Nathan Horner ECA MLA (born 1980/1981) is a Canadian politician who served as the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board of Alberta from 2023 to 2026. He was first elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to represent the electoral district of Drumheller-Stettler as a member of the United Conservative Party (UCP).[1]
Life and career
Before being elected, Horner was a rancher and an emergency medical responder. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture from the University of Lethbridge. Nate and his wife, Jennifer, have two young children.[2]
The Horner family has deep roots in Canadian Conservatism as well as Methodism. Nate is related to Ralph Cecil Horner (b.1854), founder of numerous Holiness movement churches and later the Standard Church of America in 1916.[3] Horner is also related to Alberta MLA and former deputy-premier Doug Horner and MPs Jack Horner, Hugh Horner, Albert Horner and Norval Horner.[4] Hugh, Norval, and Jack are the sons of former Canadian senator Ralph Horner.
He was appointed to the ministry on July 8, 2021, as Associate Minister of Rural Economic Development. Then on November 5, 2021, he was promoted to a full minister as Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, then known as Agriculture Irrigation, forestry, and Rural Economic Development during the Kenney Ministry.[5] As Minister, Horner supported the Alberta Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit, describing how it would “support growth, diversify the province’s economy and ensure producers have a competitive market for their goods.” The province announced the program would have investments of more than $10 million in the agri-processing industry qualify for a 12 percent tax credit.[6]
In addition to being Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, he was also on the Economy and Affordability Cabinet Policy Committee as well as the Emergency Management Cabinet Committee.[7][2] Previously as Associate Minister of Rural Economic Development, Horner was Deputy Chair of the Select Special Democratic Accountability Committee, and had been on the Standing Committee on Alberta’s Economic Future, Standing Committee on Private Bills and Private Members’ Public Bills as well as the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.[2][8]
He was re-elected in the 2023 Alberta general election, becoming Minister of Finance shortly afterwards.[9]
In February 2026, the Danielle Smith government announced an over $9 billion budget deficit due to lower oil royalty prices; Horner admitted to breaking the government’s own ‘fiscal rules’. The budget included increased healthcare and education spending, with Horner ruling out tax hikes and big cuts.[10] He will not seek re-election in the next Alberta general election.
Electoral history
2023 general election
| 2023 Alberta general election: Drumheller-Stettler | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| United Conservative | Nate Horner | 15,270 | 82.14 | +5.45 | ||||
| New Democratic | Juliet Franklin | 2,684 | 14.44 | +7.90 | ||||
| Alberta Independence | Shannon Packham | 382 | 2.05 | +1.01 | ||||
| Wildrose Loyalty Coalition | Hannah Stretch Viens | 150 | 0.81 | – | ||||
| Solidarity Movement | Carla Evers | 104 | 0.56 | – | ||||
| Total | 18,590 | 99.45 | – | |||||
| Rejected and declined | 103 | 0.55 | ||||||
| Turnout | 18,693 | 60.59 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 30,850 | |||||||
| United Conservative hold | Swing | -1.22 | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: Elections Alberta[11] | ||||||||
2019 general election
| 2019 Alberta general election: Drumheller-Stettler | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| United Conservative | Nate Horner | 16,958 | 76.69% | -4.89% | ||||
| Independent | Rick Strankman | 1,841 | 8.33% | – | ||||
| Alberta Party | Mark Nikota | 1,461 | 6.61% | – | ||||
| New Democratic | Holly Heffernan | 1,446 | 6.54% | -11.89% | ||||
| Alberta Independence | Jason Hushagen | 230 | 1.04% | – | ||||
| Alberta Advantage | Greg Herzog | 176 | 0.80% | – | ||||
| Total | 22,112 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 62 | 51 | 4 | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 29,679 | 74.73% | 15.43% | |||||
| United Conservative hold | Swing | 27.31% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: “59 – Drumheller-Stettler, 2019 Alberta general election”. officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 262–268. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021. | ||||||||
References
- ^ a b “Nate Horner seeks UCP nomination for Drumheller-Stettler riding – Stettler Independent”. Stettlerindependent.com. 2018-05-15. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
- ^ a b c “Member Information”. www.assembly.ab.ca. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
- ^ Hobbs, R. Gerald; Hobbs, Helen. “Ralph Cecil Horner”. Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ Rieger, Sarah (30 September 2018). “Incumbent MLA who once compared carbon tax to Ukrainian genocide loses UCP nomination vote”. CBC News. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ “Nate Horner”.
- ^ “Alberta offering tax credit for large-scale agri-processing investments”. calgaryherald. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
- ^ “Government committees and members”. www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
- ^ Blanke, Jason. “A Good Budget For Our Area Shares MLA Horner”. DrumhellerOnline.com. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
- ^ “Alberta election 2023 results: Drumheller-Stettler | Globalnews.ca”. Global News. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
- ^ Press, The Canadian (2026-02-10). “Alberta’s Smith says ‘significant’ deficits to come, rules out tax hikes and big cuts”. CTVNews. Retrieved 2026-02-21.
- ^ “59 – Drumheller-Stettler”. officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
