Alberta Premier Danielle Smith appoints 24 ministers to new cabinet
Premier Danielle Smith has named 24 of her 49-member caucus to serve on a cabinet that is dominated by men and lacks diversity.
The swearing-in ceremony was held Friday at Government House in Edmonton. The new cabinet is made up entirely of MLAs who served at least one term in the legislature.
"Together we'll form a government that will listen to all voices and represent all Albertans," Smith said at a news conference after her new ministers were sworn in.
Albertans elected 48 United Conservative candidates to the 87-seat legislature on May 29. The rest of the house will be made up of 38 NDP MLAs and one independent candidate.
Nate Glubish, Dale Nally, Devin Dreeshen and Rick Wilson were reinstated to their respective portfolios. Searle Turton (Children and Family Services), RJ Sigurdson (Agriculture and Irrigation) and Dan Williams (Mental Health and Addictions) were appointed to cabinet for the first time.
Nine of the new members of cabinet are from Calgary. The cabinet has only five women — Smith, Rebecca Schulz, Tanya Fir, Rajan Sawhney and Adriana LaGrange.
The cabinet also has only three ministers from diverse backgrounds: Sawhney, who is of South Asian descent and is fluent in Punjabi; Muhammad Yaseen, also of South Asian descent and fluent in Urdu and Punjabi; and Mickey Amery, who is Lebanese-Canadian. Yaseen and Amery are Muslim and Sawhney is Sikh.
LaGrange, who served as education minister for the entire four years of the UCP's last mandate, moves into Health, the largest portfolio in government. LaGrange is a past president of Red Deer Pro-Life, an anti-abortion group.
Smith, herself, has publicly stated that she is pro-choice. She repeated that position on Friday. She said LaGrange will be focused on solving problems in the health-care system like a shortage of family doctors and wait times for EMS, surgeries and the ER.
"We will not be changing any laws regarding a woman's right to choose," Smith said.
Autumn Reinhardt-Simpson, founder of the Alberta Abortion Access Network, said LaGrange's appointment to Health is "concerning" given her history as an anti-abortion activist.
Reinhardt-Simpson said she isn't reassured by Smith's statement because the situation could change if Smith is pushed out of office by factions within the UCP. She said the government could limit access to abortion before taking any legal action.
Reinhardt-Simpson is also concerned that Dan Williams is now a member of cabinet. He introduced a private member's bill in 2019 that would have meant health-care providers couldn't be sued or sanctioned for refusing to provide a service that goes against their moral beliefs. The bill was ultimately rejected by an all-party committee of the legislature.
"It just seems like people that have had an axe to grind against a full complement of health-care services are now being given a bit more sway," Reinhardt-Simpson said.
Lack of diversity
Nate Horner, who served as minister of agriculture and irrigation in the last government, is the province's new minister of finance, a position his cousin Doug Horner held a decade ago under former premier Alison Redford.
Jason Nixon returns to cabinet as minister of seniors, community and social Services. Nixon, one of former premier Jason Kenney's allies and top ministers, was dropped from cabinet when Smith became premier last fall.
Former advanced education minister Demetrios Nicolaides will take over the education portfolio from LaGrange.
Mickey Amery was named justice minister, the first Muslim to hold the position in Alberta.
Sarah Hoffman, the NDP deputy leader and MLA-elect in Edmonton-Glenora, highlighted the lack of diversity in Smith's cabinet.
She criticized the premier for not appointing ministers directly in charge of housing, labour and climate change. No one is responsible for representing the concerns of francophone Albertans, Hoffman added.
"The point is very little has changed and I fear what that means for our province under this government," she said.
The Alberta Teachers' Association is looking forward to meeting with Nicolaides as new education minister. ATA president Jason Schilling wants to discuss putting money back into the education system and getting teachers involved with curriculum development again.
"I always look at elections as an opportunity and this is an opportunity to do a reset," Schilling said in an interview with CBC.
"But we also have to have some serious discussions about solutions ... because a lot of the issues that we have are not sustainable in the future."
Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta, said she will give the government a chance to reform the system.
But she said if LaGrange or Horner attempts to roll back wages for nurses or make cuts to the system, they will take action.
"Our ultimate concern as nurses is that we have the people we need to deliver the services Albertans want," she said. "If we are unable to do that because you're unwilling to appropriately compensate workers in Alberta, obviously we're going to have quite a showdown."
Alberta's new cabinet:
Danielle Smith — Premier and minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mike Ellis — Deputy premier and minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services.
Nate Horner — President of Treasury Board and minister of Finance.
Nathan Neudorf — Minister of Affordability and Utilities.
Ric McIver — Minister of Municipal Affairs.
Dale Nally — Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction.
Pete Guthrie — Minister of Infrastructure.
Brian Jean — Minister of Energy and Minerals.
Todd Loewen — Ministry of Forestry and Parks.
RJ Sigurdson — Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation.
Adriana LaGrange — Minister of Health.
Dan Williams — Minister of Mental Health and Addiction.
Jason Nixon — Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services.
Rebecca Schulz — Minister of Environment and Protected Areas.
Joseph Schow — Minister of Tourism and Sport.
Mickey Amery — Minister of Justice.
Matt Jones — Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade.
Searle Turton — Minister of Children and Family Services.
Devin Dreeshen — Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors.
Rajan Sawhney — Minister of Advanced Education.
Demetrios Nicolaides — Minister of Education.
Tanya Fir — Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women.
Nate Glubish — Minister of Technology and Innovation.
Rick Wilson — Minister of Indigenous Relations.
Muhammad Yaseen — Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism.
