First of all, how do you feel about your new portfolio? I am very excited because I come from a riding that largely depends on mining. These mines are great economic engines for rural communities. The mines represent high-paying jobs, with the average salary being over $90,000 if you include benefits. I asked Premier Gordon Campbell for this position in cabinet and I was fortunate in getting what I asked for.

Is this a position that you have always wanted in the B.C. cabinet? When I first got into politics in 2001, I was very interested in the energy and mines ministry, but I didn’t have the experience to be in cabinet at that time. I was fortunate that I didn’t get a position because it took me four years to get to know my riding. However, I always had my eye on that portfolio.

As B.C.’s new minister of state for mining, what are some goals that you have for this province? The first thing that I will have to do as minister of state for mining is make sure we carry on our efforts to achieve all the goals set out in the B.C. Mining Plan, which was announced in 2004. My personal goal is to open at least one new metal mine. We’ve opened up a number of new mines that have already been closed in the province, which has provided a lot of employment—but we need to send a signal to the investment world. We have some new coal mines coming, but we haven’t had a new metal mine in the province for a long time. I will also spend a lot of time as the minister of state for mining communicating to urban British Columbia about the value of mining. About 0.03 per cent of land in British Columbia is used for mining—it’s miniscule. From that small chunk of land, we have a $4.5-billion industry and people in this province need to understand that. Their lives would be completely different without mining.

With countries like China and India experiencing heavy growth, are you planning something to take advantage of that market? Our government has a clear Asia-Pacific focus this time around and we already have a team in place that will work on such strategies. Premier Campbell has also travelled to China at least once a year to help market this province. I will travel mostly within Canada to places like Toronto where there are certainly a lot of markets that would want to invest in the mining industry in B.C.

In your opinion, how important are the Kootenays when it comes to British Columbia’s mining industry? For the NDP years in the 1990s, if it wasn’t for the coal industry in the East Kootenay, British Columbia wouldn’t have had much of a mining industry. Back then, for every mine that was opening, two were closing. We lost half of the mining jobs that existed in 1991. In the East Kootenay, we really carried the mining industry with the coal industry as it represents $1 billion in this province. The East Kootenay was basically the mining industry for this province for a long period of time. In my opinion, we are a very significant player in the mining industry for British Columbia.