Wednesday, March 12, 2008

A pre-fabricated Cabinet that looks a lot like our old kitchen

Premier Stelmach has announced his new Cabinet. And here it is:

Premier Ed Stelmach
(Fort Saskatchewan -Vegreville)

President of Executive Council

Deputy Premier Ron Stevens (Calgary-Glenmore)

International and Intergovernmental Relations

Lloyd Snelgrove (Vermilion-Lloydminster)

Treasury Board

Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert)

Advanced Education and Technology

David Hancock (Edmonton-Whitemud)

Education

Mel Knight (Grande Prairie-Smoky)

Energy

Iris Evans (Sherwood Park)

Finance and Enterprise

Ron Liepert (Calgary-West)

Health and Wellness

Rob Renner (Medicine Hat)

Environment

Luke Ouellette (Innisfail-Sylvan Lake)

Transportation

Gene Zwozdesky (Edmonton-Mill Creek)

Aboriginal Relations

Alison Redford (Calgary-Elbow)

Justice and Attorney General

George Groeneveld (Highwood)

Agriculture and Rural Development

Janis Tarchuk (Banff-Cochrane)

Children and Youth Services

Mary Anne Jablonski (Red Deer-North)

Seniors and Community Supports

Hector Goudreau (Dunvegan-Central Peace)

Employment and Immigration

Ted Morton (Foothills-Rocky View)

Sustainable Resource Development

Fred Lindsay (Stony Plain)

Solicitor General and Public Security

Ray Danyluk (Lac La Biche-St. Paul)

Municipal Affairs

Jack Hayden (Drumheller-Stettler)

Infrastructure

Yvonne Fritz (Calgary-Cross)

Housing and Urban Affairs

Lindsay Blackett (Calgary-North West)

Culture and Community Spirit

Cindy Ady (Calgary-Shaw)

Tourism, Parks and Recreation

Heather Klimchuk (Edmonton-Glenora)

Service Alberta


All in all I have to say this is a pretty good looking group. Some new names I like here are Alison Redford as the Attorney General and Lindsay Blackett in the newly formed Culture and Community Spirit. Other interesting things of note include Ron Stevens staying on as Deputy Premier while adding the soon to be demanding Intergovernmental Affairs portfolio, as well as Ted Morton and Ray Danyluk maintaining their previous portfolios. Stelmach must have thought Cindy Ady and Yvonne Fritz were doing a pretty good job for the past few months too. I also find it "interesting" Rob Renner held onto Environment and Mel Knight did the same for Energy. This should say to the rest of Canada Alberta is staying the course on oil sands development for sure. Really there aren't too many changes here even though the caucus is much larger.

And although The Enlightened Savage warned against doing this kind of an analysis, I can't help myself. Mainly because I disagree with him and I think it is important to have gender, race and geographical balance around every table. (While having the most qualified as well, of course. Call me a dreamer...)

So here is my hastily put together analysis. Feel free to poke holes in it or complain about my math. Either way this gives you a good idea as to the composition of Stelmach's new Cabinet.

Percentages (#)

of Alberta

of PC MLAs

of Cabinet

Women

49.9

19.4 (14)

29.2 (6)

Visible Minority

18.9

13.9 (10)

4.2 (1)

Calgary

32.8

25.0 (18)

25.0 (6)

Edmonton

31.5

20.8 (15)

16.7 (4)

Small City/Rural

35.7

54.2 (39)

58.3 (14)


And I have to say that even on these grounds I think he did a pretty darn good job balancing everything out. Sure there are some areas that seem a little short but few complaints should be lodged. On with the work of the government...

Speaking of which: here are the changes to the portfolios from the previous Cabinet. (Thanks Office of Public Affairs!)

Aboriginal Relations

Responsible for Aboriginal affairs.

Also responsible for the Metis Settlements Appeals Tribunal, the Metis Settlements Ombudsman and the First Nations Development Fund.

Advanced Education and Technology

Maintains current functions.

Agriculture and Rural Development

Maintains current functions and adds responsibility for rural development.

Children and Youth Services

Maintains current functions.

Culture and Community Spirit

Responsible for culture, community development, the voluntary sector, museums and heritage sites.
Also responsible for Human Rights and Citizenship Commission; Human Rights Citizenship and Multiculturalism Fund; Foundation for the Arts; Alberta Historical Resources Foundation; Wild Rose Foundation; and Government House Foundation.

Education

Maintains current functions.

Employment and Immigration

Maintains current functions with the exceptions of rural and economic development.

Energy

Maintains current functions.

Environment

Maintains current functions.

Executive Council

Maintains current functions.

Finance and Enterprise

Maintains current functions and adds responsibility for the Regulatory Review Secretariat; the Alberta Economic Development Authority; and the Northern Alberta Development Council.

Health and Wellness

Maintains current functions.

Housing and Urban Affairs

Responsible for housing services including the Alberta Social Housing Corporation and the Homelessness Secretariat.

Infrastructure

Responsible for infrastructure planning, and building and managing government-owned infrastructure. Also responsible for the administration of water/wastewater and other municipal infrastructure grants and the Natural Gas Rebate Program.

International and Intergovernmental Relations

Maintains current functions with the exception of Aboriginal relations. Adds responsibility for investment attraction.

Justice and Attorney General

Maintains current functions.

Municipal Affairs

Maintains current functions with the exceptions of housing and the responsibility for the voluntary sector.

Seniors and Community Supports

Maintains current functions.

Service Alberta

Maintains current functions with the exception of the Regulatory Review Secretariat.

Solicitor General and Public Security

Maintains current functions.

Sustainable Resource Development

Maintains current functions.

Tourism, Parks and Recreation

Maintains current functions with the exceptions of culture and community development, museums, heritage sites, and reporting entities now in Culture and Community Spirit, as well as the First Nations Development Fund now in Aboriginal Relations.

Transportation

Responsible for planning, building and managing the provincial highway network, including the administration of municipal transportation grants.
Also responsible for the Transportation Safety Board.

Treasury Board

Maintains current functions.

7 comments:

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Enlightened Savage said...

dj: You're forgiven. But, you DO owe me a beer. ;)

- ES

Anonymous said...

you numbers are off. You use the greater edmonton and calgary area for the population but not for the cabinet post or pc mlas. The population of the cities of Edmonton and Calgary is just over 50% without the exurban areas around them that make up around 14% of the provinces population. That area has several ministers like the premier ed stelmach and Ted Morton would be from the greater edmonton/calgary area but are counted under the small city/rural ridings and cabinet numbers

DJ Kelly said...

Chad,
You are correct in noticing I suck at math and at research. As I said this was a quick analysis and the numbers for the city populations should be fixed (lowered).