater public interest will re-engage the electorate.

“By offering a clear, practical alternative to the BC Liberals’ failed economic and social agenda, my team will be reaching out to the 1.4 million British Columbians who did not vote in the last provincial election,” Dix said.

Macdonald felt that things have been going very well in the first steps back to work for the NDP and that the representatives are looking forward to going back to the legislature.

This is a feeling that seems to be shared by Dix. “The B.C. legislature has only sat four days in 10 months. Now, the government is planning to spend a month in the legislature to debate a caretaker budget. Sadly, aside from breaking their word and implementing the HST, the BC Liberals have wasted the past two years without action on British Columbians’ major concerns,” he said.