Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley has stepped down from her position, leaving behind a distinct legacy in provincial politics. As Notley finishes up her time as Alberta NDP leader and leadership candidates prepare to run because of her resignation on Tuesday, it is important to recognize how far it has come under her leadership. While the NDP was a fringe party for many years, Notley turned it into a force in Alberta politics. Despite serving as premier for one term, she will be remembered for being the first one with it. She was a leader like no other. Notley had been involved in provincial politics as an NDP volunteer on several occasions. In 2006, she decided to campaign to succeed former NDP MLA Raj Pannu (Edmonton-Strathcona), as he decided to retire. She was acclaimed as the candidate and won the seat in the 2008 election. She and former NDP leader Brian Mason gave it a caucus of two MLAs. In her time as an MLA, she said her proudest achievements were helping homeless people maintain the right to vote, establishing the independence of the Child and Youth Advocate, and forcing the Alberta government to kill legislation to reduce pensions for public sector employees. She held her seat in the 2012 election, and the NDP caucus increased to four MLAs. In 2014, she was elected NDP leader with 70% of the vote. Less than one year into the role, former Alberta premier Jim Prentice called an early election. At the beginning of the campaign, polls indicated a three-way race between the Alberta Progressive Conservatives, Wildrose, and NDP. By the midpoint, polls had the NDP pulling ahead with a focus on repealing PC budget cuts to education, instituting a review of energy royalties, and increasing the corporate tax rate by two percentage points. The NDP won 54 of the 89 seats in the 2015 election, capturing every riding in Edmonton, 15 in Calgary, and 20 in other areas of the province. Despite what many polls had predicted, her win stunned political observers across Canada, as it broke the 44-year-old dynasty the PCs had. She was sworn in as premier in a celebratory outdoor ceremony on the front steps of the Alberta Legislature. Her 12 cabinet ministers were sworn in after, which was half the usual number under PC administrations. Her government began rolling out its agenda, including an increase in corporate taxes from 10% to 12%, a controversial review of the energy royalty system and a ban on corporate and union political donations. It revamped the Employment Standards Code and the Labour Relations Code to allow Albertans to take sick days at their jobs. After years as a social justice champion, she became a social justice premier. Her government raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour, instituted an Alberta Child Benefit, reduced school fees, protected gay–straight alliances in schools and introduced workplace protections for farm workers.As part of a deliberate plan to help the province’s economy, she borrowed billions of dollars to maintain government services and build infrastructure projects such as schools and hospitals. By 2019, the provincial debt had grown to more than $50 billion, and experts called some of it reckless spending. Notley’s most controversial policy was the Climate Leadership Plan, which included a carbon tax. The carbon tax led to life becoming more expensive, as prices for gas to fill vehicles and home heating went up. She said her plan was a way of winning the social licence needed to get approval for new pipelines. To get more Alberta oil to tidewater, she admitted it needed a world price for oil rather than sell it for a discount to the United States.One memorable moment from her time as premier was when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invited her to Ottawa to give a conditional approval to Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline in 2016. “Let me say this definitively: We could not have approved this project without the leadership of premier Notley and Alberta's Climate Leadership Plan,” said Trudeau.However, the Trans Mountain Pipeline faced opposition from indigenous people, environmental groups and politicians such as former British Columbia premier John Horgan. When Kinder Morgan threatened to cancel the project, she persuaded the Canadian government to buy it for $4.5 billion in 2018. Conservative opposition to her government grew during her term. In 2017, it coalesced together with a merger of the PCs and Wildrose to become the Alberta United Conservative Party, which was first led by former premier Jason Kenney. Notley entered the 2019 election campaign by speaking about her achievements on the social front, but Kenney challenged her by saying she created an economic crisis. Polls had indicated for months before the election the Alberta UCP was ahead of the NDP. This prompted her to characterize Kenney as outdated. “This issue goes directly to the choice before Albertans; this goes to the choice of who’s going to be premier and who’s fit to be premier of Alberta,” she said.“Elections aren’t decided by polls; they’re decided by the voters.”The UCP won a majority government in the 2019 election with 63 seats. The NDP formed the official opposition with 24 seats. While people might have expected her to resign, she vowed to lead it into the 2023 election. In the UCP’s first term, she challenged it on education, healthcare and workers’ rights. When the 2023 election rolled around in May, Notley faced off against Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Some of the policies she campaigned on included launching a task force to have every Albertan set up with a family doctor, covering the full cost of birth control, and offering more support to schools by hiring 4,000 new teachers and 3,000 educational assistants and support staff. To paint herself as fiscally responsible, she released a costed economic platform predicting a $3.3 billion surplus over three years. Her promises would be paid for by raising the corporate tax from 8% to 11%. While the 2023 election was a tight race, the UCP formed a majority government with 49 seats. The NDP remained the official opposition with 38 seats. Notley said in June she was unsure if she would 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 was planning on resigning as leader. READ MORE: FILDEBRANDT: Notley could be headed to retirement this fallThe source said Notley was likely to step down in the fall rather than stay on until a successor is chosen.That means the caucus would elect an interim leader to see it through the leadership race.
