 It's my pleasure to invite Melissa Irvine to lead us in singing the National Anthem. Much Melissa, it's now my privilege to call upon the Lekwungen dancers who will perform a welcome song for us. Deeply touching, everyone, would you join me in thanking the Lekwungen traditional dancers? Please also join me in thanking Melissa Irvine for the anthem. Thank you, Melissa. I'm now very pleased to call upon Councillor Margaret Charlie of Songhees Nation to provide an opening blessing for us. Margaret, thank you. I special hail her, I quines qunana hail her, as it succicates, charthless and at Lekwungen, I quince stachel at the aileron at Lekwungen. To sequelton, tenor man, chesola at Lekwungen, lay us to not unattain chesola at Lekwungen. Today respected ones, I'm very glad to see you all here today. My name is Margaret Charlie. My traditional name is Desikiet. I introduce my parents today. My father's name is Michael Charlie Sr., he's from Lekwungen, and my mother is Nancy Henry from Sartlip. I am an elected Councillor for Songhees Nation, and I'm here today to welcome you to our territory. When saying that it is my honor to welcome you all here to our homelands of the Lekwungen people on behalf of Songhees Nation. I would also like to offer congratulations to the new Council. I would like to take a minute to remind you all of the importance of the BC Declaration Act action plan. The government under former Premier John Horgan may progress with its development and implementation. It's important now that U.S. leaders continue with this action plan and work on conciliation and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples across BC. Haishka. Thank you so very much, Councillor. Now if you'd like to sit down, we would invite you to take a seat. I'm now delighted to call upon her honour, the honourable Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, to provide her remarks and administer the oaths. Thank you, Jeremy. First Nations elders, Premier David E.B., Ministers Designette, many, many distinguished guests, friends, all. Good day, dear friends. It's wonderful to be among you today, and I do mean that so very sincerely. I acknowledge with humility the Lekwungen peoples, the Songhees in Esquimalt, upon whose traditional territory we gather today, and I thank the Lekwungen dancers and Councillor Maggie Charlie of the Songhees First Nation for welcoming us so warmly in the spirit of goodwill, peace and friendship. Haishka Siam. I want to comment briefly on the practice of land acknowledgement, because I'm very proud to see that it's being adopted broadly across British Columbia and indeed across the country. But it's important that it be more than just a pro forma statement. And so I try to take it as an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of colonialism, the harms of the past, and what I can do to contribute to the healing that is needed in Canada. So for myself, I'm a seventh generation Canadian. My ancestors came to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia during the Scottish clearances when their lands were taken away by the aristocracy. My family found a great deal of success and happiness here in Canada, and that is the success that I have subsequently enjoyed. But I'm conscious that my success has come at the expense of Indigenous peoples. And so for this reason, and because I hold the privilege of serving as Lieutenant Governor, I feel a deep responsibility to be a visible and a vocal advocate for reconciliation in all its dimensions, Haishka Siam. A few weeks ago, we affirmed Premier David E. B. in his role as Premier and Head of Government. He has now provided me with his recommendations for the composition of Executive Council. And today I have the privilege and the responsibility of executing his recommendations by swearing in British Columbia's cabinet. But before I proceed, please accept my heartfelt thanks for your devotion to public service and to our province. As Ministers of the Crown, British Columbians are entrusting to your stewardship the current management of our many challenges and the future of our province. You are called upon to lead us in addressing our complex and interrelated challenges of environment, society and economy, and in building a future of shared prosperity for all British Columbians. As the King's Representative in British Columbia, I rely on the members of Executive Council to advise me on the exercise of my constitutional powers and duties. You in turn are accountable to the members of the Legislative Assembly and through them to the people of British Columbia. This is the principle of responsible government upon which our democracy is built and which you are called to uphold in your roles as members of Executive Council. The inherent in this principle is an understanding that a healthy democracy requires a robust and respectful exchange of different ideas and perspectives, provides opportunities for everyone to participate and enables people who disagree to share power. As I administer the oaths of allegiance, office and confidentiality, I ask you all to reflect on the public trust placed in you and on the qualities of diligence, vigilance and good intention which must always guide your actions. As we face the challenges and embrace the opportunities of the future, I know that British Columbians can rely on you to undertake your work in the best tradition of collegiality and collaboration. There is much work ahead, but through it all may you be anchored and sustained by the love and support of your family and friends and by your consciousness of the trust reposed in you. And now for the oaths. Everybody ready? Right. I, Janet Austin, in my capacity as Lieutenant Governor of the province of British Columbia do hereby administer the oaths of allegiance, office and confidentiality to you as members of Executive Council in this, His Majesty's province of British Columbia. And now I ask you to raise your right hands and repeat after me, including your given names and your surname, and you may choose either to swear or to affirm the oaths. Don't have to do both. All right. First the oath of allegiance. I swear or affirm that I will be faithful. And bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III, King of Canada. His heirs and successors according to law. Well done. Next the oath of office. I swear or affirm that I will serve His Majesty duly and faithfully and to the best of my ability fulfill the responsibilities and trust granted to me as a member of the Executive Council of British Columbia. And finally the oath of confidentiality. I swear or affirm that I will keep confidential all matters dealt with in the Executive Council and I will not disclose any of the same to any person other than a member of Executive Council except as authorized by it or as required in the lawful discharge of my duties as a member of the Executive Council. I hereby declare you duly sworn or affirmed as members of the Executive Council of the Government of British Columbia, congratulations all, and my very best wishes as you undertake the important peace part today. And now for part two. Congratulations ministers. Now the exciting part, we get to see who gets which portfolio. I'm now pleased to call upon the Premier Ebe who will announce the portfolio of each minister and they will come forward and sign the oath book. Premier. Just having luck to see if there's anything I need to change. Minister of Agriculture and Food, Pam Alexis. Minister of Children and Family Development, Mitzi Dean. Minister of Citizen Services, Lisa Bear. Minister of Education and Child Care, Ratchna Singh. Understandably someone got very excited in the top right there. The Minister of State for Child Care, Dr. Grace Lore. The Minister for Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Bowen Ma. The Minister of Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation, Josie Osborne. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, George Heyman. I can tell people are already excited. Minister of Finance, Katrina Conroy. Minister of Forests, Bruce Ralston. Minister of Health, Adrian Dex. Minister of Housing, Ravi Kalan. Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, Marie Rankin. Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, Brenda Bailey. Minister of State for Trade, Jegroupe Brar. Minister of Labor, Harry Baines. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Jennifer White said. Minister of Municipal Affairs, Anne Kang. Minister for Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, Selena Robinson. Minister of State for Workforce Development, Andrew Mercier. Minister for Public Safety and Solicitor General and Minister for ICBC, Mike Farnworth. Minister for Social Development and Poverty Reduction, Sheila Malcomson. Minister for Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, Lana Popham. Minister for Transportation and Infrastructure including BC Transit and TransLink, Rob Fleming. Minister of State for Infrastructure and Transit, Dan Coulter. Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and Fisheries, Nathan Cullen. Here we are. The Attorney General for British Columbia, Nikki Sharma. I now request the Minister of Justice and Attorney General to receive from you on behalf of the Crown the great seal of British Columbia. There you go. It has to be of the Attorney General. I commit the great seal of the province of British Columbia. Congratulations. Thank you. I think. My turn. Go for it. I almost forgot about the great seal. Take care of it, Nikki. It's a privilege to be here on the territory of Laquungen speaking people as the Songhees and the Squimalt First Nations. Thank you to Councillor Margaret Charlie and Laquungen Dancers for getting us started in such a good way. And thank you to Your Honour, Janet Austin, for hosting us here in your beautiful home. This is an exciting day. I see lots of happy friends, families of electeds here and I see in the front row of my own family, my mom and sister have joined, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law and my beautiful wife who slid in right at the right just in time. She is a miracle worker because this morning she was getting our kids to childcare. So lovely to see you and lovely to see all of the happy faces here joining us today. I couldn't be more excited to getting down to work with our new cabinet, the new Executive Council of our government. For some of the folks up here, this will be their first time sitting around the cabinet table. There's been here over the last few years guiding our province through some really extraordinary times. Now I remember in 2017 getting my phone call from Premier John Horgan to become the Attorney General of BC and all I remember hearing are the words Attorney General and then like this whoosh sound. I know that this is a very significant and important day for many people who are here and an exciting day for them and their families and also an awesome responsibility. Our new cabinet represents the diversity of our province. There are people bringing incredible experience and diversity of perspectives to the table. Together they're a strong team that are going to take on the big challenges that our province faces. They're accepting this responsibility at a time when we're facing significant headwinds. Global inflation is driving up the costs of essentials for families like groceries. Global economic uncertainty is raising anxiety. Healthcare systems across Canada are under strain and BC is no exception. And small businesses are struggling to find the employees they need as our economy grows. Climate disasters and the toxic drug crisis are taking a tragic toll. Now British Columbians understand we're not going to solve all of these very significant problems overnight. These are massive challenges together. They set out the path of work for us ahead. British Columbians expect us to show progress on these issues in ways that they can see and feel and touch in their communities, very real ways. We've faced more than our fair share of challenges, I'll say, over the five years we've been in government, but there's been an important lesson in it. And if there's one thing we can take away from it, it's that we can't solve these problems on our own. We all need to work together to address these issues. Of course there are people who think that going it alone is the way forward. We know that allowing people with money to buy their way to the front of the healthcare line doesn't get rid of the line, just changes who's at the front of the line. Giving speculators free rein in our housing market doesn't make housing more affordable, just gives speculators more money. And handing those at the top a tax cut doesn't support a strong economy that works for everybody, it just supports the people at the top. British Columbians couldn't afford that approach five years ago, and they sure can't afford it today. We're at our best in this province when we support each other. And we're in a strong position to support people now when they need it, as we prepare our province for success in the future. And that's exactly what we intend to do. I believe that BCE should be a place where everybody can build a good life, where you can afford a place to call home, where you feel safe in your community, where you have a family doctor, where kids go to a good school and teachers have the resources they need, where your kids can get training opportunities to pursue their dreams, and where we build a cleaner economy that works for everyone in partnership with Indigenous Peoples. It was just this morning that the Prime Minister announced funding to support the conservation of lands and waters in the Northern Shelf Bio Region in B.C., also called the Great Bear Sea. This is an example of the kind of partnership and co-development with Indigenous Peoples we will do more of in this province. Conservation is critical to protecting the rare beauty and biodiversity of British Columbia from climate change. It's one of the many ways we'll work to fight the global climate crisis in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and communities throughout British Columbia. Another way, and you heard it here on the stage today, is changing the way we work, the creation of a new ministry to prepare for and protect our communities from the emergencies we continue to face as a result of climate change. This ministry will work to ensure effective emergency response and resiliency for communities and coordinate preparation for emergency events caused by climate change. We also have a new housing ministry focused on tackling the housing crisis front of mind for so many British Columbians dedicated to make sure affordable, attainable homes are available to people where they need them. I know how strongly my cabinet colleagues and all of my colleagues in government feel about these issues and believe in this vision for our province. And that's why I need everyone to join me in this important work. In just a few weeks, we've begun to take action on many of the issues that are front of mind for British Columbians, and that action will continue. You've seen affordability credits to help families make ends meet. You've seen a safer communities plan that gets help to those struggling on our streets while ensuring those committing violent offenses stay off our streets. You've seen new legislation to increase housing supply and get more people into homes faster. An expanded pathway for internationally trained doctors to practice here in British Columbia and an investment in the first new medical school in western Canada in 50 years. There's a lot more to come. We'll be acting with urgency on health care, on affordability, public safety, reconciliation, building a strong, clean economy and so much more. I'm going to continue to ask a lot of our cabinet and of myself because British Columbians are counting on us to deliver for them every single day. When I look at this team that we have here today, I'm confident that they're ready for it. We will always seek to pull people together to find solutions. And we won't be afraid to take on powerful interests if they stand in the way of the progress of British Columbians. Together, we will continue to build a stronger, better British Columbia, one that works for everyone and leaves nobody behind. Thank you. Thank you so very much, Premier Eby. And a warm and rich congratulations to all the new ministers today. What a splendid day this has been. Thank you so very, very much for joining us. That does wrap up the formal part of the proceedings today. We do ask if you would kindly just wait in the ballroom for a few moments while the stage party departs for a few family photos out in the foyer. And then if you are planning to attend the reception afterward at the legislative assembly, we would ask that you use your program for entrance. That will be your ticket for lunch over at the ledge. So make sure you have that one. Okay. Thank you so much, everybody. And now for the departure.