Overview
- Finance Minister Nate Horner and Hospitals Minister Matt Jones announced on May 20 that they will step down from cabinet and will not seek re-election in October 2027.
- Both ministers said they will remain in the legislature as backbench United Conservative MLAs until the next election to support an orderly transition.
- Horner said he and Premier Danielle Smith agreed the election-year budget should be built by a cabinet member who plans to run again, and he leaves after serving as finance minister since 2023 and delivering multiple provincial budgets.
- Jones, who was named minister in charge of hospitals in 2025, leaves after presiding over a period of strained emergency care that included a fatality inquiry and an Alberta Health Services investigation into a recent hospital death.
- Opposition leader Naheed Nenshi questioned whether the timing relates to recent public comments by the ministers opposing the premier’s referendum plan, and Smith will swear in a new cabinet on Thursday with implications for health oversight and the fiscal agenda.