Former premier Rachel Notley, after almost a decade at the helm of Alberta鈥檚 NDP, is stepping down from the top job.
Notley, the Official Opposition leader, said a leadership race will be called and she will stay on as leader until a replacement is chosen.
That means she will remain on the front bench during the upcoming spring sitting.
Notley said she doesn鈥檛 know her next steps after that, including whether she will fulfil her current term as the legislature member for Edmonton-Strathcona, a riding she has won handily in five consecutive elections. She also did not rule out running again.
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 know. It鈥檚 a volatile world, politics,鈥� Notley said in an interview before making her departure public Tuesday.
The party will now set the rules and timelines for the race. Caucus members Rakhi Pancholi, David Shepherd, Sarah Hoffman and Kathleen Ganley are rumoured to be eyeing potential leadership runs.
Notley said she will not be endorsing any candidate.
The announcement ends months of speculation over Notley鈥檚 future after her NDP lost the May 2023 election to Premier Danielle Smith鈥檚 United Conservatives. Notley鈥檚 NDP captured 38 of the 87 legislature seats to become the largest Official Opposition in provincial history.
It was the second consecutive election loss for the NDP under Notley, which ended a 44-year Progressive-Conservative dynasty in 2015 with a surprise majority government only to be trounced four years later by Jason Kenney鈥檚 UCP.
Notley was elected as party leader in 2014, commanding a caucus that, except for a short-lived breakthrough in 1986, had been confined to a tiny corner of the legislature with a handful of members who could hold meetings in a subcompact sedan.
Under Notley, the NDP wiped out rival left-centre parties, including the Alberta Liberals, to establish itself as the dominant alternative to the governing right-wing UCP.
Notley said she takes the most pride in what the NDP has become under her watch, staying true to its core values but becoming a mainstream alternative by doing a better job listening and connecting with Albertans.
鈥淲hen we got elected in 2015, we didn鈥檛 know who voted for us. We barely knew why because we couldn鈥檛 afford polling,鈥� said Notley.
That has all changed, she said, with more financial resources, strong candidates and more ways to find out what Albertans want in a government and from their elected representatives.
鈥淭hose relationships with stakeholders and that ability to be engaging with Albertans in a meaningful, responsive way strengthens the party, strengthens the movement,鈥� she said.
鈥淪o did we move to the centre in the traditional left-right (spectrum)? I would say no.
鈥淒id we get better at talking to Albertans and representing who they are, through our own lens, but representing the things that matter to them? Yeah, we did.鈥�
Asked what she considers to be signature accomplishments as Alberta鈥檚 17th premier, Notley points to getting approval for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, building a new Calgary cancer hospital, reducing child poverty, investing in schools and hospitals, phasing out coal-fired electricity, kick-starting renewable energy investment and hiking Alberta鈥檚 minimum wage.
Of those accomplishments, she said the minimum wage hike resonates.
鈥淲e raised the minimum wage to $15 (an hour), the first jurisdiction North America to do that, and others followed because, of course, the world did not collapse as everybody suggested,鈥� she said.
鈥淎nd to this day, although a little bit less so now because we鈥檙e falling behind again (on minimum wage), I still have people come up and tell me how it changed their lives. I鈥檓 very proud of that.鈥�
So if the party is doing well, why step down as leader?
鈥淚鈥檓 a bit of a polarizing figure in the province,鈥� Notley replied.
鈥淎nd I think we have a lot of really great people who are part of our movement and I think it鈥檚 healthy to allow other voices to have an opportunity.鈥�
Notley, as premier, had been criticized from the right as an out of touch, spend-happy eco-extremist and from the left as a pipeline-loving fossil-fuel sellout.
Her NDP governed during a punishing recession that saw her government rack up multibillion-dollar deficits as the profits dried up in oil and gas 鈥� the wellspring of Alberta鈥檚 economy.
The UCP, under former leader Kenney, won the 2019 election in part by painting Notley鈥檚 NDP as wide-eyed spendthrifts who never met a dollar they didn鈥檛 want to spend and couldn鈥檛 be trusted with the public purse.
Asked if she felt like she got a raw deal when she won in 2015 only to be handed the keys to a government with no money, Notley said no.
Because they were in power, she said, they were able reduce poverty, increase wages for those who needed it most, index payments for people with severe disablilites to inflation and spend to keep pace with population growth in schools and hospitals.
鈥淎s much as we paid a price for it electorally (losing in 2019), I鈥檓 glad we were the ones that were there in the hard times,鈥� said Notley.
鈥淚t would have been a lot worse if it hadn鈥檛 been us.鈥�
READ ALSO:
