After two days of speculation, upheaval and handwringing, combined with celebration and relief, depending on which side of the floor you are on, late Wednesday afternoon, Premier Jim Prentice welcomed nine former Wildrose MLAs into his government.

Former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith was among the nine who crossed the floor. Locally Bruce Rowe, MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills and Strathmore-Brooks MLA Jason Hale both became Progressive Conservatives. Rick Strankman MLA for Drumheller-Stettler has said he will remain as a member of the Wildrose Party.

Smith resigned early Wednesday morning, stating in her letter, “When I became Wildrose leader more than five years ago, I did so with one singular objective in mind: to return to government the conservative values and principles that I had spent my life defending. Under Premier Prentice’s strong leadership, I believe we can work together to lead Alberta with a renewed focus on the values and principles that we share,” Smith said

Prentice welcomes what he is characterizing as a movement towards unification.

“Throughout my public and political life, I have always believed conservatives should be united in bringing our common principles and combined energy to public service. Today, we once again represent the full diversity of voices and regions from across Alberta – north, south, urban and rural,” Premier Jim Prentice said. “Alberta is stronger today with these committed people working together. Our province needs united leadership and shared purpose in tackling the challenges ahead.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, left and Kevin Sorenson, Minister of State for Finance get down to working on the upcoming federal budget.                          

    For Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson, it was a year he will never forget.
    Sorenson caught up with The Mail to update on the year that had passed, filled with successes, as well as challenges.
    Appointed as Minister of State for Finance in July of 2013, and only nine months into his tenure, his colleague and former Minster of Finance Jim Flaherty passed away.
    “I lost a very good friend in Jim Flaherty. I had the privilege to work with him for a year and in 2014 - I will always remember that,” Sorenson told The Mail. “Personally for me having worked with him, it is something I cherish.”
    This was not the only tumultuous occurrence in the last year that challenged Sorenson. On October 22, a lone gunman stormed the Centre Block Parliament Building after shooting a soldier standing guard at the National Memorial. Sorenson and his colleagues were locked down all day, as security and RCMP secured Parliament Hill.
    “That is a day that from, I hope we can bring forth measures that continue to maintain our security and also the high degree of freedom and liberty we have in Canada,” he said.
    Right now Sorenson is heavily into budget discussions and in the last month the spectre of falling oil prices is taking centre stage to this process.
    “It is something we have to watch closely…we are monitoring oil prices very closely,” said Sorenson. “Alberta is a little different from the federal government because they receive significant royalties from oil, so they are really affected. But when we start getting into $50/barrel oil, it starts to play out on the jobs as well, perhaps.”
    He says the economy is going in the right direction.
    “We are on track to have a balanced budget. Not that it is an end, but it does give us abilities to respond when there are short-term volatilities in the market or commodities,” he said. "We want to get back to having a balanced budget, but also realize these things come along and we have to plan for it. There is going to be continuing investment in jobs and growth.”
     Stepping off the national stage and into the constituency, he says there is optimism.
     “The last two years there really has been a sense of optimism. There has not really been a crisis in agriculture and up until now commodity prices have been fairly stable. It isn’t as stable as last year, but farmers are optimistic.  I haven’t heard the negative from the agricultural sector.”
    The one difficulty in agriculture has been transportation, however he says the government has worked hard to make sure railcars are available to farmers.

    Sorenson says they are continuing to focus on the economy as they head into the new year.
    “Next year we are looking at seeking another mandate from the people. Right now, we are focusing on the economy and working hard so we can earn that support.”