Devin Dreeshen is a humbled man. He is just 31 but entrusted to not only represent one of Central Alberta's key provincial government ridings, he's been rewarded with the responsibility to lead the agriculture industry as the new UCP provincial government's minister of of agriculture and forestry.
"I was humbled. I was humbled by the trust he (Jason Kenney) put in me to take on this big responsibility, but also the fact he recognized my time in Ottawa working for the federal agricultural minister, my trade experience, going on numerous trade missions around the world, and also being a farmer -- to have that on-the-ground experience as well," said Dreeshen, who operates a family farm in the Pine Lake area.
"It was a tremendous responsibility to give me but ultimately I feel very humbled and honoured by it," he added. "The expectations are very high and I definitely want to live up to them."
Dreeshen, the son of Red Deer-Mountain View MP Earl Dreeshen, was sworn in on April 30 at Government House in Edmonton. The region will also be represented in the new UCP cabinet by Jason Nixon, the MLA for the Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre riding. Nixon is the new minister of environment and parks.
Dreeshen was first elected as Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA for the UCP in a 2018 byelection to replace Don McIntyre, who had resigned over sex offence allegations and was later jailed. Dreeshen went on to easily win his seat during the April 16 provincial election. Before entering provincial politics Dreeshen was a policy advisor to federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz from 2008 to 2015.
Dreeshen's elevation to provincial cabinet was welcomed in Innisfail by Mayor Jim Romane, noting there are some definite advantages.
"You are a little closer, a bit better contact or rapport with the government. I think Devin, with his background, is no rookie. He has been involved in politics practically his whole life right back to the Klein days," said Romane. "He's got what it takes. He's very genuine. He's a good common sense thinker.
"I think he will do very well for the UCP party. Hopefully the rest of them are as good as Devin is," said Romane.
On the forestry and agricultural ministerial files, Dreeshen said there is no shortage of critically important files facing all Albertans that must be dealt with immediately. Most importantly these include urgent trade issues with China and canola markets, an issue that also directly affects many Central Alberta farmers.
"That is probably the biggest number 1 issue on the agricultural side," said Dreeshen. "All that uncertainty and working closely with other provincial ministers and the federal agriculture minister as well, to try to have a coherent message and a plan of attack on how we can actually deal with this trade issue with China, because it is going to impact farmers, especially here in Alberta, in a very big way."
On the legislative side, Dreeshen will work with his UCP colleagues to repeal and replace Bill 6. He said consultations with the agricultural community will soon start, as early as this summer, on changes to sections of the controversial legislation that reflect "common sense" for farmers.
"There are some aspects to it (Bill 6) that have broad support across farm groups and farmers where they say, 'Yes, that makes sense.' But there are so many other parts like mandatory coverage for WCB," said Dreeshen, adding it was unfair for farmers to have been forced by Bill 6 to pay double coverage with both WCB and private insurance. "That is one of the biggest grievances to Bill 6, and yet Bill 6 was eventually tweaked by the former NDP government, but they still left that there."
As for issues directly impacting the Innisfail-Sylvan Lake riding, Dreeshen said the most important issues that need immediate attention are ones for transportation, especially in the Sylvan Lake area along Highway 11. Dreeshen added he will also tackle a regional health transfer issue, which came to light during the election campaign, that there was a 10-to-one health spending discrepancy against Central Alberta when compared to Edmonton and Calgary.
"That is something, especially now at the cabinet table, that I definitely want to be fighting for Central Alberta," he said.
