The deadline to enter the Alberta NDP leadership contest has officially closed with six candidates in the ring to replace outgoing leader Rachel Notley.
Four NDP MLAs are in the running, along with a union leader and a former mayor of Calgary.
Calgary MLA and energy critic Kathleen Ganley was the first candidate to declare. Ganley, a Canadian lawyer, was the justice minister and Aboriginal affairs minister under Notley’s former NDP government.
“It’s my belief that we (win) by talking more about our economic message,” Ganley said in an interview with the St. Albert Gazette.
“People are a little bit skeptical about our ability to handle the economy. I think they’re wrong, but that’s not a ‘them’ problem. It’s an ‘us communicating it to them’ problem.”
Ganley is one of two candidates from Calgary. Her campaign manager, Jeremy Nolais already attacked the other, saying former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi gave a lousy endorsement to the NDP during the last election.
Nenshi entered the race just this week and has already set Premier Danielle Smith in his sights. He attacked Smith for high utility bills and auto insurance rates across the province.
“This is sheer incompetence, combined with the lack of any moral fibre and you know, I will call them on that every single day,” he said on the Ryan Jespersen podcast this week.
Cheryl Oates, who served as Notley’s executive director of communication and planning, told Rachel Emmanuel’s Alberta Roundup that Nenshi is showing he can go toe-to-toe with Smith.
“But also, to position himself to say ‘I can take her on, I can win and I’m the candidate position to do that,’” Oates said.
“And I mean, the NDP, historically, leadership races have been pretty friendly, so I think it makes sense for him to take his aim outside the party.”
NDP MLA and former health minister and NDP MLA Sarah Hoffman was another early entrant into the field.
“Women like me aren’t supposed to be in politics, right? I’m fat. I’m sassy,” she told the media upon joining the race. “And I have a really hard time pretending to be somebody that I’m not.”
Hoffman agrees with fellow leadership contestant Rakhi Pancholi that it’s time to end the consumer carbon tax.
MLA Pancholi announced that she would axe the tax as she entered the race. A lawyer, she was elected to represent Edmonton-Whitemud in 2019. She also served as the NDP critic for education and children services before joining the leadership race.
“There’s no challenge Alberta can’t take on,” she said in a video launching her campaign. “But the story the current government tells about Alberta is too small for such a big place.”
Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, a relative newcomer to politics who is also an Edmonton MLA, launched her bid last month. She said she’s focusing on climate change and drought.
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan announced his leadership bid in early March. McGowan said he won’t be stepping down from his union role while he runs, and announced that he wouldn’t be making public appearances until he recovers from COVID-19.
Oates said the party needs a particular type of candidate to go up against Smith and the United Conservative Party in three years.
“I’m looking for a unicorn,” she said.
“I’m looking for someone who can uphold the values of the party and the history of the party and the things that the NDP has long fought for, and also have the ability to be competitive in 2027. We know that Danielle Smith is an expert communicator, and the next leader of the NDP will have to be just as good of a communicator to be able to stand up to her.”
