Rachel Notley, who led the Alberta New Democratic Party to an unexpected majority government in 2015, announced today she will step down as Opposition leader.
Her noon announcement confirmed what has been the worst-kept secret in Alberta politics for weeks.
Tout le monde political Alberta has known since soon after the May 29, 2023, election that Ms. Notley had made the decision and, with candidates and potential candidates dropping broad hints about their plans right and left, that her announcement would have to be made soon.
The only question was precisely when the other shoe would drop.
Now it has.
Surrounded by her family and occasionally tearing up, Ms. Notley said she will keep her hand on the tiller until the new leader is chosen, and may remain as an MLA for a spell longer after that. How much longer? That will remain a mystery for a while.
“Having considered what I believe to be the best interests of our party, our caucus, as well as my own preferences, I’m here today to announce that I will not be leading Alberta’s NDP into the next election,” she told the lunch-hour news conference.
“I have informed both the senior officers of Alberta’s NDP, as well as my caucus and staff, and upon the selection of a new leader, I will be stepping down from that role.”
In other words, she expects to continue to lead the party through all or most of the next session of the Legislature.
Responding to reporters’ questions, Ms. Notley made it clear she had no intention of running federally but was less clear whether she may or may not stick around in provincial politics. She had “no immediate plans to step down as an MLA,” she added, and wouldn’t completely rule out running again, although she deemed it unlikely.
Ms. Notley, who has been NDP leader for a decade and was premier from 2015 until 2019, can be expected to maintain firm control of the party through to the end of the leadership race, the details of which remain to be made clear.
Perhaps her delayed departure was due to your prognostication? A la LBJ and Ben Bradlee. 🙂
Green Maple Leaf: A couple of others have suggested the same thing. I doubt it, but it’s nice to think. DJC
Typo alert — leafing should be LEADING. That’s all…
Scotter: Git it. It’s been fixed. many thanks. DJC
Sorry to see you go. She is one of the best reasons to vote for NDP.
The closest thing we ever had to Peter Lougheed style leadership in Alberta was Rachel Notley. With Danielle Smith and the UCP in power, we have an unmitigated disaster, which exceeds even what Ralph Klein has done. Expect more improper oil royalty rates, and more of the worst corporate tax cuts, both of which will lose Alberta billions of dollars, even more of the most costliest shenanigans, that will cost us more money, gutted core programs and services, private for profit healthcare, more public health risks, very expensive utilities, poverty levels spiking, the inability to have a proper retirement, crime rates to increase, and further degradation of the environment. With David Parker and TBA pulling the strings from behind, our democracy will be eroded. The complacency and ignorance of the media enabled the UCP to get to where they got to, because they never took the UCP to account for anything they did wrong. Licia Corbella, Lorne Gunter and David Staples are largely responsible. Good luck with Danielle Smith and the UCP. It isn’t going to get better.
Long-time NDPer in four provinces, last was in Grant Notley’s constituency and was pleased to vote for Rachel after that. Now we are ready for her to run as national leader. Jagmeet is a nice boy but needs to go back to Ont., law and good works; Rachel has national vision, clever, handsome, strong. We are lucky to have her, especially if Poilievre crosses her path. She will be a bullwork against his extremes.
Alas, Shirley, she said she absolutely will not run federally. DJC
Politics in general is a thankless profession, just ask Justin Trudeau! But in Rachel’s case? It likely took a toll that none of us are privy to. So for her? Just the warmest regards and the greatest thanks for giving my home province a glimpse of what sound government might look like! Now on to the barricades! With a new leader!
Typo: “… I will not be leafing Alberta’s NDP…”
Thanks, Troyless. It’s been fixed. DJC
Well, it seems like the time to drop the URL for my own critique of NDP and Alberta politics. With the partial exception of BC, NDP governments in Canada have shown at absolute inability to govern, or event to campaign effectively. We need a new party, in Alberta and Canada. https://adultsincharge.blog/2023/12/17/the-alberta-syndrome/
Tim Rourke: So, how is it acceptable to let these phony Conservatives and Reformers cheat us out of our oil and tax wealth, which Peter Lougheed ensured we get, do very pricey shenanigans, that cost us more money, and letting core programs and services in Alberta suffer a good thing?
tim rourke. Wow! You have a lot of nerve riding on the shirttails of DJC’s very popular Alberta Politics.ca to advertise your own blog whilst not so subtly criticizing
what he writes. Do your own advertising. Maybe David Parker will read it and approve.
Thank you for your service, Rachel Notley. I am grateful that you led the NDP to victory in 2015 and continued to fight for a fair and progressive Alberta. Dark days are upon us now.
Kudos to Mr. C. for calling this one. Fingers crossed the NDP pick a leader that realizes that if you don’t fight, you don’t win. Does anyone in the NDP caucus even realize that politics is a blood sport? Hopefully the NDP leadership hopefuls have been champing at the bit and wanting to get their elbows up but have been held back by Notley. Being polite and gracious on the losing side has been getting them nowhere. Time to send the dreamy romantics home.
I can’t say that this news is unexpected. Since the 2019 and the rise of the UCP, Notley and the ABNDP appear to be listless, aimless, and without any rage over what Jason Kenney and Danielle Smith are doing to Alberta. They seem timid, far too cautious, and indecisive in every action.
One need only to have witnessed Notley’s performance in the last election’s leaders debate to see she did not feel the sense of urgency as everyone else over what Danielle Smith’s designs are for Alberta. There is nothing good in them and Notley did not speak up when she could have.
So, her tenure as leader ends with more of a whimper than a bang. Not much to show for the past decade.
For your information. She led the NDP to the first non wack job conservative party government since the thirties. I’d say that’s quite the feat! Beating 70 odd years of mostly lunacy takes a real talent!
Parker on X…
“It is time to Take Back the Alberta NDP” …(5 hrs ago)
“Should TBA make @gilmcgowan NDP leader?”(4hrs ago)
-make of those what you will,
(imo– is not printable…)
I still can’t believe the stupid campaign she ran after running such a brilliant one in 2015. Praising what Lougheed had done for Albertans was brilliant and promising to try to get us back up to the Lougheed levels in taxes and royalties was exactly what Albertans wanted to hear. To kick these Reformers in the teeth she should have made it crystal clear where she spent our money so they couldn’t just blame her for wasting all these billions of dollars. There was a statement on the internet showing where it was spent which was exactly what a former Bank Manager wanted to see, and that she hadn’t wasted it like the lie they were spreading and before I made a copy of it , it disappeared and you can bet the UCP had it removed leaving her without the proof.
Rachel Notley is the best leader the Alberta NDP has ever had full stop. There is no need to rush replacing Rachel. As a party member, I favour a longer leadership race with the vote maybe as late as October 2024. This would give some of the talented MLAs elected in 2023, as well as a few high profile Albertans currently not in elected politics, a chance to test the waters, get organized and demonstrate their leadership qualities.
Well, if one accepts that her name and persona gave the party a 5-10% boost, then it looks like another decade of UCP. I just hope her advisors leave with her. Thank you for your service Rachel
Ms.Notley did something some of us did not think we would live to see: be an NDP Premier in Alberta. She did a good job. It will be a long time before we see some one as qualified as Ms. Notley become Premier again.
Beyond distressing. The further a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it. Paraphrasing quote of George Orwell Ms Notley spoke the truth and spoke up and spoke out for vulnerable seniors and people. To my mind she is irreplaceable. I just read the Tyee Article on ms notley by G ? I was not impressed
Rachel served this province, her constituents and her party well. Most importantly she has left the NDP in a far better place than when she became leader. Under her watch the NDP
– have excellent fundraising
– a cadre of MLA’s who know how to do their job
– MLA’s that can and do speak out in all forms of media
– the ability to get voters out in most areas of the province
Most importantly she has created a strong group of MLA’s who have the skill to be leader and eventual Premier. There are also a number of non-MLA’s who could step up to become leader.
One of the most important duties of leaders anywhere is to ensure that the organization is strong and there are leaders who can replace you. Rachel has done this.
I think she was a remarkable woman doing a very hard job in a province that has an addiction to ‘Conservative’ leadership, even when it hurts them. Too bad the brief moment of sanity in the electorate, happened at a time when global oil prices had just recently crashed. While I don’t agree with her on a few things, I always felt that she had our best interests at heart and was honest and made good decisions.
Sometimes when leaders go it is hard to say very nice things, but with Rachel Notley is is hard not to say very nice things.
For starters, she took what was a party with two MLAs when she first was elected and turned it into a government. In itself that is a very impressive feat. Even more impressive was while there were several other larger opposition parties, some of whom expected to win and some who hoped to win, she did what they could not, and brought an end to a very formidable political dynasty.
There were many years before that Alberta did not feel like a real democracy. Now it feels like genuinely competitive two party system. So we owe her our gratitude for amongst many other things, helping reinvigorate democracy in Alberta.
Time will tell, but that could turn out to be her greatest legacy.
A sad day, especially as it is so close on the heels of the passing of former federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent. But it seemed inevitable. She did bring the party farther than anyone could have imagined a dozen years ago, but while the NDP owns Edmonton and has become competitive in Calgary, outside those two big cities is a virtual wasteland for the party.
On the surface, the NDP’s foundational values of cooperation and looking after each other ought to resonate in rural Alberta, but they don’t — and even though the mid-sized cities have many of the same urban problems as the big cities, their voters behave as though they were rural.
Until the NDP cracks the code of the mid-sized cities and rural Alberta, it will always have a very steep hill to climb to regain government.