Cabinet shuffle won't save Jason Kenney from COVID-19 crisis in Alberta, critics say

Swapping Alberta's health minister out for a new face is unlikely to change the provincial government's approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic, observers say.

Critics say Premier Jason Kenney's decision on Tuesday to move Calgary-Acadia MLA Tyler Shandro from health to labour and immigration minister, and Calgary-Varsity MLA Jason Copping into health, will do nothing to stem the surge of people with COVID-19, which is overwhelming the province's health-care system.

The premier has been driving the pandemic response, said Joel Mullan, vice-president of policy and governance for the United Conservative Party. He says his leader has failed spectacularly at the task and that Kenney should resign.

Although Kenney said Shandro resigned from the health portfolio, Mullan said the swap is the premier's attempt to deflect blame from himself.

"He was the captain of the ship. He was the one providing direction and supervision to Shandro over the pandemic, and ultimately at this point, anything that has gone wrong, the buck stops at the premier's office," he said.

Creating a false sense of hope that the pandemic was in the past and Kenney's about-face on introducing a vaccine passport system were his two most unforgivable moves, Mullan said.

Some UCP constituency associations are considering passing motions asking for an expedited party leadership review. A formal review isn't scheduled until the fall of 2022, which some believe isn't enough time to prepare for an election in the spring of 2023, should Kenney be replaced.