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“Hey boss,” a security guard in the Alberta legislature yells at Brian Mason. “How many of us do you need for Sunday?”

“I’m not the boss,” Mason insists, wandering the halls in a blue suit (no tie) and a jovial mood. “Rachel’s the boss.”

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Brian Mason, former bus driver who led the Alberta NDP for a decade, poised to wield real power for the first time Back to video

Mason was the boss of a small NDP caucus for almost 10 years. But in surrendering the leadership last year, he paved the way for Rachel Notley’s improbable majority victory — and is now poised to wield real power for the first time, as one of the government’s most senior MLAs.

He was named Government House Leader on Thursday, and is rumoured to be in line for a senior post at Sunday’s swearing-in of Notley’s new cabinet.

He is pegged as a possible finance minister, but whatever the role, it will be a remarkable moment for the former bus driver.

Shortly after the election that swept the fourth-place party to power with a healthy 54-seat majority, a Twitter user asked: “If [Brian Mason] becomes Finance Minister, will we have to pay our taxes in exact change?”