Anne McGrath ran as an NDP candidate in Calgary in the 1993 Alberta general election and again in a provincial by-election in 1995, but has had more success as a backroom player.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
When Anne McGrath starts her job as Alberta Premier Rachel Notley's deputy chief of staff on Monday, it will be a true return to politics in the province for the former senior federal NDP worker.
The last time Ms. McGrath was this deeply involved in Alberta politics, it was 1995. The Progressive Conservatives, led by Ralph Klein, were in steady command and oil was climbing. Now Ms. McGrath, who was the New Democrats' national director and a former top adviser to the late Jack Layton, will be arriving to a radically different Alberta.
The NDP is in power amid weakened popular support, the economy is contracting on the oil and gas rout, the province is forecasting multibillion-dollar deficits until 2019-2020, and the Premier is talking about a low-carbon future.
"The challenges Premier Notley is facing are great. She's faced with an economy that's quite rough right now," said Kathleen Monk, an Ottawa consultant and former NDP aide who has known Ms. McGrath since 2006.
"[She's also faced with] changing the overall reputation Alberta has had, particularly in regards to energy production. At this time, Premier Notley needs the best and the brightest to surround her."
Ms. McGrath's relationship with Ms. Notley goes back decades through their activity in student and labour issues in Alberta.
Ms. McGrath met Ms. Notley through the Premier's late father, the former Alberta NDP leader, Grant Notley, who gave Ms. McGrath her first tour of the Alberta Legislature. It was part of a meeting about the student movement in the early 1980s.
In 1995 she ran for the Alberta NDP leadership, a challenge that was unsuccessful as she came in second behind Ross Harvey. It wasn't her first time in front of the curtain of electoral politics.
She ran as an NDP candidate in Calgary in the Alberta general election of 1993 and again in a provincial by-election in 1995. In both, she came in third, behind runner-up Liberal candidates.
Ms. McGrath, who turns 58 at the end of January, has been more successful as a backroom player.
She has worked on operations in her most recent position as national director and leaves behind a party doing some soul-searching after Tom Mulcair, in the October election, fell from leader of the opposition to third place.
"It's a time of renewal for the federal NDP, with Anne's departure or without," said Shay Purdy, a former staffer to Mr. Layton and now a consultant for Summa Strategies in Ottawa. "Maybe this next phase for the party is something she's going to want to leave to the membership and to others to decide."
At Ms. Notley's office, Ms. McGrath will again team up with chief of staff Brian Topp. The two worked closely as senior advisers to Mr. Layton, assisting the leader in the party's rise to official opposition in 2011. Ms. McGrath was Mr. Layton's chief of staff; she visited him a couple days before he died, and helped him pen his famous letter to Canadians that called for love over anger, hope over fear.
Ms. McGrath's father was a school principal and her mother a teacher. She is known for emphasizing the importance of family, in part through large family dinners on Sunday nights at her home in Ottawa. She has four children, two living in Calgary and two who will remain in Ottawa with her husband, Bruce Potter.
The Alberta Premier's Office declined an interview request on Ms. McGrath's behalf, but people familiar with the move said the deputy chief of staff and Mr. Topp complement each other's skills. Mr. Topp has a strategic mind, looking several moves ahead, while Ms. McGrath's strengths are building teams, management and diplomacy.
Under Stephen Harper's Conservative government, it was Ms. McGrath's work that got Mr. Layton key meetings with political adversaries such as Conservative cabinet minister John Baird or Mr. Harper's chief of staff, Nigel Wright.
It is fitting then that Ms. McGrath was called upon to serve on Ms. Notley's transition team after the NDP's surprise victory in the spring, where the adviser used her Ottawa and Alberta contacts to help fill key positions. She also worked with Ms. Notley on renaming Richard Dicerni as the province's chief public servant, even after he had served in that role under the Progressive Conservatives.
"The way I would describe Anne is a calming influence. She's very down-to-earth, very pragmatic, very thoughtful," said Linda Duncan, a New Democratic MP representing Edmonton-Strathcona who has known Ms. McGrath since 2008. "I don't think you can ask for a better person in your office, especially dealing with issues that arise with caucus."
Her first time working as a political aide in government, Ms. McGrath has always approached her job as "wanting to be ready to govern," Mr. Purdy said.
Editor's note: an earlier version of this story said Alberta Premier Rachel Notley had worked on Anne McGrath's campaign for the provincial NDP leadership. In fact, the Premier's office said Ms. Notley has not worked on any of Ms. McGrath's political campaigns.