Rick Thorpe

Rick Thorpe has been appointed minister of British Columbia’s new Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise following last month’s sweeping Liberal victory. Thorpe was first elected in 1996 and most recently served as opposition critic for small business, tourism and culture. He has extensive business experience, including 22 years in the brewing industry and five years in the wine industry where he was a partner of a winery in his home region of Okanagan. Premier Gordon Campbell has laid out specific objectives for Thorpe’s ministry, stipulating that it take the lead role in ensuring a tax and regulatory environment consistent with the New Economy, consolidate and rationalize scientific activities within the government, work in conjunction with Ministry of Advanced Education and support the moribund Premier’s Council on Technology….