The new voice and new management of the province includes MLA Jeff Johnson.
Johnson, the representative for Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater, remains in the cabinet fold in the re-created Ministry of Seniors.
Johnson was sworn in along with his other cabinet colleagues at a ceremony on Monday, where Jim Prentice was also sworn in as the new Premier of Alberta.
In the previous cabinet of Dec. 2013, the Seniors portfolio was contained under the Ministry of Health. It had been a separate government department back in 2012 when Whitecourt-Ste. Anne MLA George VanderBerg was the Minister of Seniors and Community Supports.
Johnson’s former Education ministry went to someone who is not an elected member of the Alberta Legislature.
Gordon Dirks, who is a former chair of the Calgary Board of Education and was a cabinet minister in the Saskatchewan Conservative government from 1982 to 1985, takes over that role.
With Johnson’s new ministry having been resurrected, it isn’t immediately clear exactly what he will be responsible for or what programs or services his ministry will look after.
Premier Prentice downsized cabinet to 16 ministers and three associate ministers. He also kept two portfolios for himself – Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Ministry of International and Intergovernmental Relations.
In addition to bringing in Dirks, the new Premier made another controversial move by selecting former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel to handle the Ministry of Health as a non-elected member of his cabinet.
Other high profile cabinet moves included naming West Yellowhead MLA Robin Campbell as Finance Minister, giving the Infrastructure ministry to Calgary-Greenway MLA Manmeet Bhullar, putting leadership rival and Calgary Hays MLA Ric McIver in charge of the Jobs, Skills and Training ministry, and handing Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock MLA Maureen Kubinec the Culture and Tourism ministry.
