Alberta NDP leadership race kicks off with first official candidate Kathleen Ganley

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The Alberta New Democratic Party has its first official candidate vying to take the place of departing leader Rachel Notley.

Kathleen Ganley, a three-term MLA and former justice minister, announced her candidacy on Monday, kicking off a race that political experts say will focus on party identity and how to wrestle control away from the governing United Conservative Party. A handful of other MLAs are expected to announce their bids this week, while whispers grow louder of two outsiders also preparing leadership runs.

Ms. Ganley, a self-described “lawyer, mother, and a bit of a nerd,” focused heavily on the economy in her campaign launch at the Telus Convention Centre in downtown Calgary, while contending that she will bring calm to the chaos brought on by the UCP. Her candidacy came as no shock to political observers considering Ms. Ganley posted a leadership-style video shortly before Ms. Notley’s resignation.

“The UCP have the wrong priorities. They’re bad for families and they’re bad for business. What this province needs is less drama. It needs experienced, competent leadership focused on what matters,” said Ms. Ganley, flanked by several other NDP MLAs, including deputy house leaders Irfan Sabir and Heather Sweet and finance critic Shannon Phillips.

Ms. Notley, who led the NDP to power in 2015 after more than four decades of conservative rule, announced in mid-January that she would step aside after members choose her replacement. She said, despite the NDP gaining enough seats to form the largest opposition in Alberta’s history in the last election, “it wasn’t enough” and, therefore, it was time to leave.

Widely respected across Canada for her political acumen, Ms. Notley brought the provincial NDP from obscurity to the mainstream, in part by distancing it from its federal counterpart. Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said she was not typical of any NDP leader – “much more pragmatic than ideological, pro-oil, pro-pipeline, pro-business, but also pro-environment.”

It will be up to party members to decide if this is still the direction they want to take, said Ms. Williams, or if they want to more closely align with the principles and policies of the federal NDP. Ms. Ganley told reporters that she is open to speaking with members about this relationship and has heard “valid concerns” from members that feel like the connection is hurting the provincial party.

While it would be beneficial for candidates to continue with Ms. Notley’s pragmatic approach, said Ms. Williams, it would also serve them well to distance themselves from some of her less popular policies and proposals, such as carbon pricing, raising the corporate income tax rate, and farm safety legislation that brought tractor-led protests to the legislature in 2015.

“The key is going to be who has their finger on the pulse of where Albertans are, what their concerns are, and is able to connect to Albertans wherever they are and persuade them that they’ve got the vision to take them where they need to go in the future,” she said.

Other possible leadership contenders, all of whom are Edmonton MLAs, include Sarah Hoffman, deputy leader to Ms. Notley and former health minister; Rakhi Pancholi, two-term MLA and NDP critic for children’s services; David Shepherd, a third-term MLA and NDP health critic; and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, a first-time MLA and NDP critic for environment.

Outside the party, possible leadership hopefuls include Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, and Naheed Nenshi, former Calgary mayor. Mr. Nenshi, on Saturday, made a passionate speech at a rally in Calgary opposing a package of policies announced by Premier Danielle Smith that restrict gender-affirming health care for transgender youth.

“I’ve known you for 30 years,” said Mr. Nenshi directly to Ms. Smith in his speech. “You’re better than this. You need to be better than this. … I need you to understand that votes aren’t worth a few dead kids.”

Lars Hallstrom, a political scientist from the University of Lethbridge, said it is not unlike the former mayor to wade into political issues but it also would not come as a shock if he actually joined the race for NDP leader. Name recognition could work to his advantage, in addition to a lengthy history of fighting for Albertans, but he could struggle with bridging the urban-rural gap, said Mr. Hallstrom.

“The magic key, as is always, the rural vote,” he said. “The perception – and some of this goes back to when the NDP was in government – is that they are a city-based, urban, overeducated bunch of socialists.”

That’s not true, he added, but whoever the new leader is will need to disrupt this perception without completely alienating existing supporters.