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Dividing the massive human services department into several parts would allow Notley to shuffle Sabir away from responsibility over children in care without actually demoting him from cabinet altogether. The government could save face while helping to defuse a controversy that threatens to dog it in 2017.

Photo by Kucerak, Ian / Postmedia

However, I should point out Notley was saying nothing definitive — and her musings about slicing and dicing the human services ministry were a response to my questions in the year-end interview.

The “year-ender” is a tradition in politics the world over when journalists, desperate for a story during the dead zone that is the holiday season, try to pry something newsworthy out of politicians while the politicians do their best to avoid saying anything controversial so they can escape for the holiday season.

In Alberta, it is a tradition as old as the boilers in the legislature basement and as artificial as the Christmas tree in the legislature rotunda.

It is, after all, impossible to stuff 12 months’ worth of events into a 20-minute year-ender sack, never mind giving predictions about the year ahead.

But journalists insist and politicians usually acquiesce.

Here are some snippets from my year-ender with Notley.

Her low point of the year:the Fort McMurray wildfire that forced the evacuation of the city and destroyed about 15 per cent of all structures. “It was probably the most devastating natural disaster in the history of the province and potentially in the country and it was very scary to a very, very large number of people,” said Notley. “At the end of the day it demonstrated huge resilience and capacity on the part of Albertans, on the part of residents, on the part of first responders.”