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Alberta Premier Rachel Notley speaks to the Globe and Mail at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, Alta., on June 17. The provincial government, still short on political aides, has been poaching NDP staff from across the country, including several from Manitoba and some from Ottawa.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail

After NDP Leader Rachel Notley won the Alberta provincial election this spring, Ken Georgetti's phone started ringing. The former president of the Canadian Labour Congress was getting feelers for job offers.

The semi-retired former union leader went on to a position as strategic counsel to Canadian Strategy Group, an Edmonton government relations consultancy, as many firms re-evaluate their dearth of NDP-linked talent.

Between consulting firm needs, Ms. Notley's new government in Alberta and the national party's first-place polling numbers, demand for New Democrat hires has reached a high that insiders say reflects the rise of the previously third-placed party.

Tim Powers, a Conservative lobbyist and vice-chairman at Summa Strategies, said some clients are interested in help from his firm and its two NDP consultants, Robin MacLachlan and Shay Purdy, who know the party.

"Every party has a different lexicon, nomenclature or patterns of conversation," said Mr. Powers. "If you're going to have results, or you're going to be heard, you're going to need to know how to talk with people in a language they understand."

Similarly, one NDP-connected person added that while consulting firms in Alberta understand government bureaucracy, they don't understand the NDP or know the new caucus. Some in the private sector have joked that they "can't read, write or even spell NDP," the person said.

There was already a feeling that New Democratic resources were stretched in 2011, after the late party leader Jack Layton won a historic victory, another NDP-connected source said. Now, the feeling is heightened.

Consulting firms are competing for New Democrats as the Alberta government, still short on political aides, has been poaching NDP staff from across the country, including several from Manitoba and some from Ottawa.

Nathan Rotman, chief of staff to the Alberta Finance minister, and Scott Harris, chief of staff to the Alberta Agriculture minister, were both senior NDP aides in Ottawa before joining Ms. Notley's team.

NDP résumés are crossing the country as several others in Ottawa have been offered positions in Alberta that they declined, sources said.

Brad Lavigne, a former NDP national campaign director who in 2012 became a vice-president at Ottawa public affairs firm Hill+Knowlton Strategies, recently rejoined the national party as senior campaign adviser.

Vancouver-based Wazuku Advisory Group, a management consulting and strategic planning firm, is expanding to Edmonton, and probably looking for some NDP-connected staff.

The firm's principal, Brad Zubyk, said the company had been planning the expansion for about seven months and that the company is looking for someone who has "connectivity" and an understanding of the Alberta government's priorities.

In other recent hires of former NDPers, Canadian Strategy Group, in addition to hiring Mr. Georgetti, brought on Moe Sihota, former president of the B.C. New Democrats.

And in May, consulting firm Navigator hired Sally Housser, press secretary to Ms. Notley during the provincial election campaign and former deputy national director of the federal NDP. The same month, Impact Consulting hired NDP caucus communications director Brookes Merritt.

The demand also means NDP consultants are a little busier.

These days, Robin Sears, an NDP-connected principal and government relations consultant at Earnscliffe Strategy Group in Ottawa, has been travelling regularly to Edmonton on behalf of clients.

"Business is learning fast how to speak to the new government," Mr. Sears said via e-mail. "Many of them took a long time getting the Harper government's 'hot buttons.' Now advisers need to teach their clients a new Alberta vocabulary."

Simon Doyle covers lobbying and the intersection of business and politics in Ottawa. He writes for Politics Insider, which is only available to subscribers of Globe Unlimited.

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