Premier Alison Redford continued her promise to bring change to government with some surprise appointments and changes to the cabinet she announced on Tuesday, starting with first-term MLA Stephen Khan being named minister for advanced education and enterprise. It’s not often a first-term MLA gets a cabinet post, but it is in keeping with Redford’s thinking.
After her leadership win last fall she made several changes to cabinet, such as naming then first-term MLA Dianna McQueen as minister for environment.
Khan’s appointment maybe shouldn’t be that big of a surprise. He’s young for a politician (45), bright and articulate, a solid family man and someone who was taught valuable life lessons. His father worked as a truck driver to support his mother while she completed her teaching degree and she, in turn, taught school and supported his father as he completed a bachelor of commerce degree.
So Khan understands the value of hard work and humility – all attributes Redford undoubtedly wants her newly-minted government to represent. Khan’s appointment emphasizes Redford’s eagerness to dissociate herself and her party from the old boys’ network.
If he does a good job with advanced education and enterprise, you can be certain St. Albert will continue to enjoy being represented by a cabinet minister in future PC governments (assuming the PCs continue their string of election victories) as Khan will almost certainly move up the ranks.
And Khan helps to bring a balance to a cabinet that will have a good mixture of youth and veterans, which should create a combination of creativity and forward-thinking along with the more traditional conservative philosophy of the long-time MLAs.
Tuesday’s appointments give St. Albert three cabinet ministers: Khan, who represents the St. Albert riding; Doug Horner, MLA for Spruce Grove-St. Albert; and Thomas Lukaszuk, MLA for Edmonton-Castledowns, who lives in St. Albert.
Horner loses his post as deputy premier to Lukaszuk– who gives up the difficult and controversial education portfolio – but remains head of finance and the treasury board.
So what does it all mean for St. Albert, a relatively small community to have three citizens sitting in government’s inner circle?
On the surface, it’s great to have the ear of government with three people speaking, and all with different voices. Horner is the political veteran with insight and experience. Khan is the newcomer with new ideas, although his influence will likely be limited because of his inexperience. And Lukaszuk is ambitious and driven.
But the reality is government decisions are supposed to be made for the betterment of the entire province, not just one constituency or one community. Although governments have often influenced voters near election time by promising new hospitals or schools or other financial gains for individual towns or regions – and the Alberta PCs have certainly been guilty of that often enough – we shouldn’t be thinking that St. Albert will suddenly have all its wishes come true.
However, important projects like the continuation of Ray Gibbon Drive and the expansion of the Villeneuve Airport just might get more attention.
