She previously served in the role from 2017 to 2022
A new B.C. NDP cabinet included a familiar face handling the ag portfolio.
Lana Popham returns as the minister of agriculture and food in Premier David Eby’s cabinet.
Popham served as the minister of agriculture, food and fisheries from 2017 to 2022 before moving to the tourism, arts, culture and sport file.
Pam Alexis filled the role of ag minister from 2022 to 2024, but she lost her Abbotsford-Mission seat in the 2024 election.
During her first tenure as ag minister, Popham oversaw multiple programs and projects.
In 2018, for example, Minister Popham introduced legislation that limits new house sizes on the Agricultural Land Reserve to about 5,400 square feet (500 square metres).
In February 2022, the government amended the Agricultural Land Reserve Use Regulation to allow vertical farming to take place on those lands.
The pandemic and climate change have identified issues within B.C.’s ag sector that these vertical operations can help address, she said at the time.
In June of that year, Popham announced the creation of the Minister’s Advisory Group of Regenerative Agriculture and Agritech.
This group, made up of 17 members of B.C.’s ag community, provided advice to the government to promote regenerative ag practices.
And the following month, Minister Popham launched the Extreme Weather Preparedness for Agriculture Program.
It provides farmers with financial support to help them prepare for extreme weather events.
Supporting Minister Popham with her duties is Harwinder Sandhu, the parliamentary secretary for agriculture.
Premier Eby also appointed two parliamentary secretaries for rural issues.
Steve Morissette is the parliamentary secretary for rural development, and Debra Toporowski is the parliamentary secretary for rural health.