Ric McIver chosen as new Speaker of the Alberta Legislature

Ric McIver has been elected as Alberta’s new Speaker of the Legislature after MLAs voted Tuesday morning.

He defeated the NDP-nominated Heather Sweet.

This comes after McIver handed in his resignation to Premier Danielle Smith Monday evening.

He will remain MLA for Calgary-Hays, a position he has held since 2012.

“I am grateful for Ric’s hard work and commitment to his constituents and to serving Albertans,” the premier said.

In the wake of McIver’s departure from Smith’s inner circle, Alberta’s Minister of Tourism and Sports, and the Government House Leader, Joseph Schow, will be serving as interim Minister of Municipal Affairs until a new person is appointed.

“Minister Schow will be available to municipalities around the province as they continue to navigate the uncertainty of the wild fire season,” Smith said.

McIver has been the Minister of Municipal Affairs since June 2023, following the election of Smith and the United Conservative Party (UCP)

Prior to that, he served as the Minister of Transportation, Minister of Infrastructure, Minister of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour, and Minister of Municipal Affairs.

Before becoming a provincial politician, McIver served three terms on Calgary City Council.

Former Speaker resigns to become U.S. representative

Tuesday’s vote was prompted by the resignation of former Speaker Nathan Cooper last week, after he was tapped to be the province’s representative to the United States.

Ahead of the Legislature sitting speculation swirled that McIver would be the UCP’s nomination for Cooper’s replacement.

The Speaker’s role is to preside over debates and proceedings in the house in a non-partisan manner. The Speaker also doesn’t vote on legislation.

Second resignation of UCP cabinet minister

McIver is the the second Alberta cabinet minister to remove themselves from their position this year, though the circumstances are different.

Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie stepped down from his role as Minister of Infrastructure in February in the wake of accusations of improper procurement processes in high level health contracts.

Weeks later, Guthrie was expelled from UCP caucus for his continued push for an investigation into the Alberta Health Services (AHS) procurement scandal.

The allegations stem from a lawsuit filed by the former head of AHS. Athana Mentzelopoulos claims she was wrongfully fired in January for looking into sweetheart deals, high-level political interference and corruption in multimillion-dollar health contracts.