Premier Jason Kenney announced a reset of Alberta’s cabinet on Aug. 25, to ensure a strong recovery from the COVID-19 recession.
“You have to choose the right people for the right job at the right time, and that’s what this is about,” Kenney said.
The conference board of Canada has projected that the province will have the most heavily hit economy in Canada this year, with an 11 per cent contraction of Alberta’s economy.
“From the very beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, we’ve said that Alberta is being hit especially hard with the double whammy of the global recession, and the collapse of energy prices, which has clobbered our largest industry,” Kenney said.
To aid in the recovery of Alberta’s economy, Minister Doug Schweitzer has been newly named the Minister of Jobs Economy and Innovation.
“Doug has done a great job at justice, leading important reforms to crack down on crime in our hard-hit rural communities, and has led many important aspects of the fight for fairness for Alberta standing up to Ottawa’s Carbon Tax, standing up to the no more pipelines Bill C-69, and so much more,” Kenney said.
“I’m confident he will bring the same passion and professionalism to his important new responsibility as Minister of Jobs Economy and Innovation,” he said.
Schweitzer will help coordinate the implementation of Alberta’s economic recovery plan with other ministers and ensure the implementation of sector strategies to ensure a strong future for the energy sector.
Kenney also welcomed Tracy Allard as the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
“Tracy has a lifetime of real-world business experience. Tracy really personifies the entrepreneurial culture of Alberta, and she will bring even more practical small and medium-sized business experience to the cabinet table,” Kenney said.
Allard will challenge municipal governments across Alberta to work with the provincial government to create jobs.
“It is critical that our municipal governments stop raising taxes, stop adding red tape that inhibits job creation, and focus with Alberta’s government on the overriding goal of economic growth, job creation, diversification, and competitiveness,” Kenney said.
Adding, “I can’t think of anybody better than a real job creator to lead that task.”
Kaycee Madu has been named the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, and provincial secretary for the province of Alberta.
Madu will continue to work on implementing reforms to the justice system.
“The fight for a fair deal, which Kaycee will be taking a critical role in overseeing is not separate from our focus on the economy, it reinforces our obsessive focus on jobs and the economy,” Kenney said.
“We cannot get Alberta’s economy firing on all cylinders as long as the federal government is hammering us, clobbering us, with policies that damage our resource industries. Fighting back against those policies and getting fiscal fairness through equalization and the fiscal stabilization program is a critical part of our strategy for a stronger and more prosperous Alberta,” he said.
Adding, “All three of these people have proven themselves both in caucus and cabinet to be people of extraordinary talent.”
