Hi everyone, Mark Iype in Edmonton today.
A chapter in Alberta politics came to an end Tuesday when Rachel Notley stepped down after nearly a decade at the helm of the province’s New Democratic Party.
Notley led her party to victory in 2015, ending a 43-year run in power by the Progressive Conservatives. While her government lasted just one term, as The Globe and Mail’s Carrie Tait said, Notley “transformed Alberta’s NDP into a competitive and cohesive option for voters in a province known for its deep devotion to conservative politicians.”
“We didn’t get everything right, but we governed with integrity, an ambitious agenda and an earnest desire to make life better for Albertans,” Notley said as she announced her resignation, her family by her side, at a news conference in Edmonton.
Notley was expected to step aside this year after the NDP lost the 2023 provincial election to the United Conservative Party and its leader, Danielle Smith. The NDP had spent four years in opposition after losing the 2019 election to the UCP, then led by Jason Kenney.
While her party is the largest Official Opposition in Alberta’s history, Notley said it isn’t enough.
“And that’s why it is now time for me to leave,” she said.
“If there is any one accomplishment that I can leave behind me, it is that we are not a one-party province where Albertans have no real choice about how their province is to be run.”
In a statement posted to social media, the Premier thanked Notley for her years of service.
“Serving as premier is an extremely demanding job, and she served in that office with an honour and dignity reminiscent of her late father, another honourable and loyal Albertan and public servant,” Smith said.
Notley’s father, Grant Notley, served as the province’s NDP leader from 1968 to 1984, when he was killed in a plane crash. She was first elected in 2008, making her the longest-serving MLA currently in the Alberta Legislature.
Notley’s term as premier faced significant headwinds from the get-go, with weak oil and gas prices putting an enormous dent in the province’s balance sheet. While she fought to secure the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, she also introduced a carbon tax, which the UCP used against her on the campaign trail and immediately repealed when they took office in 2019.
While Notley said she had no interest in turning to federal politics, she did say she would continue to serve as the MLA for the riding of Edmonton-Strathcona.
The race to replace the popular leader now begins in earnest.
This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.
Wendy Cox