Smith to unveil new-look Alberta cabinet Friday after 6 ministers lose seats
Re-elected Premier Danielle Smith will announce her new cabinet and take questions from reporters on Friday, nearly two weeks after winning Alberta's election.
Smith's United Conservative Party begins its mandate with 14 fewer seats than it held after the 2019 vote. The unofficial count from Elections Alberta is 49, while the NDP has 38.
Cabinet ministers Kaycee Madu, Tyler Shandro, Jason Copping, Jeremy Nixon, Nicholas Milliken and Jason Luan all lost their seats.
Ministers Travis Toews and Sonya Savage chose not to run again.
That means new ministers have to be appointed in health, justice, finance, mental health and addiction, culture, environment, skilled trades, and social services.
"We are going to see a cabinet that will have new faces in it, people that maybe Albertans aren't familiar with, maybe people who won their seats for the first time," said Tom Vernon with Crestview Strategy.
"I think we're going to see some of those former leadership rivals, some former high-profile cabinet ministers in these high-profile places to show government continuity."
Brian Jean, Rebecca Schulz, Todd Loewen and Rajan Sawhney all ran against Smith for the UCP leadership. All were then appointed to cabinet following that vote and all are likely to get important portfolios on Friday, Vernon believes.
The premier still has 16 members of her last cabinet that she can keep, including Deputy Premier Nathan Neudorf, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis, who were all reelected.
Vernon said the justice portfolio will be interesting because the only UCP MLAs that are lawyers are Jean, Mickey Amery and Jason Stephan. Having that education is not a law, but the justice minister is usually a lawyer, he noted.
Smith also has no Edmonton MLAs to choose from after the NDP won every seat inside the city.
Vernon said it would make sense for Smith to keep Strathcona-Sherwood Park MLA Nate Glubish and Morinville-St. Albert MLA Dale Nally in cabinet to represent the capital region, and possibly give one or both more important roles.
Spruce Grove-Stony Plain MLA Searle Turton is also a possibility for a portfolio, he said.
"[It] remains to be seen how she handles the Edmonton issue. For the UCP caucus, not having anyone in the city will pose a problem," Vernon said.
"It will be up to city council, city school boards to bring their voice directly to the government. And the government is going to have to make a point to reach out to community leaders and community members here in the city."
Elections Alberta is expected to release official results on Thursday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.