Alberta Premier Danielle Smith appoints 24 ministers to new cabinet

Premier Danielle Smith has named 24 of her 49-member caucus to serve on a cabinet that is dominated by men and lacks diversity. 

The swearing-in ceremony was held Friday at Government House in Edmonton. The new cabinet is made up entirely of MLAs who served at least one term in the legislature. 

"Together we'll form a government that will listen to all voices and represent all Albertans," Smith said at a news conference after her new ministers were sworn in. 

Albertans elected 48 United Conservative candidates to the 87-seat legislature on May 29. The rest of the house will be made up of 38 NDP MLAs and one independent candidate. 

Nate Glubish, Dale Nally, Devin Dreeshen and Rick Wilson were reinstated to their respective portfolios. Searle Turton (Children and Family Services), RJ Sigurdson (Agriculture and Irrigation) and Dan Williams (Mental Health and Addictions) were appointed to cabinet for the first time.

Nine of the new members of cabinet are from Calgary. The cabinet has only five women — Smith, Rebecca Schulz, Tanya Fir, Rajan Sawhney and Adriana LaGrange. 

The cabinet also has only three ministers from diverse backgrounds: Sawhney, who is of South Asian descent and is fluent in Punjabi; Muhammad Yaseen, also of South Asian descent and fluent in Urdu and Punjabi; and Mickey Amery, who is Lebanese-Canadian. Yaseen and Amery are Muslim and Sawhney is Sikh. 

LaGrange, who served as education minister for the entire four years of the UCP's last mandate, moves into Health, the largest portfolio in government. LaGrange is a past president of Red Deer Pro-Life, an anti-abortion group. 

Smith, herself, has publicly stated that she is pro-choice. She repeated that position on Friday. She said LaGrange will be focused on solving problems in the health-care system like a shortage of family doctors and wait times for EMS, surgeries and the ER. 

"We will not be changing any laws regarding a woman's right to choose," Smith said. 

 Autumn Reinhardt-Simpson, founder of the Alberta Abortion Access Network, said LaGrange's appointment to Health is "concerning" given her history as an anti-abortion activist. 

Reinhardt-Simpson said she isn't reassured by Smith's statement because the situation could change if Smith is pushed out of office by factions within the UCP. She said the government could limit access to abortion before taking any legal action.

Reinhardt-Simpson is also concerned that Dan Williams is now a member of cabinet. He introduced a private member's bill in 2019 that would have meant health-care providers couldn't be sued or sanctioned for refusing to provide a service that goes against their moral beliefs. The bill was ultimately rejected by an all-party committee of the legislature.

"It just seems like people that have had an axe to grind against a full complement of health-care services are now being given a bit more sway," Reinhardt-Simpson said.