New Ministers and New Titles: Cabinet Shuffle 2025
In the early morning hours of May 15th, the spring sitting of the Legislature concluded. All government-sponsored bills have been read a third time, leading us to believe that the first session of the 31st legislature will officially come to an end before MLAs return to the Assembly in the fall.
The first session has run longer than most typically do. This is in large part because of stipulations in the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act “that a commission be appointed during the first session of the legislature, following the second general election after the commission’s last appointment and if at least 8 years has passed since the previous commission.”
As the Electoral Boundaries Commission was struck on March 28, 2025, the government may legally begin a new session, if they so choose. This would result in a clearing of the Order Paper and a fresh throne speech when MLAs return to the Legislature at the end of October.
Regardless of whether or not the current session will be prorogued over the summer, one fact remains true – there will be a new look Cabinet in place when MLAs return to the Legislature.
On Friday afternoon, Premier Danielle Smith and numerous MLAs joined her in Calgary’s McDougall Centre for a swearing-in ceremony that welcomed three new members of cabinet and new titles for a number of current ministers.
The shuffle was initiated by the resignation of Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver who has recently been elected Speaker of the Assembly. He takes over for MLA Nathan Cooper who will soon resign his seat to serve as Alberta’s special envoy to the United States. This resignation will be effective sometime in June and will likely trigger three simultaneous by-elections across the province.
New members of cabinet include Myles McDougall, Andrew Boitchenko, and Grant Hunter (who will also serve as the new Chief Government Whip).
Minister of Advanced Education, Myles McDougall
Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services, Matt Jones
Minister of Indigenous Relations, Rajan Sawhney
Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade, and Immigration, Joseph Schow
Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, Rick Wilson
Minister of Education and Childcare, Demetrios Nicolaides
Minister of Municipal Affairs, Dan Williams
Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services, Jason Nixon
Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services, Adriana LaGrange
Minister of Tourism and Sport, Andrew Boitchenko
Associate Minister of Multiculturalism, Muhammad Yaseen
Associate Minister of Water, Grant Hunter (will also serve as the Chief Government Whip)
There are a lot of things to takeaway from this most recent shuffle, so let’s break it down into some smaller parts.
Old and New Faces in New Places
As mentioned earlier, Andrew Boitchenko and Myles McDougall are making their Cabinet debuts with this most recent shuffle. McDougall will take over Advanced Education while Boitchenko will now be responsible for tourism and sport. Boitchenko’s promotion to cabinet is a move that has long been rumoured, but McDougall’s elevation comes as a bit more of a surprise as his name had not been heavily circulated in previous shuffle rumours.
Rajan Sawhney becomes the second-ever Minister of Indigenous Relations as a result of Rick Wilson being shuffled into Mental Health and Addictions. Finally, Minister Dan Williams has been moved into Municipal Affairs and will oversee the ministry as the upcoming Edmonton and Calgary pilot municipal parties in an election for the first time at the direction of now-Speaker Ric McIver.
Ministr(ies) of Health
Perhaps the most obvious change in the Premier’s shuffle last week is a massive departure from the norm of running the province’s health matters from a single ministry. While the names would suggest there are two health ministries (Primary and Preventative Health Services/Hospital and Surgical Health Services), it is more accurate to say that there are actually four ministries of health to align with the four new pillars created by this UCP Government.
· Health: Primary Care and Preventative Services – Primary Care Alberta
· Health: Hospital and Surgical Health Services – Acute Care Alberta
· Assisted Living and Social Services – Assisted Living Alberta
· Mental Health and Addictions – Recovery Alberta
While it is not yet definitively known if this is how the four health crown corporations will be structured with respect to reporting, it is likely going to be the case going forward.
For those working in and accessing Alberta’s health care space, such a dramatic change comes with numerous questions that will need to be addressed. How will information be shared between ministries/crown corporations? How will access be impacted? How will non-government entities tied to health care be impacted by the changes?
In defence of the restructuring of health, Premier Smith told media that “we’ve actually turned our hospitals into multi-purpose facilities and taken them away from their core job, which is to deal with emergencies and to efficiently make sure that people can get surgery and also do the convalescence there.”
Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi offered a pointed critique, telling media that "if you don't have a family doctor, if you're waiting for cancer care, if you have a friend or relative or a loved one who is in trouble with addictions and mental health, or if you have to drive by a closed emergency room to get to one, where you're waiting 15 hours, nothing announced today will help you.”
Other notable changes on the health file are the shuffling of three ministers. Minister Dan Williams is out of Mental Health and Addictions – now responsible for municipal affairs. Minister Matt Jones was promoted from Jobs, Economy, and Trade to be a minister of health while Minister Rick Wilson was subject to his first shuffle since joining cabinet.
Restructured Ministries
In addition to health, other ministries have seen some changes made that are important to highlight.
First, the Immigration portfolio has been joined with Jobs, Economy, and Trade under the purview of Minister Joseph Schow. The file had previously formed part of its own ministry with multiculturalism, but has been divided in this shuffle. Minister Muhammed Yaseen will remain in charge of Multiculturalism which has been converted to an associate ministry.
Speaking of associate ministries, this shuffle ushered in the creation of the Associate Ministry of Water, which will be headed by Grant Hunter. Typically, most things related to water management fell under the Environment portfolio.
Childcare has been added to the Ministry of Education and will be taken over by Minister Nicolaides. The file technically fell under the Ministry of Children’s Services but was largely run out of Jobs, Economy and Trade by Minister Jones for some time.
Finally, the other major change comes to Minister Jason Nixon’s ministry. Formerly known as Seniors, Community and Social Services will now operate as Assisted Living and Social Services.
