Alberta NDP leader and former Premier Rachel Notley announced she was stepping down as opposition leader this week.
The move is not surprising given the NDP’s result in the last election. Notley basically stuck around because her party just didn’t have another candidate which could have carried Notley’s experience and name value into a heavily contested election campaign, a campaign where the NDP felt it had a good chance for a run back to government with the lingering unpopularity of Jason Kenney.
However, Premier Danielle Smith was able to cobble enough rural and suburban seats together to pull out the majority in the end. Thus the writing was then on the wall for Notley’s time as leader.
As historic as it was that Notley became premier and flukily led the province from 2015-2019, what is probably most important about her time in office is the breakthrough for the NDP under her leadership as the long time also-rans set themselves up as the primary opposition to the conservatives in Alberta, and delivered a powerful wake up call to what is now called the United Conservative Party. There is no divine right of rule in Alberta. If the voters get riled up and decide to throw you out, they will.
Notley rode that orange wave of anger toward the former regime, the Progressive Conservatives, to a majority government, and later took Calgary away from the United Conservatives in last year’s election– all the while uniting the progressive vote in the province in a way it has never been united behind any one party before.
Whoever becomes the next NDP leader, they will be knocking at the door of government in four years. That is thanks to Rachel Notley.
An NDP premier in Alberta? Who would have ever expected it?
No one, except maybe Rachel Notley.
No matter what comes next for the former premier, her legacy is secure.
