Think of Premier Ralph Klein as a carpenter - a cabinet-maker to be more precise. Imagine him sitting down to refurbish an old piece of furniture that he created just a few years ago when he became a master builder. The old cabinet may have lost part of its sheen, but it has served him well. Still, thinks the Premier draftsman, a little veneer and a few more drawers wouldn't hurt - would it

And so, last week Mr. Klein did just that - he added to the size of his cabinet and gave it a whole new look.

Somehow this important point about the size of the Alberta government seems to have escaped most of the province's political pundits. Apparently they were too busy sorting out who got what at whose expense. Edmonton won and Calgary lost, they say. Women are ahead due to the addition of several to various cabinet committees. Former Environment Minister Ty Lund is out and new Environment Minister Gary Mar is in, evidently because the latter is "far more personable and progressive" (according to the Edmonton Journal). Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

After tallying up the score (based on the politically correct criteria model), these pundits might want to take a step back and look at the big picture. Ralph Klein's administration has grown from 17 to 21 ministries - an increase of 24 percent. The government has also gone to 5 standing policy committees from Klein's original four.

What does this mean It may very well mean that the premier is losing his focus. As the pressure mounts from all corners to spend, spend, spend, Mr. Klein seems to be embarking for a new destination of bigger government.

Witness the creation of three new "Associate Minister" portfolios in Aboriginal Affairs, Forestry and Health and Wellness. I guess they didn't want to have a separate department of "Wellness" (whatever that means), so they thought they'd combine it with health and add an extra minister. But really, do we need an Associate Minister of Forestry Did Alberta's forests suddenly double in size overnight I always suspected we had an over supply of tree planters in this province.

What the premier should be doing is endeavoring to reduce, not add to, the size of government. There are still plenty of places for the government to pare down, starting with finally getting out of the business of being in business. Areas for examination are the Ministry of Innovation and Science and the Alberta Opportunities Company (which continues to dole out hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars to refinance bad debts and other non-productive, economically distorted programs).

Mr. Klein, of course, claims not to have increased the size of his government in this latest shuffle. But like all good cabinet-makers his intention is to increase space in order that it may be filled. Taxpayers don't need the cost of additional cabinet space. A simple scaled-down model will do just fine.