With former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi officially announcing his bid for the leadership of the Alberta NDP, there is now actually a race. But, long-time NDP faithful might struggle with the idea of Nenshi swooping in at the eleventh hour. After all, Nenshi has sat on the sidelines all these years, loftily disdaining 'red or blue,' in favour of his own cute brand of purple. Not exactly a revolutionary hero, is he?But, with his mayoral legacy of tax and spend that Calgarians are still paying for, he does have eye-appeal for Alberta's committed socialists. Meanwhile, moderate voters may be reassured by his lengthy mayoralty. They shouldn't be, but it's human nature to assume people that keep getting elected must be doing something right.The trouble is, he wasn't. As mayor, “Two Pension” Nenshi spent money like it was going out of style. He was always ready to boost the amount of people working at City Hall on taxpayer dollars and hike taxes for property owners year over year. Safe to say then, a potential Premier Nenshi would be unlikely to bring with him a hidden agenda of fiscal responsibility. He is also known for being a bit of a one-man band and dancing to his own tune.The other Calgary contender is Kathleen Ganley. The MLA for Calgary-Mountain View and former justice minister is focused on Energy, Economy, and Environment. She calls it “An economic strategy that puts people first” and promises to take “decisive action to lower the cost of living.”Translation? Be sure that Ganley will lead the NDP forward chanting for more government, more taxes and more spending than we can afford.Heading up the Edmonton frontline is Sarah Hoffman. The "Fat and Sassy” Edmonton-Glenora MLA and former Health Minister is centering her campaign on Health, Climate and Housing.Of course, she believes the solution to our bloated health-care system is more government intervention. The province spent almost $42 billion on health last year and saw a significant decrease in wait times in emergency rooms. When Hoffman was in charge of health-care average wait times increased almost across the board for surgery. It is certain a premier Hoffman would massively push her socialist ideology into every corner of Alberta life.And of course she also loves public education. She has already come out swinging on education policy. In a series of tweets posted Tuesday, Hoffman stated, “The UCP is deliberately starving our public, separate and Francophone schools of resources in order to divert tax dollars to private schools and charter schools,” and continued, “As premier, I will work towards an arrangement that reduces public funding for private schools and schools that charge high fees.” The former Edmonton School Board Trustee has no room for any schooling option that run top down from the government and parents in support of school choice should be worried.Also vying for the top NDP job is Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan. (While continuing to take his salary, no less... nice work if you can get it.) Certainly no need to worry about mandatory dues to a political action fund AFL members need to pay. McGowan as NDP leader would undoubtedly bring an air of decorum and refinement to the Legislature. He only compared the UCP to Nazis and wants to shut down our energy industry. McGowan also spearheaded a campaign to boycott businesses that have donated to the UCP. Definitely sounds like someone who should be the Leader of the Opposition. When all you have is the unions, everything looks like tax base.That leaves also-ran Edmonton MLAs Rakhi Pancholi (Edmonton-Whitemud) and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse (Edmonton-Rutherford). Both NDP caucus members were elected after the party was in government, Pancholi in 2019 and Stonehouse in 2023. Neither are considered frontrunners, with each polling less than 5% in the “excited” category.This contest quickly appears to be Nenshi’s to lose. Ganley and Hoffman lack the name recognition needed to sell memberships to the general public and even the NDP base will probably think people like McGowan a teeny bit too radical. Ultimately, candidates will have until April 22 to sell memberships with voting taking place two months later in June. Conservatives across the province can look forward to a fun-filled spring of socialist campaigning and leftist mudslinging. With the victor to be crowned just before Stampede, it will be one hell of a race to watch.Conner Hall is an Engineer in Training who works in the energy sector in Calgary.
With former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi officially announcing his bid for the leadership of the Alberta NDP, there is now actually a race. But, long-time NDP faithful might struggle with the idea of Nenshi swooping in at the eleventh hour. After all, Nenshi has sat on the sidelines all these years, loftily disdaining 'red or blue,' in favour of his own cute brand of purple. Not exactly a revolutionary hero, is he?But, with his mayoral legacy of tax and spend that Calgarians are still paying for, he does have eye-appeal for Alberta's committed socialists. Meanwhile, moderate voters may be reassured by his lengthy mayoralty. They shouldn't be, but it's human nature to assume people that keep getting elected must be doing something right.The trouble is, he wasn't. As mayor, “Two Pension” Nenshi spent money like it was going out of style. He was always ready to boost the amount of people working at City Hall on taxpayer dollars and hike taxes for property owners year over year. Safe to say then, a potential Premier Nenshi would be unlikely to bring with him a hidden agenda of fiscal responsibility. He is also known for being a bit of a one-man band and dancing to his own tune.The other Calgary contender is Kathleen Ganley. The MLA for Calgary-Mountain View and former justice minister is focused on Energy, Economy, and Environment. She calls it “An economic strategy that puts people first” and promises to take “decisive action to lower the cost of living.”Translation? Be sure that Ganley will lead the NDP forward chanting for more government, more taxes and more spending than we can afford.Heading up the Edmonton frontline is Sarah Hoffman. The "Fat and Sassy” Edmonton-Glenora MLA and former Health Minister is centering her campaign on Health, Climate and Housing.Of course, she believes the solution to our bloated health-care system is more government intervention. The province spent almost $42 billion on health last year and saw a significant decrease in wait times in emergency rooms. When Hoffman was in charge of health-care average wait times increased almost across the board for surgery. It is certain a premier Hoffman would massively push her socialist ideology into every corner of Alberta life.And of course she also loves public education. She has already come out swinging on education policy. In a series of tweets posted Tuesday, Hoffman stated, “The UCP is deliberately starving our public, separate and Francophone schools of resources in order to divert tax dollars to private schools and charter schools,” and continued, “As premier, I will work towards an arrangement that reduces public funding for private schools and schools that charge high fees.” The former Edmonton School Board Trustee has no room for any schooling option that run top down from the government and parents in support of school choice should be worried.Also vying for the top NDP job is Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan. (While continuing to take his salary, no less... nice work if you can get it.) Certainly no need to worry about mandatory dues to a political action fund AFL members need to pay. McGowan as NDP leader would undoubtedly bring an air of decorum and refinement to the Legislature. He only compared the UCP to Nazis and wants to shut down our energy industry. McGowan also spearheaded a campaign to boycott businesses that have donated to the UCP. Definitely sounds like someone who should be the Leader of the Opposition. When all you have is the unions, everything looks like tax base.That leaves also-ran Edmonton MLAs Rakhi Pancholi (Edmonton-Whitemud) and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse (Edmonton-Rutherford). Both NDP caucus members were elected after the party was in government, Pancholi in 2019 and Stonehouse in 2023. Neither are considered frontrunners, with each polling less than 5% in the “excited” category.This contest quickly appears to be Nenshi’s to lose. Ganley and Hoffman lack the name recognition needed to sell memberships to the general public and even the NDP base will probably think people like McGowan a teeny bit too radical. Ultimately, candidates will have until April 22 to sell memberships with voting taking place two months later in June. Conservatives across the province can look forward to a fun-filled spring of socialist campaigning and leftist mudslinging. With the victor to be crowned just before Stampede, it will be one hell of a race to watch.Conner Hall is an Engineer in Training who works in the energy sector in Calgary.
