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Tuesday, December 12, 2006

daveberta lays it down...

So, here are my cabinet predictions. Keep in mind that we are not sure which Ministries will survive a predicted crunch. We now know that we will know the cabinet by this Thursday.

daveberta's Predictions on Stelmach PC Cabinet 2007

Aboriginal Affairs & Northern Development: Pearl Calahasen (Lesser Slave Lake)
Advanced Education (Incl. Innovation & Science): Lloyd Snelgrove (Vermilion-Lloydminster)
Agriculture & Rural Development: Luke Oullette (Innisfail-Sylvan Lake)
Children’s Services: Mary Anne Jablonski (Red Deer North)
Community Development: Gary Mar (Calgary Nose Hill)
Economic Development: Mel Knight (Grande Prairie-Smoky)
Energy: Greg Melchin (Calgary North West)
Environment (Incl. Sustainable Resource Dev.): Ted Morton (Foothills-Rockyview)
Finance: Dave Hancock (Edmonton Whitemud)
Government Services (Incl. RAGE): Harvey Cenaiko (Calgary Buffalo)*
Health and Wellness: Iris Evans (Sherwood Park)
Housing: Yvonne Fritz (Calgary Cross)
Human Resources & Employment: Rob Renner (Medicine Hat)
Infrastructure & Transportation: Ray Danyluk (Lac La Biche-St. Paul)
Intergovernmental & International Affairs: Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert)
Justice & Attorney General (Incl. Solicitor General): Ron Stevens (Calgary Glenmore)
Municipal Affairs: Lyle Oberg (Strathmore-Brooks)
Seniors: Clint Dunford (Lethbridge West)

As you can see from above, I don't think there will be a massive purge of senior Ministers as I would predict that Iris Evans, Ron Stevens, Pearl Calahasen, and Greg Melchin will all keep their jobs as "Steddy Eddie" wants to keep some semblance of stability and experience in his first cabinet while bringing in new faces like Ray Danyluk, Mel Knight, and Lloyd Snelgrove to prominant cabinet posts.

For the apparently valuable "Deputy Premier" position that the media seems to be fixated on as uber important, I would gander a prediction that Premier Stelmach will take the route of Prime Minister Harper and simply disolving the position of "Deputy" (which is only a symbolic title in reality).

(*I changed my prediction about Harvey Cenaiko...)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to see Boutilier get the "boot" in your opinion. What about Stevens as DP to keep Calgary happy.

If you are right on these the shift is north, new faces and proven talent.

Do you think Learning disappears? No position noted in your predictions.

New Ministry of Housing - clever - Fritz is the wrong person though - no skills for the job.

What talent does Snelgrove have to bring to Advanced Ed and Innovation?

"Brokeback Morton" in the environment will make it a battle ground when it needs a champion. That would be a disaster.

Anonymous said...

Daveberta:

Interesting that you predict a merger of Environment and SRD. Any basis for this prediction?

Anonymous said...

A merger of Environment and SRD is widely expected amongst the Environment staff I have talked with, so I think Daveberta has that one bang on.

There is no way that an ailing Clint Dunford will be given the Seniors ministry. Since rebranding it as "Seniors and Community Supports", the previous administration made this a HUGE ministry, as it now handles the high profile AISH program, along with AADL (Alberta Aids to Daily Living), PPD (Protection for Persons with Disabilities) and many other client facing programs that dole out various income assistance. The combination of all these programs has caused the Seniors ministry to balloon in size and cannot be handled by a minister that is MIA, as Mr. Dunford has been since he fell ill.

Anonymous said...

I suppose merging Environment and SRD is the government's idea of efficiency. Why have two understaffed departments without the resources to enforce their mandates when you can combine them into one understaffed department without the resources to enforce its mandate?

Anonymous said...

I think that you will see a lot more money headed into the new Environment portfolio, even if it does include a merger with SRD.

The PC's are smart enough to smell the political winds, which are now blowing in a "green" direction, and so they will make sure that their Environment team is given more resources and a far better leader than it is had up till now (Guy B was perhaps the worst minister of anything at anytime, ever... EVER).