Story by Lisa Johnson • Sunday, June 11, 2023
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith poses for a picture with members of her cabinet on Friday, June 9, 2023, at Government House in Edmonton.
© Provided by Edmonton Journal
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s cabinet may be full of familiar faces, but it signals she will focus on her fight with Ottawa and that new fringe candidates don’t control her government, experts say.
University of Calgary political science professor Lisa Young told Postmedia the appointment of Brian Jean to the energy file and Rebecca Schulz to the environment ministry suggest Albertans can expect the newly-elected UCP government to focus on the province’s fight against federal energy policies.
Smith has long called Ottawa’s looming emissions goals “unachievable,” including the potential 42 per cent emissions cap on the oil and gas industry by 2030 and goal to get to a net zero power grid by 2035.
“She’s gearing up for that fight,” said Young, adding that being combative with Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on energy and environment policy is the one thing that everyone in an often-divided UCP caucus can agree on.
Young noted both Jean and Schulz played the role of surrogates during the election campaign, often attacking NDP policy at news conferences in place of Smith. Jean and Schulz also came the closest to winning the UCP leadership last fall after Travis Toews didn’t seek re-election in May. They came in third and fourth, respectively.
Schulz’s history includes negotiating a $3.8-billion child-care deal with Ottawa, while Jean, from Fort McMurray, is known for fighting hard for local oil and gas sector interests.
“(Smith has) decided to make them essentially a team to fight Ottawa. I think we’re gonna see the good cop bad cop routine,” said Young.
Rural voices will have a seat at the table in prominent portfolios, too, including Drumheller-Stettler’s Nate Horner, who was appointed to finance.
‘It’s a career ender’: LaGrange gets challenging health file
Adriana LaGrange, who has represented Red Deer-North since 2019, will move to health from education after facing criticism on heated issues from funding for children with disabilities to a controversial K-6 curriculum.
Lori Williams, political scientist at Mount Royal University, called it questionable, and noted LaGrange will have a lot of work to do to repair relationships with health care workers.
“There is money to be spent, but that relationship with healthcare workers — the ability to recruit or to attract healthcare workers — has been materially damaged by their treatment under the UCP government.”
“I wonder if this was a sign of weakness that (Smith) couldn’t get anybody else to take it, because it’s a career ender,” Williams said.
Shifting LaGrange to health may raise the eyebrows, particularly for those with concerns about her staunchly pro-life position, but it is a nod to UCP voters outside of the province’s big cities, Young said.
“The biggest issues in health care aren’t in Calgary and Edmonton, arguably. They’re in Red Deer and Lethbridge and in all of the smaller centres where the emergency rooms are closed more often than they’re open,” said Young.
For its part, United Nurses of Alberta president Heather Smith focused on the importance of front-line workers being heard in a news release Friday, but also noted that LaGrange will understand the “enormous pressure and challenges the nurse staffing shortage has put on hospitals like the Red Deer Regional Hospital.”
‘It was about assuring people’: new candidates shut out
None of the 12 newly-elected UCP representatives will sit on the front benches when the legislature convenes in October.
Smith’s cabinet of 25, down from 27, represents more than half of the UCP’s elected caucus of 49. However, the legislature will need to elect a speaker, who cannot vote, and Lacombe-Ponoka member-elect Jennifer Johnson, who ran under the UCP banner, is expected to sit as an independent after transphobic comments from her became public.
Peter Singh, along with newcomers Myles McDougall and Eric Bouchard, are the only Calgary MLAs to be shut out of executive council.
Young noted that McDougall and Bouchard appeared to win their nominations with some support from right-wing third party advertiser Take Back Alberta, credited with helping take down former premier Jason Kenney.
At the same time, Jason Nixon is back at the executive council table after being shut out by Smith in October.
“He had a Take Back Alberta target on him,” said Young, referring to the bitter battle in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre that saw Nixon’s rival disqualified by the UCP.
“It was about assuring people in and outside of Alberta that the Take Back Alberta folks, about whom a fair bit of publicly has been generated , aren’t the ones influencing her government,” said Williams.
With such a large cabinet, Smith might be able to avoid a vote of confidence, and reduce the risk of the party splintering, Young said.
“They kind of have to vote with you once they’re in cabinet,” said Young, noting parliamentary secretary roles, which also come with a pay bump, have yet to be handed out.
lijohnson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/reportrix
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s cabinet may be full of familiar faces, but it signals she will focus on her fight with Ottawa and that new fringe candidates don’t control her government, experts say.
University of Calgary political science professor Lisa Young told Postmedia the appointment of Brian Jean to the energy file and Rebecca Schulz to the environment ministry suggest Albertans can expect the newly-elected UCP government to focus on the province’s fight against federal energy policies.
Smith has long called Ottawa’s looming emissions goals “unachievable,” including the potential 42 per cent emissions cap on the oil and gas industry by 2030 and goal to get to a net zero power grid by 2035.
“She’s gearing up for that fight,” said Young, adding that being combative with Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on energy and environment policy is the one thing that everyone in an often-divided UCP caucus can agree on.
Young noted both Jean and Schulz played the role of surrogates during the election campaign, often attacking NDP policy at news conferences in place of Smith. Jean and Schulz also came the closest to winning the UCP leadership last fall after Travis Toews didn’t seek re-election in May. They came in third and fourth, respectively.
Schulz’s history includes negotiating a $3.8-billion child-care deal with Ottawa, while Jean, from Fort McMurray, is known for fighting hard for local oil and gas sector interests.
“(Smith has) decided to make them essentially a team to fight Ottawa. I think we’re gonna see the good cop bad cop routine,” said Young.
Rural voices will have a seat at the table in prominent portfolios, too, including Drumheller-Stettler’s Nate Horner, who was appointed to finance.
‘It’s a career ender’: LaGrange gets challenging health file
Adriana LaGrange, who has represented Red Deer-North since 2019, will move to health from education after facing criticism on heated issues from funding for children with disabilities to a controversial K-6 curriculum.
Lori Williams, political scientist at Mount Royal University, called it questionable, and noted LaGrange will have a lot of work to do to repair relationships with health care workers.
“There is money to be spent, but that relationship with healthcare workers — the ability to recruit or to attract healthcare workers — has been materially damaged by their treatment under the UCP government.”
“I wonder if this was a sign of weakness that (Smith) couldn’t get anybody else to take it, because it’s a career ender,” Williams said.
Shifting LaGrange to health may raise the eyebrows, particularly for those with concerns about her staunchly pro-life position, but it is a nod to UCP voters outside of the province’s big cities, Young said.
“The biggest issues in health care aren’t in Calgary and Edmonton, arguably. They’re in Red Deer and Lethbridge and in all of the smaller centres where the emergency rooms are closed more often than they’re open,” said Young.
For its part, United Nurses of Alberta president Heather Smith focused on the importance of front-line workers being heard in a news release Friday, but also noted that LaGrange will understand the “enormous pressure and challenges the nurse staffing shortage has put on hospitals like the Red Deer Regional Hospital.”
‘It was about assuring people’: new candidates shut out
None of the 12 newly-elected UCP representatives will sit on the front benches when the legislature convenes in October.
Smith’s cabinet of 25, down from 27, represents more than half of the UCP’s elected caucus of 49. However, the legislature will need to elect a speaker, who cannot vote, and Lacombe-Ponoka member-elect Jennifer Johnson, who ran under the UCP banner, is expected to sit as an independent after transphobic comments from her became public.
Peter Singh, along with newcomers Myles McDougall and Eric Bouchard, are the only Calgary MLAs to be shut out of executive council.
Young noted that McDougall and Bouchard appeared to win their nominations with some support from right-wing third party advertiser Take Back Alberta, credited with helping take down former premier Jason Kenney.
At the same time, Jason Nixon is back at the executive council table after being shut out by Smith in October.
“He had a Take Back Alberta target on him,” said Young, referring to the bitter battle in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre that saw Nixon’s rival disqualified by the UCP.
“It was about assuring people in and outside of Alberta that the Take Back Alberta folks, about whom a fair bit of publicly has been generated , aren’t the ones influencing her government,” said Williams.
With such a large cabinet, Smith might be able to avoid a vote of confidence, and reduce the risk of the party splintering, Young said.
“They kind of have to vote with you once they’re in cabinet,” said Young, noting parliamentary secretary roles, which also come with a pay bump, have yet to be handed out.
lijohnson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/reportrix
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