Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has shuffled her cabinet, including appointing a veteran MLA as the new provincial finance minister, following the resignation Wednesday by former finance minister Nate Horner and hospitals minister Matt Jones.
Both Horner and Jones stepped down from their cabinet posts and said they will not be running in the next provincial election, expected in 2027.
Jason Nixon, with more than a decade of experience in the legislature and was Alberta’s minister of assisted living and social services, is moving to finance.
Nixon’s political career predates the province’s governing United Conservative Party.
He was first elected under the Wildrose banner in 2015. The Wildrose Party and Progressive Conservatives merged to create the UCP in 2017 and formed government two years later.
Nixon has led multiple ministries during his time in office, including serving a stint in finance under former premier Jason Kenney.
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Nathan Neudorf is leaving his affordability and utilities portfolio to take over from Nixon as minister of assisted living and social services.
Adriana LaGrange leaves the Preventative Health-Care Ministry to become hospitals minister.
Former government whip Justin Wright replaces LaGrange as minister of primary and preventative health services, which oversees physicians and primary care.
Tara Sawyer, a former chair of the Grain Growers of Canada, becomes agriculture minister — taking over the job from R.J. Sigurdson who is the new minister of affordability and utilities.
Nixon, the province’s new finance minister, inherits a volatile portfolio largely dependent on global oil prices that have been jolted by the U.S. war on Iran.
This year’s budget forecast a $9.4-billion deficit — the largest since the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, some analysts and business groups have said Alberta’s fortunes could swing into a surplus should oil prices stay high.
Two backbenchers were also given promotions in Thursday’s cabinet shuffle.
Brandon Lunty has also been appointed as the new government whip, while Scott Cyr becomes parliamentary secretary for transportation.
The leader of Alberta’s opposition NDP, Naheed Nenshi, responded to news of the cabinet shuffle by saying it “does nothing for Albertans.”
“It’s still the largest cabinet in Alberta history. It’s doing nothing about the cost-of-living crisis. It’s not creating jobs for the future — and it’s destroying public services,” Nenshi added.
“It still has four health ministers overseeing the destruction of public health care.”
“It still has an energy minister allowing for coal mining in the eastern slopes (of the Rocky Mountains). The Indigenous relations minister that recently had every First Nations Chief vote non-confidence in this government is the same. And it still has a municipal affairs minister that is hiring library inspectors,” Nenshi added.
— With files from Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
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