Doug Donaldson, British Columbia's minister of Forests, stands next to federal and provincial ministers after their meeting to discuss wildfire response in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday September 5, 2017. Two more cabinet ministers in British Columbia say they won't run again amid speculation about the possibility of a fall election. Forests Minister Donaldson and Scott Fraser, the minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, both announced Monday they would not seek re-election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ben Nelms
September 14, 2020 - 3:35 PM
VICTORIA - Two more cabinet ministers in British Columbia say they won't run again amid speculation about the possibility of a fall election.
Forests Minister Doug Donaldson and Scott Fraser, the minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, both announced Monday they would not seek re-election.
Donaldson and Fraser join Shane Simpson, the minister of social development and poverty reduction, in bowing out of provincial politics.
Fraser, the member for Mid Island-Pacific Rim, has served the riding for the past 15 years.
Donaldson was first elected in 2009 in the riding of Stikine and called working as the forests minister a "dream portfolio."
Premier John Horgan ignited election speculation last week when he said the Green caucus his party made an agreement with three years ago to form a minority government has changed.
Newly elected Green Leader Sonia Furstenau said Monday that Horgan should be focusing his government's attention on the pandemic and overdose deaths instead of considering an early election.
A fixed election date is set for the fall of 2021.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 14, 2020.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2020