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Premier of British Columbia

Head of government and chief minister of the Canadian province of British Columbia

Summary

Head of government and chief minister of the Canadian province of British Columbia

Field	Value
post	Premier
body	British Columbia
native_name	Premier ministre de la Colombie-Britannique
insignia	Coat of arms of British Columbia.svg
insigniasize	120px
insigniacaption	Coat of arms of British Columbia
flag	Flag of British Columbia.svg
flagsize	120px
flagcaption	Flag of British Columbia
image	David Eby, BC NDP candidate for Vancouver-Point Grey (54002997713) (cropped).jpg
incumbent	David Eby
incumbentsince	November 18, 2022
department	Office of the Premier
style	{{plainlist
status	Head of Government
member_of
reports_to
seat	Victoria
appointer	Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
appointer_qualified	(with the confidence of the British Columbia Legislature)
termlength	genderp=~}}}} Majesty's pleasure
termlength_qualified	(contingent on the premier's ability to command confidence in the Legislative Assembly)
formation	November 13, 1871
first	John Foster McCreight
deputy	Deputy premier of British Columbia
salary	$218,587.27
website	Office of the Premier

The Honourable (formal)
Premier (informal)

The premier of British Columbia is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s, the title prime minister of British Columbia was often used. The word premier is derived from the French word of the same spelling, meaning "first"; and ultimately from the Latin word primarius, meaning "primary".

Legal status

Although the premier is the day-to-day leader of the provincial government, they receive the authority to govern from the Crown (represented in British Columbia by the province's lieutenant governor). Formally, the executive branch of government in British Columbia is said to be vested in the lieutenant governor acting by and with the advice and consent of the executive council.

The position of premier is not described in Canadian constitutional statutes. By convention, the leader of the political party that has the support of a majority of members of the Legislative Assembly is usually invited by the lieutenant governor to form the government.

Formal responsibilities

The responsibilities of the premier usually include:

recommending the appointment and dismissal of ministers to the Lieutenant Governor
serving as the president of the Executive Council and head of the provincial Cabinet.
leading the development and implementation of government policies and priorities
serving as the senior communicator of government priorities and plans between:
- the Lieutenant Governor and Cabinet
- the British Columbia government and other provincial and territorial governments
- the British Columbia Government and the federal government and international governments

President of the Executive Council

Generally, the premier selects MLAs from their party to be appointed ministers of the Crown by the Lieutenant Governor. Cabinet appointees are designated ministers in charge of government ministries; they are responsible for the day-to-day activities of individual government ministries such as the Ministry of Forests, and for proposing new laws or changing existing ones. The premier may also choose an individual who is not an MLA to be a cabinet minister, although on the rare occasion that this does happen, the practice is that the minister proceeds to obtain a seat in the House. The appointment of an MLA to Cabinet is based on their ability and expertise and is also influenced by political considerations such as geography, gender and ethnicity.

A minister remains in office solely at the pleasure of the premier. The resignation of the premier also triggers the resignation of the other members of Cabinet.

References

"MLA Remuneration and Expenses".
Onions, C.T. ''Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology''. 1985.
Much of the information above is adapted from the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia website article "Discover more about the role of an MLA". Please see the external links.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

premiers-of-british-columbia 1871-establishments-in-british-columbia

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