Former premier Rachel Notley, the leader of the Alberta NDP and Official Opposition, is stepping down.
“Having considered what I believe to be the best interests of our party, our caucus, as well as my own preferences, I am here today to announce that I will not be leading Alberta’s NDP into the next election,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
Notley said she’ll stay on until there’s a leadership race and vote for a new Alberta NDP leader. She said she’ll support the new leader. Once a new leader is chosen, she’ll step down from the leadership role.
Notley said she is “absolutely not” pursuing a role in federal politics.
However, she said she’s not made any decisions about how long she’ll stay on as MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona. Her term ends in 2027.
“Short of having, raising and of course, regularly debating with my family, the opportunity to serve this party and this province has been the honour of my life,” Notley said. “I’m so grateful.”
Notley, Alberta’s longest-serving MLA, said her biggest political accomplishment was showing Albertans they had options.
“We are not a one-party province where Albertans have no real choice about how their province should be run,” she said during Tuesday’s news conference.
“Alberta is not a one-party province or a two-party province with two different shades of conservatives.”
Notley said she’s confident that will continue.
“Our party has never been stronger.”
She said an NDP leadership race will showcase the strength and diversity of the party.
“To me, the folks who are elected, who sit in the at building there on behalf of all Albertans, need to reflect the people that they represent if we’re going to do a good job.”
Notley expects the leadership race will be a very exciting one. She was hesitant to suggest the party head in one direction or another.
“The frame that many people often try to impose on us — are we going left? Are we going centre? Where are we there? — is maybe not the best way to look at it.
“To me, it’s about: are we listening to all Albertans? Are we representing the hopes and aspirations of the greatest number of Albertans? Are we doing it in a way that’s respectful to our values?”
Alberta NDP will hold a provincial council meeting on Jan. 27 in Red Deer to determine the start and end date of the leadership campaign period.
Campaigning will not begin until the time period has been set by the party.
During her announcement, Notley became emotional talking about her family.
She said her husband and children always believed in her and encouraged her.
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” she said.
Rachel Notley, seen here with her husband and children on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, announced she’s resigning as leader of the Alberta NDP.
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“I was raised by both my father and my mother to believe that public service is something you should strive for throughout your life. I wish they could have been here,” Notley said.
“It wouldn’t have happened for me without the examples they both set,” she explained, adding they showed her daily the value of hard work, compassion for others and the honour of public service.
“I grew up being told that politics could be very noble, and I think it should be. And I think that certainly I’ve tried my best to maintain that. Not everyone would agree that I’ve succeeded.
“But I do think it is important to understand there’s sacrifice in it, and to give most folks — even those who don’t agree with you — the benefit of the doubt,” she said.
“Public service is a challenge but it’s also incredibly rewarding … in terms of making the kind of change you care about.”
“This is a big moment,” said pollster Janet Brown. “She’s been a big force in Alberta politics for the last 15 years.
“We can look back and say this was a pretty remarkable career.”
Brown said the NDP leadership vote will likely happen in the fall, giving the new leader two years to establish themselves before the next provincial election, which likely played into Notley’s timing.
“She said her number one accomplishment was turning Alberta into a two-party state. We’re a province that was always dominated by conservative politics and she feels her legacy is she’s made the NDP competitive. And now they’re at this critical juncture. Can they stay competitive? Can they be competitive under a new leader?
Names that Brown has heard as potential leadership candidates include Kathleen Ganley, Rakhi Pancholi and Sarah Hoffman.
“We haven’t really had a hotly contested, public NDP race and I think if there’s a lot of candidates in this race, if there’s a lot of interest, then it’ll show that the NDP has lots of strength going forward,” she said.
“(Notley) is the reason we have competitive politics so it’s crucial that the NDP also pick a competitive leader. This province has a real conservative bent to it and without a strong NDP leader, the province could very easily slip into a one-party state again.”
Notley and the Alberta NDP
Notley made history on May 5, 2015, when she and the NDP were elected in Alberta and ended more than four decades of government rule in Alberta by the Progressive Conservatives.
As premier, Notley and the NDP introduced legislation to eliminate union and corporate donations to political parties, raised the minimum wage, built more than 200 new schools, funded two new hospitals in Edmonton and Calgary, and initiated a $25-per-day childcare program.
However, in April 2019, the newly formed United Conservative Party, led by leader Jason Kenney, won the provincial election.
In a rare political move, Notley stayed on, becoming the only Alberta premier to take another run at the job after being defeated.
When Kenney resigned years later after receiving 51.4 per cent support in a leadership review vote, Danielle Smith was chosen as UCP leader and took over as premier.
The UCP was re-elected in 2023, this time under Smith.
After the UCP won, Notley admitted she wasn’t sure what her future plans were, but she remained leader of the Opposition.
“Now is not the time to let up,” Notley said after her 2023 election defeat. “Now is the time to step up.
“Like all leaders, after an election, I will take the time to consider my role as leader. I did that after 2015. I did that after 2019 and I’m doing it now,” she said.
“As of now, my No. 1 priority is do the work Albertans have asked of us and nothing less.”
Political reaction to resignation
In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wrote:
“I would like to thank the Honourable Rachel Notley, MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona and Alberta’s 17th premier, for her many years of dedicated service to her constituents and to all Albertans.
“Serving as premier is an extremely demanding job, and she served in that office with an honour and dignity reminiscent of her late father, another honourable and loyal Albertan and public servant.
“I wish Ms. Notley all the best in her future endeavours and whatever comes next for her and her family,” Smith wrote.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said it’s important to recognize the work of elected officials leaving office.
“I would remind everyone that it’s not about your politics and whether you agree with that person’s decisions or their party, this is about the amount of service Ms. Notley has put in to serving Albertans and she deserves to be commended for the work that she’s done and the time she’s put in.”
“She is a principled leader who has left a strong legacy for our province and our city, including the Calgary Cancer Centre and infrastructure across the city.
“Regardless of our political stripes, we all benefit when good people step into public life. I am grateful that Rachel Notley has dedicated her life to service and join with all Albertans in wishing her and her family the best for her next chapter.”
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the federal NDP, said Notley has been a “formidable leader” for Alberta and that it was an honour to work with her and call her a friend.
“Rachel has shown considerable strength and tenacity during her time as an MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona, as the leader of the Alberta NDP and as the former premier.
“Today, as she takes this difficult decision, I hope Rachel has a chance to reflect on just how momentous her political career has been for our party and for the people she’s represented. Alberta New Democrats, under Rachel’s leadership, improved the lives of hardworking people in measurable ways.
“She has been an inspiration to New Democrats across the country as she brought the party from four seats to a majority government. She fought hard for Alberta to have a government that reflects Albertans’ values and priorities. She made Albertans proud. She made New Democrats proud.
“On behalf of all New Democrats, I want to thank Rachel for her many years of dedicated public service. It’s not always easy to work toward positive solutions, but Rachel has met every challenge with determination and courage,” Singh said in a statement.
Notley’s background
Notley was first elected as an MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona in 2008.
Prior to entering politics, she worked as a labour lawyer, focusing on workers’ compensation advocacy, workplace health and safety issues, and she worked for a variety of labour unions in Alberta and B.C.
Notley grew up in Fairview, Alta., and her father is Grant Notley, a former Alberta NDP leader.
She has a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Alberta and a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School.
Notley, 59, is married to Lou Arab and has two children.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
