Premier Lorne Calvert's cabinet shuffle on Feb. 17 has not placated the opposition Sask. Party's anger over the government's handling of the Spudco affair.

Opposition MLA Brenda Bakken was angry the premier didn't accept the resignation of Eldon Lautermilch, the minister directly involved with Spudco and instead moved the embattled minister to another portfolio.

"I guess there are some big changes but we still have the same people involved," said Bakken. "It's quite unbelievable actually that Eldon Lautermilch is still in cabinet I don't know what you have to do in the NDP government to lose your job."

Lautermilch was the minister directly responsible for the Spudco deal which caused the province to lose $28 million in the 1990s.

A report commissioned by the premier on the Spudco deal was released Monday morning, followed by the shuffle a few hours later.

In the report, the government was found to have acted inappropriately when it entered a deal to build potato storage sheds.

Lautermilch offered his resignation to the premier but it was rejected, and instead Lautermilch was moved out of the Industry and Resources portfolio and put in charge of Intergovernmental Affairs and Aboriginal Affairs.

"I guess that speaks to the premier's judgment, that a minister would deceive the people of the province and cover this up for five years and they're still there," said Bakken.

Bakken also questions some of the other appointments were made in the shuffle, calling Jim Melenchuk's appointment to the finance portfolio "a joke."

Melenchuk was the learning minister and former leader of the Liberal party who crossed the floor after being kicked out of the provincial Liberal party when the current leader, David Karwacki, pulled the Liberals out of the coalition.

"When he was leader of the Liberal Party he put the party into hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt," said Bakken.

While Lautermilch offered his resignation over the Spudco furor, he has said he is looking forward to the new portfolio and denies the shuffle has anything to do with his involvement in Spudco.

"I'm kind of excited about working with the First Nations people and I think it's absolutely critical in terms of the economic future of this province that we integrate that growing population into our economy," said Lautermilch.

He will also undertake the Intergovernmental Affairs portfolio as part of his mandate.

Lautermilch will be working on negotiating with the federal government in areas such as revenue sharing, transfer payments and transportation.

The former minister of Industry and Resources maintains the cabinet shuffle was prompted by the resignation of Chris Axworthy and not Lautermilch's involvement in Spudco.

Lautermilch does however admit he made some mistakes in his handling of the potato venture.

"It became clear, in a letter to an Alberta company, I had misrepresented the facts and the truth," said Lautermilch. "Having said that, it was never my intention to mislead."

Lautermilch said the reason he was replaced by Eric Cline was the need for the minister in charge of Industry and Resources to have a stronger grasp on investment because of coming changes to Industry and Resources and the premier's desire to have "fresh eyes" on the portfolio.

In total, five government members have been moved around the cabinet and from the back benches.

Eric Cline moves from the Finance portfolio to Justice and Industry and Resources; Jim Melenchuk leaves Learning to take up Finance; Judy Junor becomes Learning minister; and Ron Osika takes up Saskatchewan Property Management.