Alberta Premier Danielle Smith set to shuffle her cabinet

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is set to shuffle her cabinet days after the legislature broke for the summer.

New ministers are scheduled to be sworn in by Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani on Friday afternoon in Calgary.

Smith is not taking questions from reporters following the swearing-in. At an earlier, unrelated announcement, she said the main aim is to fill the vacancy left by former municipal affairs minister Ric McIver, who is taking on the role of Speaker of the assembly.

"As a result, once you move one cabinet minister, you have to start moving a few others," said Smith.

Former Speaker Nathan Cooper left the job earlier this week and is stepping down this summer as the United Conservative Party member for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills to become the province's new representative in Washington.

The shuffle comes in the wake of controversy over a bill that passed debate in the final hours of the spring legislature sitting.

The legislation lowers the bar for citizens to initiate a referendum question, including whether Alberta should secede from Canada. The bill, along with last month's federal election, have renewed interest in separatism among some Albertans fed up with another Liberal government in Ottawa.

Smith has said she supports Alberta remaining in Canada but she doesn't want to see the province's separatist movement grow into a large, mainstream political party.

She’s also said the bill is about giving Albertans a say on whatever issue is important to them through direct democracy.

The province could see a separation referendum as early as next year, if the requisite 177,000 signatures are collected by petitioners.

Justice Minister Mickey Amery offered an amendment to address concerns from First Nations over the bill, declaring no referendum would interfere with treaty rights.

That change didn't satisfy some First Nations chiefs in the province, who said separating from Canada threatens their treaty relationship with the Crown.