Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley confirmed she would not be leading the party into the next election. While Notley was stepping down as Alberta NDP leader, the resignation would not take effect until a new one is selected in a leadership race. She said she might or might not be staying on as an MLA. “I have informed both the senior officers of Alberta’s NDP as well as my caucus and staff that upon the selection of a new leader, I will be stepping down from that role,” said Notley at a Tuesday press conference. In October, she acknowledged it will be the ten-year anniversary of her taking over the NDP. At the time, the NDP was the fourth party in the Alberta Legislature and had four MLAs. About seven months later, it had 54 MLAs and formed government for the first time. While many of these MLAs never expected to be elected or form government, Notley said they “scrambled quickly to live up to the immense privilege and responsibility the people of Alberta bestowed upon us.” Despite not being right all of the time, she said they governed with integrity, ambition, and a desire to make life better for Albertans. She spoke about a few of the policies that made her proud in her time as premier. Her government approved and built the Calgary Cancer Centre. When it came to workers’ rights, her government improved access to unions, increased their time off, protected their safety in workplaces, and was the first jurisdiction in North America to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. It secured Alberta’s first pipeline to tidewater in more than 50 years. To improve people’s health and kickstart the renewable energy industry, it eliminated coal-fired power generation. In the midst of a recession caused by collapsing oil prices, it cut child poverty in half. Albertans told the NDP it did not get every policy right by voting it out in 2019. While Notley looked at leaving in 2019, there were many reasons she did not. The main reason was too many people declared the NDP was done and that Alberta was destined to revert back to a one-party conservative state. She said she knew that was false and would be awful for Albertans if they came to believe it was. In May, it came close to forming government again. It received the high percentage of the vote it ever has, won every seat in Edmonton and many in Calgary, and elected the largest official opposition in Alberta history. While it made progress, Notley said it was not enough and means it is time for her to leave. If there is one accomplishment she can leave behind, she said it “is that we are not a one-party province where Albertans have no real choice about how their province is to be run.” “It was that way when I started,” she said. “It’s not that way anymore.” Notley followed up by saying party leaders should take stock after an election to decide their futures. “So I said I would do that after the election at the end of May, and I spent some time giving that genuine thought over the course of the summer,” she said. “I can’t say exactly when it was I decided, but I will say it wasn’t yesterday.” When it came to the timing, she said she waited because of the desire to lead her caucus through the first legislative session and have some stability, as 19 NDP MLAs are rookies. Now that the process is done, she opted to make the announcement. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith thanked Notley for her years of dedicated service to her constituents and 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,” said Smith. “I wish Ms. Notley all the best in her future endeavours and whatever comes next for her and her family.”.Notley said in June she was unsure if she will stay on as NDP leader and blamed herself for losing the election. READ MORE: Notley says she's still mulling whether to stay on as Alberta NDP leader“That’s what it means to be leader,” she said. “In the coming months, there will be a process set through the party for debriefing the campaign and for understanding what worked and what didn’t.” A senior NDP source told the Western Standard in August Notley would be stepping down as leader to provide new blood. READ MORE: FILDEBRANDT: Notley could be headed to retirement this fallThe source said she was likely to step down in the fall. That means caucus would elect an interim leader to see the party through the leadership race.
Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley confirmed she would not be leading the party into the next election. While Notley was stepping down as Alberta NDP leader, the resignation would not take effect until a new one is selected in a leadership race. She said she might or might not be staying on as an MLA. “I have informed both the senior officers of Alberta’s NDP as well as my caucus and staff that upon the selection of a new leader, I will be stepping down from that role,” said Notley at a Tuesday press conference. In October, she acknowledged it will be the ten-year anniversary of her taking over the NDP. At the time, the NDP was the fourth party in the Alberta Legislature and had four MLAs. About seven months later, it had 54 MLAs and formed government for the first time. While many of these MLAs never expected to be elected or form government, Notley said they “scrambled quickly to live up to the immense privilege and responsibility the people of Alberta bestowed upon us.” Despite not being right all of the time, she said they governed with integrity, ambition, and a desire to make life better for Albertans. She spoke about a few of the policies that made her proud in her time as premier. Her government approved and built the Calgary Cancer Centre. When it came to workers’ rights, her government improved access to unions, increased their time off, protected their safety in workplaces, and was the first jurisdiction in North America to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. It secured Alberta’s first pipeline to tidewater in more than 50 years. To improve people’s health and kickstart the renewable energy industry, it eliminated coal-fired power generation. In the midst of a recession caused by collapsing oil prices, it cut child poverty in half. Albertans told the NDP it did not get every policy right by voting it out in 2019. While Notley looked at leaving in 2019, there were many reasons she did not. The main reason was too many people declared the NDP was done and that Alberta was destined to revert back to a one-party conservative state. She said she knew that was false and would be awful for Albertans if they came to believe it was. In May, it came close to forming government again. It received the high percentage of the vote it ever has, won every seat in Edmonton and many in Calgary, and elected the largest official opposition in Alberta history. While it made progress, Notley said it was not enough and means it is time for her to leave. If there is one accomplishment she can leave behind, she said it “is that we are not a one-party province where Albertans have no real choice about how their province is to be run.” “It was that way when I started,” she said. “It’s not that way anymore.” Notley followed up by saying party leaders should take stock after an election to decide their futures. “So I said I would do that after the election at the end of May, and I spent some time giving that genuine thought over the course of the summer,” she said. “I can’t say exactly when it was I decided, but I will say it wasn’t yesterday.” When it came to the timing, she said she waited because of the desire to lead her caucus through the first legislative session and have some stability, as 19 NDP MLAs are rookies. Now that the process is done, she opted to make the announcement. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith thanked Notley for her years of dedicated service to her constituents and 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,” said Smith. “I wish Ms. Notley all the best in her future endeavours and whatever comes next for her and her family.”.Notley said in June she was unsure if she will stay on as NDP leader and blamed herself for losing the election. READ MORE: Notley says she's still mulling whether to stay on as Alberta NDP leader“That’s what it means to be leader,” she said. “In the coming months, there will be a process set through the party for debriefing the campaign and for understanding what worked and what didn’t.” A senior NDP source told the Western Standard in August Notley would be stepping down as leader to provide new blood. READ MORE: FILDEBRANDT: Notley could be headed to retirement this fallThe source said she was likely to step down in the fall. That means caucus would elect an interim leader to see the party through the leadership race.
