Cabinet shuffle expected as early as Monday

The shuffle, which Campbell has long said would take place after the spring session, will be the premier's chance to assemble a team he can carry into next year's election.

Current cabinet ministers have been finalizing their own plans in anticipation of the shuffle.

Minister of Small Business and Revenue Rick Thorpe on Friday became the fourth minister to announce retirement plans.

"To use a hockey analogy, you have to know when to take the skates off and the time has come for me to take the skates off," Thorpe said in an interview, noting he will be 63 by next year's election.

Thorpe made the announcement in his riding alongside Campbell and a handful of other ministers.

Finance Minister Carole Taylor, Labour Minister Olga Ilich and Minister of Employment and Income Assistance Claude Richmond have all said they will not run in the next election, meaning they can all expect to move out of their portfolios in the shuffle.

Thorpe's announcement leaves Attorney-General Wally Oppal as the only cabinet minister who, as of Friday, had not yet made his plans public.

There was speculation Friday that Campbell would move Forest Minister Rich Coleman to a new portfolio.

"I expect to see Coleman shuffled out, I expect to see a new forest minister. That would be no surprise to anybody," New Democratic party leader Carole James said Friday, echoing what government staffers were saying off the record.

Coleman has been under fire for not doing enough to stem the flow of job losses in the forest sector.

If Campbell does move Coleman, he may look to Agriculture Minister Pat Bell to fill the forestry role, especially because one of the hardest hit communities -- Mackenzie -- is in Bell's riding, Prince George North.

There were also suggestions Campbell would leave Tom Christensen as Minister of Children and Family Development, but move responsibilities for child care from that ministry into education -- a move that would help support Campbell's stated plans of working to expand kindergarten and preschool programs.

There has been no indication who will be given the key finance portfolio going into the campaign, with Taylor having announced she's not running again.

George Abbott was expected to keep the health portfolio, and Minister of State for Mining Kevin Krueger may be promoted to a more senior cabinet post.

With two prominent women leaving the cabinet, observers also suggested Liberal backbenchers Mary Polak and Joan McIntyre stand a strong chance of getting a seat at the cabinet table.

Another possible cabinet addition is Bill Bennett, who stepped down from cabinet last February after sending an e-mail calling a constituent "dumb" and possibly an "American spy."

Bennett had been Minister of State for Mining, and was replaced at the time by Krueger.

What was not clear Friday was just how much Campbell plans to reorganize the ministries themselves.

James said she had heard Campbell was planning a "major shuffle" that combined ministries and reorganized government, though others doubted he would make such a major shakeup in government structure with less than a year before to go before the next election.

Campbell wasn't talking Friday.