British Columbias new Minister of Finance says she was honoured and surprised to receive the appointment to one of the heaviest positions in the provincial government.

Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy told KCR News in an interview shortly after her appointment that she thought she was called in to discuss forestry matters, her previous ministers’ position, when premier David Eby dropped the bomb.

“I am excited and incredibly honoured that the premier has entrusted me with this portfolio,” Conroy said. “It is a big job, but as you said, I’m used to big jobs, so I’m really looking forward to getting on with the job.”

Conroy was first elected to parliament in 2005, and has aside from forestry also been minister of Children and Family Development. Now she will be taking over responsibility for B.C’s finances, which currently are in a rosy position with a $5.3 billion surplus. Conroy explained the current financial state with that there was more federal dollars coming from the province than was first expected.

“I just want to remind people that there are things we can utilize the surplus for,” Conroy said. “We can’t utilize it for ongoing operating funds, because we don’t know if we will have a surplus like this again.”

Instead, Conroy said, the surplus can be used to pay off provincial debt, and for new infrastructure projects such as schools and hospitals. “The goal is to continue to help people in the province. It’s what weve been doing since 2017 and will continue to do.”

Listen to the full interview with new Minister of Finance, Katrina Conroy, from KCR News.