Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken has been appointed as the chair of the Alberta First cabinet policy committee, a role he said he is excited to take on in today’s political environment.
In a May 26 announcement, Premier Danielle Smith set the new policy committees, which are the “first-eyes” for proposals from ministers on legislative or regulatory changes before they go to cabinet for review.
“I enjoy working on these files and there’s a lot of information that comes forward on the different files,” said van Dijken.
“It’s important work to try and ensure that the products coming forward to cabinet have seen initial review by committees.”
In his role as chair, van Dijken will be responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of the committee, which meets every two weeks. The role is largely administrative, with van Dijken communicating with policy staff to build the agendas, as well as deciding who presents on topics. This will be his first time on the Alberta First committee previously sitting as a private member on Economic Development.
Alberta has seven policy review committees, each with different ministers. The Alberta First committee includes: Premier Danielle Smith, Minister of Finance Nate Horner, Minister of Energy and Minerals Brian Jean, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade, and Immigration Joseph Schow, Minister of Justice Mickey Amery, and the Associate Minister of Water Grant Hunter.
van Dijken is also joined by private members — the term for MLAs who don’t have a cabinet position — Airdrie-East MLA Angela Pitt and Red Deer-South MLA Jason Stephan, who was newly appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
There’s a lot of titles and portfolios on the committee, but they all oversee political realms that can overlap with Ottawa, a fact that drew van Dijken to the committee.
“I feel that we’re at a critical time of ensuring Alberta’s role in the country continues to be upheld and constitutional rights are respected,” he said in a May 30 interview.
The other five policy review committees are called building communities, public safety and wellness, legislative review, the treasury board, and productivity review.
Of all the questions van Dijken fields from constituents, he said the most common might be around the interactions between the federal and provincial government.
“I tell them that our mandate as the elected government of Alberta is to essentially stand up for the constitutional rights laid out in the constitution of Canada. It’s very similar to how the municipal government is to stand up for their rights and their position, and to ensure that they’re treated fairly within the province.”
