NDP leader Rachel Notley has finally thrown in the towel and announced she will step down after holding the position since 2014.
The Tuesday announcement comes amid poor polling and two straight lost elections to majority United Conservative Party governments.
Who could replace Notley?
The Notley family has had a chokehold over the levers of NDP politics in Alberta for decades.
Notley ruled her caucus with an iron fist, leaving no room for a real lieutenant. With no obvious replacement in line, the chance a radical underdog steers the party off to the far left is alarmingly high.
Janis Irwin, an MLA with close ties to the ANTIFA movement is seen as a contender, along with Shannon Phillips of Lethbridge and Sarah Hoffman, the former Health Minister.
Last week, NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley made what many interpreted as a leadership race self-promotional video, when she said “average families here in Alberta should have access to the basics.”
Notley’s 9 years as NDP leader
The NDP leader was elected as Alberta’s Premier in May 2015, leading the province’s first NDP government. But after four years as Alberta’s Premier, Notley got blown out in the 2019 election to then United Conservative Party (UCP) leader Jason Kenney.
While running for Premiership again in 2023, Notley was ridiculed by UCP leader Danielle Smith for running on promises instead of her record, before losing another election to a majority UCP Government.
“She doesn’t want to run on her record because it was an absolute disaster,” Smith said in May.
As Premier between 2015 – 2019, Notley was widely criticized for her stance on pipeline projects and the oil industry, the bloodline of Alberta.
Notley opposed the Northern Gateway pipeline and the Energy Easy pipeline due to concerns raised by environmental groups, despite the projects holding significant economic benefits for the province through job creation and tax revenue.
Leading up to the provincial election, Premier Smith warned Albertans that Notley would walk “in lockstep with Justin Trudeau.”
“She wants to achieve the 2035 net-zero target put forward by Justin Trudeau – that’ll cost $52 billion dollars, that’ll increase your power bill by 40%, and we can’t afford to do that,” Smith said.
More to come.
