The province says the move comes "after years of AIMCo consistently failing to meet its mandated benchmark returns." For now, Finance Minister Nate Horner has been appointed the AIMCo board's sole director and chair.

The news release said Alberta’s government plans to appoint a new board chair within 30 days. In the interim, Horner has been appointed the sole director and chair for AIMCo. All previous board member appointments have been “rescinded” and a new board is to be established after a permanent chair is named, according to the release.

Alberta’s government named a long-serving bureaucrat as interim chief executive officer of the province’s pension fund manager following Thursday’s shock firing of the entire board.

Longtime Alberta bureaucrat and top deputy minister Ray Gilmour has been appointed interim leader of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, the Crown agency set up to manage public pensions and investments at arm's-length from government.