he would not run for re-election in that year's federal election. Provincial politics On January 27, 2020, Cullen was appointed by the Government of British Columbia as the liaison between the province and the Wetʼsuwetʼen hereditary chiefs. Cullen's appointment came in the midst of the 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests, after the hereditary chiefs refused to meet with BC Minister of Indigenous Relations Scott Fraser. In the lead up to the 2020 British Columbia general election, Cullen announced his intention to seek the nomination for the BC NDP in the riding of Stikine, essentially the northern portion of his federal riding. His candidacy became the subject of controversy when he was acclaimed by the party one week after Annita McPhee, a former elected president of the Tahltan Nation, announced she was seeking the nomination for the riding. The BC NDP has an equity policy whereby a male MLA has to be replaced by a member of an equity-seeking group, such as a woman or a First Nations person, when he retires. The party claimed that McPhee's application contained invalid signatures, and that the local riding association conducted a search for candidates to meet its equity policy but none were willing to stand. McPhee asked Nathan Cullen to step down to from seeking the nomination for that riding because of the party's equity policy but Cullen refused. Despite the controversy, Cullen was elected with 51.7% of the vote. On November 26, 2020, Cullen was sworn in to the Executive Council of British Columbia as Minister of State for Lands and Resource Operations. On February 25, 2022 he was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs. He was subsequently named Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and Minister Responsible for Fisheries in the Eby ministry on December 7, 2022. Personal life Nathan Cullen and Diana Dahr met in Smithers through their work with Katimavik, and they were engaged by the end of 2004. On August 6, 2010, they became parents of twin boys at Mills Memorial Hospital. Election results Provincial elections Federal elections References External links MP Skeena-Bulkley Valley How'd They Vote?: Nathan Cullen's voting history and quotes 1972 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia New Democratic Party MPs People from Smithers, British Columbia Politicians from Toronto Canadian consultants 21st-century Canadian politicians British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Trent University alumni