EDMONTON — A handful of Alberta cabinet ministers were noticeably absent from Premier Alison Redford’s swearing-in ceremony Friday, among them Finance Minister Lloyd Snelgrove and Energy Minister Ron Liepert.
Both men have made critical comments about Redford or her ideas in the past few days, leading to speculation about whether they will be in her cabinet or plan to leave politics.
Snelgrove in particular removed most of the uncertainty about his cabinet prospects when he told the Lloydminster Meridian Booster that he would not accept an offer from Redford and didn’t expect to get one.
“I am pretty certain that I won’t be in cabinet. I didn’t support Ms. Redford and I don’t support much of what she had to do (in the election),” Snelgrove said in comments published Friday.
“The premier has to put people in cabinet who are fully behind some of their promises, so I don’t have any illusions about being asked to go in cabinet.”
Snelgrove, who supported Gary Mar during the recent Tory leadership contest, said he wasn’t sure if he would run for re-election. He expressed concern about the low voter turnout in the leadership race, saying he found it “troubling” that only one-per-cent of the province picked Redford as the new premier.
Snelgrove was not seen at Friday’s swearing-in, and he could not be reached for comment.
Also absent and unreachable was Liepert, who made headlines earlier in the week by publicly challenging Redford’s promise to hold a judicial inquiry into allegations of political coercion in the health system.
“I don’t think Ron Liepert called her out. I think what Ron mentioned was his opinion around a particular decision,” said Doug Horner, who has been named by Redford as deputy premier. “I read the articles, too, and I think there was a bit of a push there for him to say something from a controversial perspective.”
Another notable absence Friday was Ted Morton, the former finance minister who competed against Redford in the leadership contest. A spokesman from his legislature office said he spent 15 minutes with Redford in the morning to wish her well, but then had to depart on a personal matter.
Environment Minister Rob Renner was also among the missing. A spokesman for the department said he was out of province on a previously scheduled appointment.
House Leader Dave Hancock said that while he hadn’t seen Snelgrove’s comments, there was no indication of serious tension among MLAs. “I don’t think there’s any problem with the solidarity of the caucus behind the new leader,” he said.
“There is bound to be a little tension, but the question is how fast can you overcome it,” added Doug Griffiths, another former PC leadership candidate. “There will always be some people who aren’t happy, but I wouldn’t read too much into their absence.”
Griffiths is likely to be included when Redford’s cabinet is announced and sworn in Wednesday. The premier is expected to make phone calls to the chosen MLAs over the weekend. Griffiths was asked if education might be a good fit for him, considering he was a teacher prior to entering politics.
“They sometimes put a farmer in agriculture and I don’t know if we’ve ever had a teacher in education,” he said. “So maybe that would be valuable, or maybe it would be more challenging in some circumstances to make changes because you have a certain alliance to the people you have worked with before.”
Both men have made critical comments about Redford or her ideas in the past few days, leading to speculation about whether they will be in her cabinet or plan to leave politics.
Snelgrove in particular removed most of the uncertainty about his cabinet prospects when he told the Lloydminster Meridian Booster that he would not accept an offer from Redford and didn’t expect to get one.
“I am pretty certain that I won’t be in cabinet. I didn’t support Ms. Redford and I don’t support much of what she had to do (in the election),” Snelgrove said in comments published Friday.
“The premier has to put people in cabinet who are fully behind some of their promises, so I don’t have any illusions about being asked to go in cabinet.”
Snelgrove, who supported Gary Mar during the recent Tory leadership contest, said he wasn’t sure if he would run for re-election. He expressed concern about the low voter turnout in the leadership race, saying he found it “troubling” that only one-per-cent of the province picked Redford as the new premier.
Snelgrove was not seen at Friday’s swearing-in, and he could not be reached for comment.
Also absent and unreachable was Liepert, who made headlines earlier in the week by publicly challenging Redford’s promise to hold a judicial inquiry into allegations of political coercion in the health system.
“I don’t think Ron Liepert called her out. I think what Ron mentioned was his opinion around a particular decision,” said Doug Horner, who has been named by Redford as deputy premier. “I read the articles, too, and I think there was a bit of a push there for him to say something from a controversial perspective.”
Another notable absence Friday was Ted Morton, the former finance minister who competed against Redford in the leadership contest. A spokesman from his legislature office said he spent 15 minutes with Redford in the morning to wish her well, but then had to depart on a personal matter.
Environment Minister Rob Renner was also among the missing. A spokesman for the department said he was out of province on a previously scheduled appointment.
House Leader Dave Hancock said that while he hadn’t seen Snelgrove’s comments, there was no indication of serious tension among MLAs. “I don’t think there’s any problem with the solidarity of the caucus behind the new leader,” he said.
“There is bound to be a little tension, but the question is how fast can you overcome it,” added Doug Griffiths, another former PC leadership candidate. “There will always be some people who aren’t happy, but I wouldn’t read too much into their absence.”
Griffiths is likely to be included when Redford’s cabinet is announced and sworn in Wednesday. The premier is expected to make phone calls to the chosen MLAs over the weekend. Griffiths was asked if education might be a good fit for him, considering he was a teacher prior to entering politics.
“They sometimes put a farmer in agriculture and I don’t know if we’ve ever had a teacher in education,” he said. “So maybe that would be valuable, or maybe it would be more challenging in some circumstances to make changes because you have a certain alliance to the people you have worked with before.”
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