The New Alberta Government WHO IS WHO AND HOW WILL THEY APPROACH GOVERNING? This morning Jason Kenney was sworn in as Demetrius Nicolaides, Minister of Advanced the new Premier of Alberta along with a Education cabinet made up of 20 ministers and three Leela Aheer, Minister of Culture, associate ministers. The cabinet includes Multiculturalism and Status of Women farmers, teachers, tradespeople, small Jason Copping, Minister of Labour and business owners, lawyers, business Immigration executives, musicians, oil and gas experts, Kaycee Madu, Minister of Municipal Affairs public servants and a range of other Prasad Panda, Minister of Infrastructure professional backgrounds. Nate Glubish, Minister of Service Alberta Grant Hunter, Associate Minister for Red The new cabinet members are: Tape Reduction Doug Schweitzer, Solicitor General and Dale Nally, Associate Minister of Natural Gas Minister of Justice Jason Luan, Associate Minister of Mental Tyler Shandro, Minister of Health Health and Addictions Rick McIver, Minister of Transportation Tanya Fir, Minister of Economic Other key appointments include: Development, Trade and Tourism Muhammad Yaseen, Parliamentary Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Education Secretary of Immigration Travis Toews, Minister of Finance Jason Nixon, House Leader Jason Nixon, Minister of Environment and Doug Schweitzer, Deputy House Leader Parks Ric McIver, Deputy House Leader Devin Dresden, Minister of Agriculture and Sonya Savage, Deputy House Leader Forestry Mike Ellis, Whip Sonya Savage, Minister of Energy Joseph Schow, Deputy Whip Rajan Sawhney, Minister of Community and Social Services Following the swearing-in of the new UCP Josephine Pon, Minister of Seniors and cabinet, the Government of Alberta also Housing announced the corresponding appointments Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Children's of new Deputy Ministers and Cabinet senior Services officials to support the incoming band of Rick Wilson, Minister of Indigenous Relations Ministers. THE NEW ALBERTA GOVERNMENT The full release, including biographies, can be Bev Yee, Environment and Parks, Deputy found here. Minister Lorna Rosen, Health, Deputy Minister Their names, and corresponding roles, are Donavon Young, Indigenous Relations, Deputy below: Minister Shannon Flint, Infrastructure, Deputy Ray Gilmour, Executive Council, Deputy Minister Minister and Secretary to Cabinet Philip Bryden, Justice and Solicitor General, Coleen Volk, Executive Council, Associate Deputy Minister Deputy Minister and Deputy Minister, Dennis Cooley, Justice and Solicitor General, Operations and Intergovernmental Relations Associate Deputy Minister Mark Cameron, Executive Council-Policy Shawn McLeod, Labour and Immigration, Coordination Office, Deputy Minister Deputy Minister Chris McPherson, Executive Council Deputy Meryl Whittaker, Municipal Affairs, Deputy Clerk and Deputy Secretary to Cabinet Minister Rod Skura, Advanced Education, Deputy Tim Grant, Public Service Commission, Minister Deputy Minister and Public Service Andre Corbould, Agriculture and Forestry, Commissioner Deputy Minister Susan Taylor, Seniors and Housing, Deputy Darlene Bouwsema, Children’s Services, Minister Deputy Minister Cynthia Farmer, Service Alberta, Deputy Corey Hogan, Communications and Public Minister Engagement, Managing Director Andre Tremblay, Transportation, Deputy Shannon Marchand, Community and Social Minister Services, Deputy Minister Athana Mentzelopoulos, Treasury Board Lora Pillipow, Culture, Multiculturalism and and Finance, Deputy Minister Status of Women, Deputy Minister Jason Krips, Economic Development, Trade and Tourism, Deputy Minister Curtis Clarke, Education, Deputy Minister Grant Sprague, Energy, Deputy Minister David James, Natural Gas, Associate Deputy Minister THE NEW ALBERTA GOVERNMENT How will they govern? Make no mistake, Jason Kenney is in charge. By instinct and through on-the-job training received under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Premier Kenney will set the general direction for all ministries, but for some ministries he will go beyond that. He has appointed his most skilled, experienced and/or accomplished MLAs to run the key files, but they will all have Jason Kenney looking over their shoulders. As the government’s chief spokesperson, Premier Kenney must defend decisions the government makes. He will work closely with senior ministers to ensure the tactical decisions are defensible and move him closer to his goal of jumpstarting the Alberta economy. Credit: Teri Fikowski CTV News THE NEW ALBERTA GOVERNMENT Style It would be a mistake to assume that Premier Kenney will continue to be the political pugilist that we saw in the campaign. His history and recent statements indicate he is more likely to try diplomacy and persuasion to move along files like pipelines, equalization and carbon-pricing. These things are somewhat or completely beyond his direct control. He’ll need the more nuanced approach for domestic files such as healthcare and education, the two biggest and most contentious. Making progress on all files will require negotiation and the ability to sense when a carrot is more effective than a stick. Early and Easy Wins Getting people back to work, especially in the oil and gas sector, is a major priority for this government. To do that, companies need the confidence to start spending and investing again. Reducing the corporate tax rate will help profitable companies and will encourage new investment, but some of the lowest hanging fruit lies in reducing unnecessary regulations. Regulations can be changed quickly, without having to introduce new legislation. The Premier has asked Grant Hunter to be the Associate Minister of Red Tape Reduction. We expect he will be under significant pressure to produce results quickly and to send a signal to investors that “open for business” is more than just a slogan. Attracting Investment Premier Kenney and his senior ministers are also expected to spend considerable time wooing investors, in Alberta, across Canada and around the world. The size of his victory and his two-year track-record of talking up oil and gas will only help improve business confidence. Much of his outreach to date has been to small and medium sized oil and gas firms. He has also had discussions with large oil sands producers, but the biggest firms have fallen from favour because of their support for the previous government’s carbon tax. That said, the biggest companies drive much of Alberta’s economy. The new government will continue discussions with them, but it will take time to thaw the frosty relationships. New investments in Alberta will go a long way to making things better. THE NEW ALBERTA GOVERNMENT The Merit System One of the reasons that the previous Progressive Conservative government came under criticism was because it was viewed as being too clubby. The perception was that business, political staff, MLAs and ministers sat in backrooms and cut deals based as much on favours and friendships as on the merits of a proposal. That will not be the style of the new government. Premier Kenney’s entire history is one of working with whomever brings solutions to the table while brushing off bad ideas or those who come seeking favours. Proposals need to be well researched and reasoned to get a hearing with the new premier, whether coming from stakeholders, or cabinet and caucus. Premier Kenney has high standards for himself and his team. We won’t be surprised therefore, if he quickly moves ministers and staff, replacing those who are not making progress with up and comers. The Pace of Change We expect that the pace will be set early. There will be no significant lull now that a cabinet is in place. Premier Kenney will expect his entire team to work hard through the spring and summer and into the fall legislative session. He will want early deliverables and significant improvement in outcomes for every ministry. His record as a federal minister and as the UCP pleader to date suggests he will work to make progress on files as quickly and efficiently as possible. Whether he can succeed at that pace in an entirely new arena remains to be seen. The UCP Platform Commitments Premier Kenney and the UCP set out an ambitious set of campaign and platform commitments during the March 19 to April 16 writ-period. The Premier and his team of Ministers will have to work diligently to deliver on these commitments for Albertans if they are to maintain their high- level of support over the coming months and years. Key commitments from the UCP platform are below. THE NEW ALBERTA GOVERNMENT “Back to Work” Platform • Bill 1: The Carbon Tax Repeal Act will scrap the NDP’s $1.4 billion tax on everything, create 6,000 jobs, and allow Alberta families and job creators to keep more of their own money. • The Job Creation Tax Cut will lower the tax burden on employers from 12% to 8%, creating 55,000 jobs and growing our economy by $12.7 billion. • Bill 2: The Open for Business Act will give Alberta’s workers more freedom, restore their right to a secret ballot, and bring balance back to Alberta’s labour laws to get job creators investing in Alberta again. • The Red Tape Reduction Action Plan will cut red tape by one-third to reduce costs and speed up approvals, freeing job creators to get more Albertans back to work. • The Farm Freedom and Safety Act will repeal and replace Bill 6. We will listen to farmers, ranchers, and agriculture workers that the NDP ignored to let our farmers grow again. • Building Public Infrastructure to support services like health care and education. • A Plan to Re-energize Oil and Gas that will speed up approvals, cut red tape, unblock natural gas shipments, and support LNG exports. • Implementing the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Fund to achieve real greenhouse gas emission reductions while encouraging investment across industries. • A Plan for Lower Power Prices that ensures Alberta’s electricity market is affordable for consumers and job creators and produces market-driven green energy. • Job Creation in Alberta’s Tourism sector will come from a stable and predictable funding formula for Travel Alberta that links its funding and performance to tourism industry outcomes as a whole.