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UCP Minister Rebecca Schulz announced on Wednesday that she is resigning from cabinet and will stay on as MLA for Calgary-Shaw only until May 2026.<\/p>\n
“Timing is everything in life and in politics, and it is time for me to seek new opportunities in my career,” Schulz said in a notice published on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Schulz was first elected in April 2019. She was serving as minister of environment and protected areas before stepping down. Schulz also spent time as minister of children’s services and minister of municipal affairs. She ran unsuccessfully for the party leadership in 2022. <\/p>\n Her announcement prompted speculation of an early election call. <\/p>\n “The first thing I thought when I saw it was: is this another sign of an early election call?” wondered Duane Bratt, political scientist with Mount Royal University.<\/p>\n “There are a number of referendums, some of them contentious, in 2026. But there has been growing speculation that we will have an early provincial election. That’s normally when we see a reset … people deciding not to run again. Is that what we’re seeing here?”<\/p>\n Alberta’s next fixed election date is the fall of 2027.<\/p>\n Schulz has a background in communications. She is also a mother with two young children. <\/p>\n