Notley says political opponents will brand the Alberta NDP even if there’s no automatic connection to the federal party
“Silly, superficial, shortsighted.”
That’s Rachel Notley’s view of splitting the Alberta NDP from the federal party, voiced two days before the vote to replace her will be revealed.
Former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, widely seen as the front-runner, backs a move for party divorce from “big brother.”
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will attend a big tribute for Notley at the BMO Centre Friday evening. He’s expected to give a short talk praising Notley. The crowd reaction to Singh will be very interesting.
Former premier Notley, the party leader since 2014, knowingly throws her disdain into the final hours of balloting by NDP members. (Votes can still be cast online until noon Friday.)
The idea of a split isn’t just a political thing with Notley — it’s deeply personal.
“I was born and raised in the Alberta NDP,” she said in an interview. “I was probably about four years old when I met Tommy Douglas, and met every leader after that.
“The idea of running away from that brand is to me silly, superficial, shortsighted.”
Notley says health care is the most important issue for Canadians and “only one party is clearly and properly identified with doing the work necessary to build a strong public system.”
“I think there’s room for talk about how the (provincial and federal) sections work together,” she continued.
“I think that’s totally legitimate.” But she rejects “this idea of denouncing the federal NDP.”
During the 2023 provincial election, some voters told NDP candidates they will never vote for the party as long as it’s linked to the federal NDP.
But Notley says political opponents will brand the Alberta NDP even if there’s no automatic connection to the federal party. This was happening “long before Jagmeet Singh was even the leader.”
“We would lose the benefit of our history as the party that brought in medicare, and at the same time we won’t gain anything because the same, continuous branding will go on.”
“This party is confident and a modern force and I don’t think we need that anymore,” he said.
“I believe that our ties to the federal NDP are remnants of a party that wasn’t confident, a party that wasn’t grown up yet, that relied on big brother to look after us.”
That appealed to some people leaning towards the NDP, but also offended long-time party loyalists.
As premier from 2015-19 Notley opposed many federal NDP policies, especially on energy. She battled B.C. New Democrats over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. In the end she helped save the project.
In 2016 she flatly rejected a federal NDP’s LEAP manifesto that called for a ban on new energy infrastructure.
But Notley still believes the national NDP is a family that can survive its own fights. Nenshi wants no more to do with big brother.
She also made a provocative point that suggests Nenshi’s support may not be as strong as anticipated.
A great many of the nearly 70,000 people who bought new memberships were already linked to the party through past membership, donations or other activities, she said. The number of cards bought by people completely new to the party was relatively small.
This challenges the narrative that huge numbers of new members flocked to the party because of Nenshi.
As New Democrats gather in Calgary, we can always count on the UCP to get a word in.
Premier Danielle Smith said Alberta could mount a constitutional challenge or deploy the Sovereignty Act.
Sponsoring relevant amendments to C-59 was Charlie Angus, the NDP member who also wants oil executives jailed.
The timing is mischievous. It also suggests Notley has a point; the needles will never stop, even if the Alberta NDP files divorce papers.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald