Premier Brad Wall has made a major reorganization of his inner circle.
The number of cabinet ministers remains the same at 18, but that is about the only thing that has not changed.
Seven previous cabinet ministers are gone, three new members were added to cabinet and a new mega portfolio has been created.
It is called the Ministry of the Economy and it will be headed up by veteran cabinet minister Bill Boyd.
The premier says the ministry will chart the economic growth of the province.
The new Ministry of the Economy brings together a number of economic functions of the government — including employment, immigration, trade, energy and resources.
Tim McMillan takes over from Boyd as the new Energy and Resources Minister, which is now under the Economy Ministry.
Jim Reiter is the new Minister responsible for First Nations, Metis and Northern Affairs, taking over from Ken Cheveldayoff, who is now the Environment Minister.
Reiter says he feels up to the job:
“Well I think probably the big thing is enthusiasm. I’m really looking forward to getting into this file. In the last three years in the Ministry of Highways, I’ve met with a number of chiefs around the province — so I have some contacts already and I’m just looking forward to getting started.”
Former Environment Minister Dustin Duncan becomes the new Minister of Health.
Russ Marchuk is now in charge of the Education portfolio.
Rob Norris, who had been Education and Immigration Minister, has been named Legislative Secretary to the Premier for First Nations Engagement.
The government is also combining the Ministry of Justice with Corrections and Policing.
RCMP commissioner Russ Mirasty says he knows this may put a slight change on things, but it shouldn’t affect matters drastically:
“Well, there may be some changes, structurally, but certainly I focus on what we need to do. The government will do what it has to in terms of creating different structures or hopefully more efficient structures and we’re there to work with them.”
Meantime, Mirasty says he doesn’t expect his officers to be any busier because of the Harper government’s so-called “tough on crime” legislation.
He says the legislation primarily focuses on the court process facing the offender — so from his perspective, it shouldn’t affect the number of arrests.
Meanwhile, the city of Prince Albert is losing its police chief.
Dale McFee was named today as the new Deputy Minister of Corrections and Policing with the province.
He has served nine years as the city’s police chief, and was also recently named as the head of police chiefs in Canada.
The city says it will begin pondering a replacement for him soon.