It is hard to keep track of all the changes in Alberta Politics in the last month, but one thing that has remained is MLA for Drumheller-Stettler Nate Horner will continue to oversee agriculture.
Premier Danielle Smith had her new cabinet sworn in last week, and Horner was made Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation.
This is a change from his former portfolio as Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Rural Economic Development, a position he held since November 2021. He is happy to be back in cabinet.
“You want to have a seat at that table. It would be hard to not be there after being there, and I very much appreciate the opportunity to keep working on the agriculture file,” said Horner. “I am optimistic.”
The new position streamlines Horner’s focus on agriculture and the importance of the ministry.
“It was a big file, having Rural Economic Development first and then having ag and forestry, there were a lot of moving parts. I appreciated my time in forestry, it is a very important industry in the province, but I feel like those stakeholders will probably appreciate having their own minster as well,” said Horner. "It will give more time to specialize and focus on agriculture, and they also highlighted irrigation as an important piece of agriculture going forward in Alberta.”
Going forward, the party is focused on unity, and Horner has offered to help as Premier Smith campaigns for a seat in the neighbouring riding of Brooks- Medicine Hat.
“I said I would help out as much as I can, especially in the Brooks Bassano area I know fairly well. I grew up an hour from there, and have a fair amount of contacts. I want to come to show my support and answer any questions that people have of me…we want to show the rural we are on the same team.”
He is excited to continue his work.
“I think the ag file has been an important part of our first three years, and that is going to continue under this leadership group and Premier Smith. I am excited to be in the chair I'm in and have more ability to do some of those big things,” said Horner. “We put a lot of time and effort into determining where Alberta sits relative to other jurisdictions around us on a competitive scale when it comes to attracting those big agri-food and ag processing investments. The work has been done, and now I just have to see if I have support at cabinet with the Premier to maybe sweeten the pot to make it easier to land some of these investments.”