Danielle Smith Names Jason Nixon Alberta Finance Minister

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a significant cabinet shuffle Thursday, appointing veteran legislator Jason Nixon as the province’s new finance minister. The changes follow the resignations of two senior ministers earlier this week.

Finance Minister Nate Horner and Hospitals Minister Matt Jones announced Wednesday they were stepping down from cabinet after deciding not to seek re-election in the provincial election slated for October 2027. Both will remain as backbench members of the legislature. In his resignation letter, Horner stated that he and the premier agreed it was important for the election-year budget to be prepared by a minister planning to run again. Jones said he requested to step back to allow for an orderly transition ahead of the vote.

Nixon, who has served in the legislature for over a decade and was most recently the minister of social services, takes over the finance portfolio. He inherits a budget situation heavily influenced by volatile global oil prices, which have been affected by international conflict. The most recent fiscal plan forecast a deficit of $9.4 billion, the largest since the COVID-19 pandemic, though some analysts have noted that...