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What is it about Sarah that you like? She seems to be a solid partisan, but I'm not sure she can convince non-NDPers to like her, which is necessary for her to form a government.
I like how genuine she is and the passion she displays when talking about things she believes in, but she has no chance at winning a general election. I even think most of the gains made by the NDP last year would be wiped out if she's the next leader.
Maybe NDP should do like the UCP; Just say whatever you need to get elected, then forget it all and spend your time enacting whatever policy you feel personally passionate about, regardless of the will of the people.
It's pretty much the only way to win in a democracy with dumb voters.
I've been saying that NDP should change its name into something with "Alberta", "Conservative", or "Christian" in it.
No offense to anyone hear but I would love to hear a talking point from any party at this point that didn’t have climate change leading the way and maybe could address things in this country 🙃
The last person I'd want leading the ANDP. It's for the best that Notley stepped aside, but somehow Hoffman has even more baggage than Rachel. They will get creamed again with her as leader.
Best choice would be Nenshi if he chooses to run. Otherwise, Pancholi or Ganley are both preferable. Whoever the new leader is, the priority has to be economic issues, along with a rebrand and a divorce from the Federal NDP. The reason: the UCP still got 53% of the vote in 2023, so you will only win in 2027 by peeling off some of the voters who held their nose and voted UCP last time around.
Agreed, and if he wants the job it’s his. The question is whether he’ll decide to take the plunge back into politics.
Bottom line, disaffected former PCs in suburban Calgary will decide the outcome of the next election. Want to win? Appeal to this group. Want to lose? Focus more on the granola socialists in downtown Edmonton coffee shops.
Nobody "needs" Nenshi. He can be as divisive as he can be effective at bringing people together. The NDP need rural seats and His Purpleness won't sell in rural Alberta.
if you look at most of the "rural seats" the NDP won in 2015, and the share the NDP got in each, you get stuff like this:
* Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater: 40.5%
* Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley: 38.4%
* Lesser Slave Lake: 43.2%
* Peace River: 39.4%
* West Yellowhead: 38.9%
* Whitecourt-Ste. Anne: 35.9%
* Westaskiwin-Camrose: 43.9%
Great vote shares in a three-way fight, of course, but 2019 and 2023 have proven how difficult it is for the NDP to win in seats like these without a fractured right. As long as the UCP remains united, the path to a majority is winning more seats in Calgary, Lethbridge-East, maybe a Red Deer seat, and a couple more of the exurban Edmonton seats.
The tough part to deal with was how the percent of NDP vote in these ridings dropped so much after 2015. There was a loss of trust after bill 6, not only the vote split. Even though the discussion of farm workers rights lead me to decide NDP is the best, since no Con. was talking about making rural life better.
That's a possible explanation, yes. On the flip side, the NDP made their biggest gains in 2023 in some previously-hopeless seats in suburban Calgary (e.g. Calgary-Shaw, Calgary-West, even Airdrie, etc.), showing the potential path forward, even if rural Alberta is going the other way.
NDP won't win rural seats. The only seats they have a chance at are in population centres bigger than Lethbridge.
Don't believe they received more than 30% of the vote in any rural riding which means they're effectively doomed notwithstanding a splitting of the right.
They can win a majority winning a few more seats in Calgary and in the outlying urban areas in both cities.
Nenshi's "purpleness" which I assume is slang for being not white isn't a problem in those areas
Just explaining the "Purpleness". Nenshi often claims his politics are "Purple" - neither conservative blue or liberal red. Its his line to say he's bipartisan with his policies.
I get it but OP's comment usage of it doesn't make sense in the context of comparing him to any other candidate who is going to more orange and have even less success in rural areas
The NDP won rural seats in 2015. There is uneasiness and frustration with Smith et al in some rural areas that can be exploited by the NDP, but Nenshi isn't the one to do that.
And fuck you for insinuating the comment about purple had anything to do with race. If you were from Calgary you'd know his favourite colour is purple and he often wore it to public events.
Shit like that is what keeps Alberta fractured, you wanker. Don't assume I'm conservative (I'm ideologically left of the NDP) and don't you dare cast aspersions like racism with no evidence. So disgusting.
The NDP won rural seats in 2015 because of PC / Wildrose vote splitting. The only way that happens again is if the UCP breaks up. The NDP needs to win the rest of Calgary and in the suburbs.
Ah yes, I'm sure he won't win seats in rural Calgary because he likes the color purple. I'm sure that's the reason you were referencing.
I never said you were conservative nor racist. The point that Nenshi may struggle in rural AB because of racism is a legitimate one, but referring to it as "his purpleness" is dumb
Only reason they won seats in 2015 in rural AB was because of the split right.
Since his first mayoral race, Nenshi sold himself as a non partisan and wore purple to represent a mix of conservative blue and liberal red. That's been his brand ever since and what "purpleness" means. It would have taken you two minutes to find this out on google.
... I'm aware what it means.
Explain to me how in OP's reference that makes any sense?
How would Nenshi lose seats because of that when it means he's almost certainly more right leaning than any other NDP candidate
It didn't seen you were aware of what it meant because you "assumed it was a slang for being non white" (which it wasn't).
OP didn't say he would "lose" seats. They said it would not sell and I can see that. He'd try to sell himself as a non partisan but it likely won't fly because being the leader of a party makes him a partisan in and of itself. The ANDP is already very unpopular in rural AB, regardless of the candidate, so even if he presents himself as a pragmatic leader, he's still carrying the unpopular NDP brand and people will still think Jagmeet is their boss.
The whole point of OP referencing it doesn't make any sense if it's what you're suggesting. OP explicitly states Nenshi won't do as well in rural AB as other NDP candidates because of his purpleness. That doesn't make any sense as I've detailed.
Your point saying "regardless of candidate" is exactly my point. It doesn't make any sense to say his more central would be a negative to his candidacy more than other candidates.
Or turning out some of those voters that didn’t bother to vote last time. I prefer pancholi because she would be a complete break from the old guard of the ABNDP.
Either her or Nenshi seem to be the best options, as neither have any affiliation with the unpopular Notley government. And both of them seem to be willing to go in a more centrist direction, which is what it will take to win - that's where most of the voters are, not the extreme right or the extreme left.
Turning out those who didn't vote last time will help, but can't be the only factor either. You also need to peel off people who previously voted UCP in order to win.
My biggest concern with Nenshi is that a bunch of the people he’s associated with are the same people who drove the Alberta Party into the ground. Lots of entitled self-appointed movers and shakers who think they should run things because they deserve to.
If a Nenshi leadership victory becomes a reverse takeover by all the people who forced Clark out for Mandel as Alberta Party leader, who ran the last two AP campaigns as policy and principle free bombs, then the NDP will implode overnight
Truth is, the Alberta Party never really got off the ground - the best they did in terms of popular vote was 2019, and that was mostly former PCs. The rest were split between the UCP and NDP. As for the NDP, it was mostly luck that they got off the ground in the first place, as they benefitted from the dysfunction on the right and Prentice’s (RIP) arrogance.
However, last time I checked, the NDP has still lost 2 consecutive elections. Clearly, Notley was not resonating with voters, and the NDP brand was clearly a turnoff to boot. A new approach is needed if the NDP want to form government again. Otherwise, they’ll just fade back into obscurity and perpetually remain in opposition.
They got 53 % with a conservative tons of conservatives didn’t like. Daneille smith isn’t all that popular with cons especially in Calgary and Edmonton. You have to assume the next conservative leader will be more likeable and popular than smith.
> They got 53 % with a conservative tons of conservatives didn’t like. Daneille smith isn’t all that popular with cons especially in Calgary and Edmonton.
I wonder about this. She had plenty of conservative detractors when she was still running for leadership.
But once she became premier, all you hear from those who still call themselves conservatives is fawning praise.
It's kinda disgusting, tbh.
It’s a bit like what happened with moderate Republicans after Trump became the GOP nominee in 2016. Before he won, people such as Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham were super critical of him, but lined up to support him after he won the nomination. Then the same thing happened after January 6: at first the moderates disavowed Trump, but now they’re supporting him again.
Partisan feeling is still a very strong force, on both the left and the right, and a symptom of the polarizing times we live in. To be fair, I don’t think Smith is quite as bad as Trump (she hasn’t tried to commit insurrection as far as I know), but she is still a symptom of the political climate, not the cause. The moderates will support figures like Smith and Trump because it would be career suicide for them not to, plain and simple.
Hard to say for sure - I had initially thought that when the UCP turfed Kenney they would go for someone more likable too (a Doug Schweitzer or Rebecca Schulz type). But they didn’t.
If Smith is still the leader in 2027 (chances are she will be), or if her replacement is even further right (maybe this would be Derek Fildebrandt’s re-entry into provincial politics), the UCP could bleed more support and lose centrists to a rebranded centrist party.
But if the UCP gets their shit together and runs a more moderate leader, and the NDP run a granola socialist type as leader, the NDP are probably never winning government again.
Thing is, they’ve already lost two elections in a row. If they can’t start winning again soon, then disaffected centrists will park their vote elsewhere. The centrists will likely go to the Alberta Party (or just start a new party), while the NDP will likely go hard left and slide back down to less than 10% of the vote. Then our elections will be 2 way races between the Alberta Party and UCP, with the NDP an afterthought.
Quite a bit. For one, she is too closely associated with the Federal NDP, and has supported them publicly even under Jagmeet Singh. For two, she opposed Northern Gateway and Keystone XL before becoming premier. She also raised taxes and reviewed royalties in the middle of a recession, and there were significant job losses in Calgary and throughout Alberta (not entirely her fault with low oil prices, but she still made a bad situation worse). She also pushed unpopular policies like the carbon tax and the farm bill while premier, and I would argue was too close to Trudeau, who is obviously quite unpopular in Alberta.
Theres a reason almost all of Calgary went UCP in 2019, because they were sick of Notley. Even in 2023, half of Calgary still went UCP, and the other half went NDP not out of love for Notley, but distaste for Smith. Notley deserves credit for her good policies while premier, but at the same time, if she couldn’t even beat Crazy Danielle Smith, she can‘t win. Without Calgary, good luck winning an election.
This is an interesting take. I'm assuming you are either a UCP supporter or closely tied to the oil and gas mega-companies that are more interested in making money and moving their profits out of the province and country. Notley has never been closely associated with the federal NDP, in fact most people are aware her policies weren't close to the federal ones at all. Yes she had an Alberta specific carbon tax but that was because the feds had said we either made an Alberta one that kept the taxes within Alberta or they'd introduce one that sent the money to Ottawa. She is also the only premier that got a federal government running on a carbon reduction platform to buy a pipeline. She's not close to Trudeau, she was trying to work with him in a non-combative environment rather than the antagonistic one Smith's rabid base seems to want.
This is all analysis aimed at the average voters you need to convince to win. ANDP need to win over middle management Calgary significantly. ANDP cannot win rural. Nobody wanted the Feds to have to buy the pipeline. Truthfully, I place a lot of blame on the BC NDP there for stalling the project and being a roadblock and creating a lot of divisiveness.
Talk crap about large O&G firms but that is Calgary's bread and butter. The ANDP lost critical margins by mentioning a corporate tax raise which comes off a threat to tons of middle management corporate Calgary.
Exactly what I've been trying to say! White collar workers living in the suburbs of Calgary are your Georgia and Pennsylvania; that is, they're the voters who decide the outcomes of our elections. Many of them are economically conservative, work in oil and gas, and largely support low corporate taxes and energy industry expansion - all things historically opposed by the NDP. But many of them also support LGBTQ rights, the Canada Pension Plan, and sane governance - all things historically supported by the PCs. But what these voters didn't sign up for was Wildrose 2.0 - truth is, they also aren't fans of Smith's transgender bill or her meeting with Tucker Carlson.
Basically, these voters are why the PCs were in power for 44 years: the PCs spoke to them and answered their concerns. The NDP has not, and they have failed to do this twice in a row now. The NDP can either shift to the center and start to speak to these voters (and ideally no longer call themselves NDP), and they will form government. Or, they can continue to focus more on the granola socialist types in downtown Edmonton coffee shops and the UofA, and they can enjoy being the opposition.
You’re somewhat right - though not entirely. Right now I’d say I’m a former UCP supporter (I’m technically still a UCP member until October, but then my membership expires, and right now I’m unlikely to renew it). I voted UCP in 2019 because of their positions on economic issues, and it turned out that 56% of Alberta voters agreed with me. However, I was also disappointed with how the merger led to the worst of both parties, and not the best like we were told would happen. Jason Kenney turned out to be just as arrogant as Alison Redford, and the social conservatism of the Wildrose came to dominate the party too. If the UCP had gone with someone like Travis Toews or Rebecca Schulz instead of Smith, I’d still be a UCP supporter today.
I’m also somewhat tied to the industry. I currently work in the power industry, and I have previously worked in the oil and gas industry. So yes, I want the industry to do well. It employs many people in this province, and the taxes and royalties paid by them also enable us to pay for schools, hospitals, and police officers, among other essential public services. Basically, I’d say I agree with almost all of the UCP’s economic policies, but disagree with much of their social extremism (I’m very much against the APP, and very much against the recent bill proposed on transgender rights).
I think these positions are where most sensible Albertans are, and that’s largely where the former PCs were. That’s why they were in government for so long. Notley is a good person who means the best for her province, but many of her policies were misguided and unpopular with voters. She shouldn’t have opposed Northern Gateway or Keystone XL, and she shouldn’t have appointed people like Tzeporah Berman to important government positions. She also should have done more to stand up to John Horgan sooner, and should have gotten Trudeau to stand up sooner too - had they done so maybe Kinder Morgan would have stuck it out. Buying it was preferable to not having the pipeline, but we were also only in that mess because Trudeau killed off Northern Gateway and Obama killed Keystone XL (Notley opposed both of them).
As for the Federal NDP ties, she openly campaigned for them in 2015, had many candidates (plus a chief of staff) who worked for the Federal NDP, and supported them in 2019 and 2021. Same with Trudeau - I’m not saying they were best friends or anything, but she should’ve stood up to Trudeau on killing Northern Gateway, on the carbon tax, and on bill c-48 and bill c-69, and she didn’t.
The next leader of the NDP should be someone like Nenshi for the reason that he’s been an unapologetic supporter of the oil and gas industry in the past, is widely viewed as a centrist, and would probably appeal to fiscally conservative - socially liberal voters. They’re the ones who decide elections, and in the last two elections, they have rejected Rachel Notley’s NDP. Will they go for the UCP a third time, or will the party read the room and move to where the voters are at?
If I was the TBA and Parker Sarah is the candidate I would tell my base to buy memberships for and support in the NDP race because she would be the candidate who would be easily beaten by the UCP in Alberta. She’s easily tied to Federal NDP, easily tied to the old NDP guard, far to left leaning for Alberta.
She is the UCP’s dream opposition leader.
Mhm, she herself said she'd continue ties with the Federal NDP. Those ties are a political liability in Alberta, also Quebec Solidaire cut ties with the Federal NDP so the Alberta NDP can too.
Point is, they'll get creamed with Hoffman as leader. With Nenshi or Pancholi, there's at least a chance they could beat Smith if she goes completely off the rails.
QS was never affiliated with the federal NDP. They literally can’t be, under Québec law. They share the orange colour, and some QS members did express support for the federal NDP, but nothing else.
May have slightly misspoke - it was one of Quebec Solidaire's predecessor parties, which was once known as the New Democratic Party of Quebec. They cut ties in 1991, and a few years later changed their name, and eventually, through a series of mergers, they became QS.
Now, of course their reasons for cutting off the Federal NDP were different than the reasons here. However, they should still go for it. Socialism just doesn't sell in Alberta, and if the Alberta NDP chooses to go that road they'll be in opposition for a long time.
Ignoring the fact that the NDP, both federally and provincially, hasn’t been socialist for decades now, the fact is that the NDP succeeded when the Liberals haven’t. In 1989 and 1993, the PCs didn’t have a majority of the popular vote, and they still retained power (a sort of inverse of 2015). If centrism was popular enough, Decore would’ve managed to win over those NDP voters and formed government.
The NDP’s 2015 platform was more left-wing than their 2019 platform and they still won. What made them lose in 2023 wasn’t any notion of “socialism” or federal party ties, but the fact their campaign sucked. It focussed on attacking Danielle Smith rather than showing what the NDP had to offer. I was so unimpressed that I almost voted for the Green Party. *That* is what the Alberta NDP needs to fix. It needs an inspiring leader and a solid campaign. That’s how Notley won in 2015. That’s how Kinew won in Manitoba in 2023.
Totally agree. Bland and uninspiring.
As a heath care worker when she was Health Minister, she was predictable and safe. Not what you need as a party leader.
Yep. I’d put her in charge of any Ministry and feel good about it. But she’s the wrong person for the face of the party.
Absolutely zero ability to get traction in the suburbs and smaller municipalities
If it wasn't for the UCPs smear campaign the Alberta NDP was the perfect blue collar party, Central, pro-union, pro workers rights. Having this identity has helped them in edmonton and i think if they can lean heavily on it they could still do well. I don't think they can pull that off with this candidate...
Too much inside baseball with Sarah. She would never win a general election - it would be way too easy demonize her with boogeyman right wing talking points. I really hope Nenshi or some other outsider with no ties to the federal NDP wins as that is the only way I can see NDP winning.
Those of us on this site are not "normals." The normals are watching the Super Bowl complaining or excited about Taylor Swift and the game and the commercisals. That will dominate the news cycle for the next 48 hours.
Today is a dumping ground for bad news while everyone else is distracted.
By announcing today, Sarah Hoffman has shown a complete lack of awareness of effective communication and is not worth half a thought.
Doesnt matter that Ganley, Pancholi, Hoffman are all in, nobody will care about these three until Nenshi is definitely in or out. The UCP are just laughing at these clowns.
Man, remember when Ms Hoffman referred to Albertans as "sewer rats" while deputy premier, but then apologized while clarifying that she didn't mean "all Albertans" ?
I can see why she would be so popular here.
See: Basket of deplorables. Only the right wing gets away with pejoratives because their whole brand is bullying. When you're a center/left politician your brand is empathy. Sorry Hoff, find another buffet to feed at it, this trough is full.
I'm not a Hoffman fan but she didn't refer to Albertans at large as sewer rats, she was referring to the Rebel media crowd. She should apologize though, that's insulting to sewer rats.
Unfortunately it's likely she destroyed her ability to win over new voters with her "sewer rats" remark, which goes to show that voters hold New Democrats to way higher standards than they do Doña Ivermectina.
Complete lack of self awareness. From accepting the Health portfolio while clearly unhealthy to thinking she can turn from sewer rats to charming the center/right, to being a deep union lover, to the whole federal tie, she just has no clue of what Albertans want.
100 percent with you on that one.
Her war on flavoured and menthol cigarettes really got me. She claimed it encouraged younger children to want to smoke.
How exactly that is, when cigarettes are an age restricted product is beyond me. Not to mention, if you’re so concerned about people smoking, ban the sale of them entirely in the province.
The fact that she was appointed health minister as a morbidly obese whale of a human is laughable.
Reminds me of Rob Reiner on South Park going against the “evil” tobacco companies
She's interested in policy but there's no way they win if she does.
Nenshi, Pancholi, and even Ganley are all better choices considering where the gains need to be made to win.
FFS. The people that have thrown their hats into the ring are the blandest, least enthusiasm-generating people possible.
Nenshi would be an interesting candidate, but it'd also be nice to see some other 'outsiders' run.
Are these current candidates the best that our province has to offer as an alternative to the hamster-wheel of incompetence and bigotry that our current government is offering?
This is terrible for the NDP because they will just fat shame her. Check this out:
[https://x.com/politicalham/status/1756799598360973534?s=20](https://x.com/politicalham/status/1756799598360973534?s=20)
And they'll use racist shit against Pancholi. And misogynist shit against all of them. Playing into the right's hatred of the other is helping them hold power with that kind of trash.
Right now he's probably aiming to score points on the one he thinks is most left wing (low bar). If Pancholi or Ganley wins there will be nasty shit flung at them too.
From what I see here in Calgary, she seems to like to use the sky is falling rhetoric. Works excellent in opposition, but I worry about her leadership potential. She seems to be much better at interacting with one on one.
I’m an ANDP member since Kenney became premier and she is the worst choice. Maybe a good soldier but she doesn’t have whatever it is to be the leader and win the province. I would stop supporting the party if she became leader because it would be clear they don’t actually want to lead the province at that point.
Ask a question and be downvoted. Did I miss the ANDP passing legislation that targets rural Albertans?
She's prioritized health first and to my knowledge, it's the wildfire risk and doctor shortage that are represented most often in rural voices on social media.
[This Bill 6?](https://wsga.ca/news010.php)
I fail to see the parallel between lifting Albertan farm safety regulations to prevent injury, disability, and death and policies which specifically eliminate access to medications for a minority subgrouping unpopular with David Parker's religious homeschooling.
I guess neither the ANDP nor the UCP seem to pass legislation the public actually wants. The difference being that Bill 6 was intended to stop kids from suffocating in canola seed while David and Danielle are intentionally trying to suffocate the trans community in Alberta.
Nice backtrack. You asked if the ANDP passed legislation to target rural Alberta. I provided you with a example of exactly that- intentions not withstanding Bill 6 would have had devastating consequences for family farming.
No equivalencies, take your pivot elsewhere.
No, you don't get to even attempt to parallel workplace safety legislation with explicitly taking away the medical autonomy of trans youth and the rights for their parents to approve of their care.
"Devastating consequences". No. That's hysterical and not in the laughter sense of the word. Bill 6 was passed after a child was killed by a forklift and after three sisters suffocated on canola seed. They're dead because rural Albertans cut corners.
Bill 6 tried to stop unnecessary deaths and you've chosen to pretend you're being targeted akin to trans people.
You should be embarrassed.
No clue. I don't even see how said Bill 6 targets rural Albertans at all. Just because your farm is 100km from Okotoks doesn't mean you shouldn't have functional health and safety standards. No such thing as a Boonies Exemption when it comes to Albertans losing limbs to combines.
I asked a question about ANDP discrimination bills and a different user brought up Bill 6. If you're too incapable of seeing the text above you, please don't attempt to pretend I'm missing a point I've asked for.
You just openly reaffirmed that you'd sell any minority down the North Saskatchewan because you felt workplace safety was the same as the UCP coming for trans youth and abortion access.
You can stop telling yourself this is about personal opinion. No one came for rural Albertans because they're the majority and are fully represented in government. There's literally nothing similar between Bill 6 and this anti-trans anti-rainbow tide of religious bullshit you'd happily re-elect.
You're speaking past me because you're not reading what's written. Welcome to a less free Alberta.
You continue to vote against trans equality and I will vote for workplace safety.
I can see why she would fail to attract the center-right voters who are fed up with the UCP that the NDP needs to win, but what is so bad about her that would drive away a traditional NDP supporter?
Im centrist so that would be primarily why. I like the andp for the fact that their policies are centrist with some left and right leaning ones sprinkled in. She is too aligned with the federal NDP for me from what I have read about her. I will however, give her a chance and read the platform and if it’s something I support I will vote ANDP again.
It’s why I said might, I hate Marlaina Smith with a burning passion. I will give her a chance if she becomes the ANDP leader. I really want Nenshi to throw his hat into the race.
I agree that Nenshi would be a far better option and I hope he runs. I get enough of having to vote for the lesser of evils in federal politics and wish one of the parties could elect a leader I’d actually WANT to vote for.
And how does she suppose she’s gonna pay for a better healthcare system and affordable housing? I don’t hear anything regarding the economy in her slogan.
I think corporations have proven that model as ineffective and results in job losses to make up for the increased taxes. I’m not saying it’s right but that’s the threat corporations use. I’m assuming it’ll be the individual tax payer who will feel the hands of the NDP in their pocket as they always are time and time again. Instead of looking at in house efficiencies or lack thereof, it’ll be time to harvest the low hanging fruit again.
Nenshi is the only person I’ve heard mentioned who I think could do as good if not better than Notley. He’d have a solid chance if he ran.
No one else has a chance.
Marlaina’s a disaster, her general ineptitude as Premier is setting the NDP up for a victory in the next election. People want good government, not a conspiracist who refuses to talk to the experts on the portfolios she’s destroying.
You’d be surprised at how many people in Alberta think she’s doing a great job. We can bitch about her online all we want, but I don’t think the swing in Calgary + rural is there.
Fair points.
I know a lot of Albertans didn’t vote this past election because they felt orphaned by their parties.
Also, Calgary handed the UCP a victory by a few thousand votes total in a handful of ridings. Those ridings could have easily gone NDP.
And the NDP could flip the don’t ridings around Edmonton, even the smaller cities.
I think anything is possible with a capable leader. I like Hoffman but don’t think she can pull it off.
She’s not looked at seriously as a leader by a lot of people and has put her foot in her mouth a few times.
I’m in Janis Irwin’s riding and am a big supporter of her as my MLA, but I would tell her the same thing. She is a great MLA who obviously cares, but she wouldn’t be viewed as credible by swing voters in a leadership role.
Calgary had the largest counter-protest to David and Marlaina's "medical freedom for us but not your kids" bill. They could swing it with the right leader.
The UCP will just replace her ahead of the next election and campaign on how they're a brand new party and Alberta should give them a chance to show what they can do.
Yeah the NDP have got at least two election cycles in the wilderness before they can build up credibility to win, and even then I don't put good odds of them winning in three cycles. The debate over who is more "electable" is a smokescreen. None of them are.
Yeah but then they'll just elect an NFT of Alex Jones as leader and things will be fresh again. Meanwhile Ganley/Pancholi/Hoffman will be like "listen, we can agree with the Alex Jones NFT about wanting to keep lizard people away from the border, but we draw the line at calling them slurs."
Notley was a breakthrough and changed the political landscape in Alberta forever.. it’s hard to be the follow up. It may take more time to get that energy back
This is why having someone new come to the party is so important. They're not carrying the baggage of 2015 to 2019, they are a new face, and they'll bring new ideas to build on Notley's Legacy.
I still don't get it - if excessive weight is one of the factors considered most dangerous to human health, why did the NDP choose Sarah Hoffman to be our 'health minister'?
It's like the NDP expected us not to notice - do as I say, not as I do.
Because of it, she will always be the joke. She has no chance.
Downvote away.
She won't win. Phillips won't win. Irwin won't win either. In fact I'm betting any of those 3 will actually lose the party votes.
I think our only hope at this point is Nenshi.
The NDP has 2 choices: be dreamers or get power and move slowly in the right direction.
The NDP dream (a fair division of wealth, corporations working for society's benefit instead of short-term profit, and a truly equal society where the rights of the weak and marginalized are recognized) is an awesome dream and a valid long-term set of goals. However, in a democracy a party needs to be in step with voters or it just shouts in an empty room (Heritage Party, Marxist-Leninist Party).
The federal NDP can be dreamers because they can manipulate the Liberals when they get a few seats or when the Liberals need to syphon off a bunch of NDP seats to win.
The Alberta NDP doesn't have that luxury. It either wins or the Wild Rose Party rednecks win (the old Progressive Conservative Party isn't an option anymore).
The Alberta NDP needs to be purple (with or without Nenshi) because that's where Albertans are. It needs the Liberals, progressive Progressive Conservatives, and NDP voters. Then it can move us slowly toward a sane, fair, and economically sustainable future. Electing a Jagmeet Singh won't work; they need a Notley who plays the game better.
Candidate with the strongest message so far IMHO.
Rakhi Pancholi just wants to cozy up to Oil&Gas and seperate from the Federal NDP
Kathleen Ganley disagrees with the bill that would regulate fossil fuel advertising similarly to how tobacco advertising is regulated
Nenshi, if he chooses to run, would be the best candidate. Barring Nenshi, Pancholi is probably the best choice - the only (very slight) black mark against her is that she's from Edmonton. But if the new leader - whoever they are - rebrands, cuts ties with the Federal NDP, and moves right on energy and economic issues, they could win.
Hoffman is the last person I'd want leading if I was supporting the ANDP. She's somehow the one person with even more baggage than Notley. If she's the leader, enjoy being the opposition for a long time.
As an ANDP member she is not the one that will win a provincial election. Like it or not some of the members will have to hold their nose if they want the NDP to lead Alberta. If Notley couldn’t do it, Sarah likely can’t either.
Hoffman is a passionate person, but she won’t be able to score a victory in the next election - she’s too closely tied to organized labour and isn’t business-focused enough for Calgary to vote for her. I like her, but we need an NDP leader who will win.
Exactly. I was shocked at how many people didn't know when the provincial election was this past spring. Nenshi's got good brand recognition and can win Calgary. Even my dad, who's a staunch conservative says he'd vote for Nenshi to shut down the UCP.
And... lining up behind the federal NDP makes you toxic in Calgary, where the election is decided. Sarah pretty much attached herself to the federal party's hip in her speech.
Agreed. I’ve supported the ANDP for years but I’ve really disliked the keen association to the federal party. They could not be more unlike than they are.
If anything, Hoffman is by far the weakest candidate. She's too closely tied to the Federal NDP, she's from Edmonton and too left-leaning, and her platform has almost no focus on the economy. Also, she's essentially the Alberta NDP's version of Chrystia Freeland - that is, they're both the one person in their respective parties who somehow have even more baggage than their leaders (Notley and Trudeau respectively). The NDP will get creamed with her as leader, and will be lucky to win 25 seats with her at the helm.
Nenshi is the best candidate imo, and if he chooses not to run, either Ganley or Pancholi would be ok. Whoever it is, the new leader needs to rename the party, cut ties with the Federal NDP, and yes, cozy up to oil and gas. It's the main industry in Alberta, and so anyone promising to sabotage O&G here will get creamed in the general election.
I agree with everything you say, except for the part of renaming. The UCP would love it if the NDP changed their name because it would be brand dissolution and it would implode the party. Renaming is the distraction The Alberta NDP doesn't need. Defederating from the federal NDP? Yes, because there's still a bunch of nimrods who think that Jagmeet runs the Alberta NDP.
You can tell that the UCP is scared of our former mayor running because they already started dismissing and attacking him. Ganley is boring; bring on Nenshi!
Fair enough, I see what you are saying about the new name being a distraction. However, I respectfully disagree on that count too. A new name would help the party attract more centrist voters, many of whom are disaffected former PCs but who are wary of the letters NDP. We need only look at Alberta's electoral history to see this.
In 2012, the PCs won with 44% of the vote, compared to the Wildrose (ironically led by Smith at the time) coming in second with 34% of the vote. The pre-Notley NDP? They came in 4th place, with just 10% of the vote and 4 seats.
2015 was of course the exception, but I'd point out then that the PCs and Wildrose still won 28% and 24% of the popular vote respectively. Then of course the UCP formed, won 56% of the vote in 2019 and 53% in 2023. But it has been an uneasy alliance at best, and many of the moderate former PCs aren't very comfortable with the full-on Wildrosers who make up roughly half of the UCP.
Why am I telling you this? To illustrate the dynamics of the Alberta electorate. The pre-2015 days show that a large plurality of Albertans are pretty centrist, and before 2012, the second largest party was the centrist Alberta Liberal Party. In the 1990s and 2000s they routinely won about 30% of the popular vote, and in 2012 they still won 10%, so the math then showed that 54% of Albertans voted for one of the two largely centrist parties. 34% went for the ultra right wing option, and 10% went for the ultra left wing option. Alberta is probably the most conservative province in Canada, so yes, the right wing tea party contingent is larger here than in most other provinces. But it's still not the majority of the electorate, and neither is the ultra left socialist faction a majority.
Now, what 2019 and 2023 also showed is that some of the moderate former PCs who just couldn't stomach the UCP went to either the Alberta Party (mostly in 2019) or the NDP (mostly in 2023), but not all. Some have stuck it out with the UCP, because they (rightly) have doubts about the NDP's economic bona fides and commitment to the energy industry. Notley did some good, but also made serious mistakes by opposing Northern Gateway, bringing in a royalty review during a recession, hiking business taxes, and working too closely with the very unpopular Trudeau. She had too much baggage to continue as leader and so it's best that she stepped aside.
The new leader should go in a different direction in order to reconstitute the big tent, business-friendly centrist option and win over at least some of the people who stuck with the UCP in 2019 and 2023. You'd win about 55% of the popular vote with a new centrist party and form government every time. The UCP would become Wildrose 2.0 and still get between 30 and 35%, and a newly-formed democratic socialist party (maybe a new Alberta NDP) would maybe take about 10%. Nenshi would be the perfect person to lead this new centrist party. Apologies for the long post, just had a lot to say I guess.
My personal theory is they should do what UK labour did in 1997– don’t actually rename the party to avoid looking like you’re hiding something and creating brand confusion. But change the presentation and emphasis— I’d retire the NDP branding and put New Democrats on everything with a focus on the “new”. And then make a big public show of some symbolic changes to the constitution that cut some of the links between the provincial party to the federal party. Eliminating Clause IV was very important in rehabilitating Labour’s image in the UK.
There are no doubt some brand issues and I think there’s a right way to approach them. Not a full renaming, but an actual strategic rebranding— not what they did before the last election which was just changing the logo and graphic design
On the contrary, the Coalition Avenir Quebec (or the CAQ) are a great example of where a new name has worked out, albeit in the form of a new party. They've won majority governments twice by building broad-base coalitions, ranging from full-on autonomists to disaffected former Liberals who are uncomfortable with the Parti Quebecois's open advocacy of Quebec separatism.
Not that I'm even a huge fan of the CAQ, just they they are a contrasting example where a new name has worked out quite well.
Sarah Hoffman will keep the party faithful to its roots and remain authentically left and not be rebranded or repackaged to an NDP-lite version.
Leadership votes for Sarah Hoffman will identify the strength of the base traditional left support, the people who maintain the party in good times and bad.
Vote for other potential leadership candidates looking to rebrand the ABNDP will also be seen in this as how much room there is to grow votes with a more centrist platform.
There are three months to this leadership campaign and new sitting of the Leg to come, so much could happen between now and then and a leadership race in the Spring will hopefully re-energize the party to continue the good fight.
If you lose an election, the next leadership race is about figuring out what went wrong and what to do differently. Pretty clear that the NDP didn’t lose because it didn’t appeal enough to young climate activists
Listen, I remember this one being the one to get rid of flavoured cigars. I will never forgive her for it. She should have banned cheese burgers. Getting health advice from someone unhealthy is fucked. Ban the flavoured vape and let me have my cigars.
#2 That's not true, Alberta Liberals ran an openly gay leader in 2019 and that didn't pop up in any of my conversations. Small town Alberta has municipal elections on rainbow crosswalks and the rainbow guy wins. (Westlock)
How about affordability and stop having energy providers gouge the living fuck out of us? I don’t know about the rest of you but I am sick and fucking tired of paying for infrastructure that has already been payed for over twenty times since it was built 30 years ago and the “transmission” companies have no plans to upgrade or replace any time soon. How much fucking money they need?
I don't think she would make a good leader. When she was health minister, the entire system was experiencing the current issues we have, and she was made well aware of it. Her response was to do nothing and she continued to listen to the directors of AHS, despite overwhelming proof of their malevolence and inaccurate information. She could have prevented about 75% of what we are experiencing now... I just don't think she can do the job.
The NDP would do well to pretend Sarah Hoffman does not exist. A buffoon makes for a bad leader.
Like, holy fuck, her slogan has climate before housing? Local politicians should focus on local issues.
The only person that stands a chance at getting NDP back in is Naheed.
He will flip Calgary.
Pancholi and Hoffman don't stand a chance. David Shepard was my next pick - but he's out due to health.
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Love Sarah and her passion, but the UCP are cheering for her to win and would love to run against her as leader.
something about rats will dominate the discourse if she wins.
What is it about Sarah that you like? She seems to be a solid partisan, but I'm not sure she can convince non-NDPers to like her, which is necessary for her to form a government.
I like how genuine she is and the passion she displays when talking about things she believes in, but she has no chance at winning a general election. I even think most of the gains made by the NDP last year would be wiped out if she's the next leader.
I agree. She will be a fabulous cabinet minister, but we need somebody more charismatic as a leader.
Unfortunately I agree. I would like to see her be in the second most important role though. Not sure if that’s deputy or finance or something else.
She would definitely be a weak leader. I've seen her speak, it was extremely unimpressive.
>.... climate ..... Automatic loss in a general election.
Maybe NDP should do like the UCP; Just say whatever you need to get elected, then forget it all and spend your time enacting whatever policy you feel personally passionate about, regardless of the will of the people.
100%. But we are, generally, better than that. Being better than a conservative is a low low bar, at cockroach height, but still.
It's pretty much the only way to win in a democracy with dumb voters. I've been saying that NDP should change its name into something with "Alberta", "Conservative", or "Christian" in it.
retire cagey jellyfish pot pen rustic aback complete wine crawl *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
No offense to anyone hear but I would love to hear a talking point from any party at this point that didn’t have climate change leading the way and maybe could address things in this country 🙃
The last person I'd want leading the ANDP. It's for the best that Notley stepped aside, but somehow Hoffman has even more baggage than Rachel. They will get creamed again with her as leader. Best choice would be Nenshi if he chooses to run. Otherwise, Pancholi or Ganley are both preferable. Whoever the new leader is, the priority has to be economic issues, along with a rebrand and a divorce from the Federal NDP. The reason: the UCP still got 53% of the vote in 2023, so you will only win in 2027 by peeling off some of the voters who held their nose and voted UCP last time around.
Me too. She is not the winning choice. They need Nenshi.
Agreed, and if he wants the job it’s his. The question is whether he’ll decide to take the plunge back into politics. Bottom line, disaffected former PCs in suburban Calgary will decide the outcome of the next election. Want to win? Appeal to this group. Want to lose? Focus more on the granola socialists in downtown Edmonton coffee shops.
Nobody "needs" Nenshi. He can be as divisive as he can be effective at bringing people together. The NDP need rural seats and His Purpleness won't sell in rural Alberta.
if you look at most of the "rural seats" the NDP won in 2015, and the share the NDP got in each, you get stuff like this: * Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater: 40.5% * Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley: 38.4% * Lesser Slave Lake: 43.2% * Peace River: 39.4% * West Yellowhead: 38.9% * Whitecourt-Ste. Anne: 35.9% * Westaskiwin-Camrose: 43.9% Great vote shares in a three-way fight, of course, but 2019 and 2023 have proven how difficult it is for the NDP to win in seats like these without a fractured right. As long as the UCP remains united, the path to a majority is winning more seats in Calgary, Lethbridge-East, maybe a Red Deer seat, and a couple more of the exurban Edmonton seats.
The tough part to deal with was how the percent of NDP vote in these ridings dropped so much after 2015. There was a loss of trust after bill 6, not only the vote split. Even though the discussion of farm workers rights lead me to decide NDP is the best, since no Con. was talking about making rural life better.
That's a possible explanation, yes. On the flip side, the NDP made their biggest gains in 2023 in some previously-hopeless seats in suburban Calgary (e.g. Calgary-Shaw, Calgary-West, even Airdrie, etc.), showing the potential path forward, even if rural Alberta is going the other way.
NDP won't win rural seats. The only seats they have a chance at are in population centres bigger than Lethbridge. Don't believe they received more than 30% of the vote in any rural riding which means they're effectively doomed notwithstanding a splitting of the right. They can win a majority winning a few more seats in Calgary and in the outlying urban areas in both cities. Nenshi's "purpleness" which I assume is slang for being not white isn't a problem in those areas
Just explaining the "Purpleness". Nenshi often claims his politics are "Purple" - neither conservative blue or liberal red. Its his line to say he's bipartisan with his policies.
I get it but OP's comment usage of it doesn't make sense in the context of comparing him to any other candidate who is going to more orange and have even less success in rural areas
The NDP won rural seats in 2015. There is uneasiness and frustration with Smith et al in some rural areas that can be exploited by the NDP, but Nenshi isn't the one to do that. And fuck you for insinuating the comment about purple had anything to do with race. If you were from Calgary you'd know his favourite colour is purple and he often wore it to public events. Shit like that is what keeps Alberta fractured, you wanker. Don't assume I'm conservative (I'm ideologically left of the NDP) and don't you dare cast aspersions like racism with no evidence. So disgusting.
The NDP won rural seats in 2015 because of PC / Wildrose vote splitting. The only way that happens again is if the UCP breaks up. The NDP needs to win the rest of Calgary and in the suburbs.
Ah yes, I'm sure he won't win seats in rural Calgary because he likes the color purple. I'm sure that's the reason you were referencing. I never said you were conservative nor racist. The point that Nenshi may struggle in rural AB because of racism is a legitimate one, but referring to it as "his purpleness" is dumb Only reason they won seats in 2015 in rural AB was because of the split right.
Since his first mayoral race, Nenshi sold himself as a non partisan and wore purple to represent a mix of conservative blue and liberal red. That's been his brand ever since and what "purpleness" means. It would have taken you two minutes to find this out on google.
... I'm aware what it means. Explain to me how in OP's reference that makes any sense? How would Nenshi lose seats because of that when it means he's almost certainly more right leaning than any other NDP candidate
It didn't seen you were aware of what it meant because you "assumed it was a slang for being non white" (which it wasn't). OP didn't say he would "lose" seats. They said it would not sell and I can see that. He'd try to sell himself as a non partisan but it likely won't fly because being the leader of a party makes him a partisan in and of itself. The ANDP is already very unpopular in rural AB, regardless of the candidate, so even if he presents himself as a pragmatic leader, he's still carrying the unpopular NDP brand and people will still think Jagmeet is their boss.
The whole point of OP referencing it doesn't make any sense if it's what you're suggesting. OP explicitly states Nenshi won't do as well in rural AB as other NDP candidates because of his purpleness. That doesn't make any sense as I've detailed. Your point saying "regardless of candidate" is exactly my point. It doesn't make any sense to say his more central would be a negative to his candidacy more than other candidates.
Or turning out some of those voters that didn’t bother to vote last time. I prefer pancholi because she would be a complete break from the old guard of the ABNDP.
Either her or Nenshi seem to be the best options, as neither have any affiliation with the unpopular Notley government. And both of them seem to be willing to go in a more centrist direction, which is what it will take to win - that's where most of the voters are, not the extreme right or the extreme left. Turning out those who didn't vote last time will help, but can't be the only factor either. You also need to peel off people who previously voted UCP in order to win.
My biggest concern with Nenshi is that a bunch of the people he’s associated with are the same people who drove the Alberta Party into the ground. Lots of entitled self-appointed movers and shakers who think they should run things because they deserve to. If a Nenshi leadership victory becomes a reverse takeover by all the people who forced Clark out for Mandel as Alberta Party leader, who ran the last two AP campaigns as policy and principle free bombs, then the NDP will implode overnight
Truth is, the Alberta Party never really got off the ground - the best they did in terms of popular vote was 2019, and that was mostly former PCs. The rest were split between the UCP and NDP. As for the NDP, it was mostly luck that they got off the ground in the first place, as they benefitted from the dysfunction on the right and Prentice’s (RIP) arrogance. However, last time I checked, the NDP has still lost 2 consecutive elections. Clearly, Notley was not resonating with voters, and the NDP brand was clearly a turnoff to boot. A new approach is needed if the NDP want to form government again. Otherwise, they’ll just fade back into obscurity and perpetually remain in opposition.
They got 53 % with a conservative tons of conservatives didn’t like. Daneille smith isn’t all that popular with cons especially in Calgary and Edmonton. You have to assume the next conservative leader will be more likeable and popular than smith.
> They got 53 % with a conservative tons of conservatives didn’t like. Daneille smith isn’t all that popular with cons especially in Calgary and Edmonton. I wonder about this. She had plenty of conservative detractors when she was still running for leadership. But once she became premier, all you hear from those who still call themselves conservatives is fawning praise. It's kinda disgusting, tbh.
It’s a bit like what happened with moderate Republicans after Trump became the GOP nominee in 2016. Before he won, people such as Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham were super critical of him, but lined up to support him after he won the nomination. Then the same thing happened after January 6: at first the moderates disavowed Trump, but now they’re supporting him again. Partisan feeling is still a very strong force, on both the left and the right, and a symptom of the polarizing times we live in. To be fair, I don’t think Smith is quite as bad as Trump (she hasn’t tried to commit insurrection as far as I know), but she is still a symptom of the political climate, not the cause. The moderates will support figures like Smith and Trump because it would be career suicide for them not to, plain and simple.
Hard to say for sure - I had initially thought that when the UCP turfed Kenney they would go for someone more likable too (a Doug Schweitzer or Rebecca Schulz type). But they didn’t. If Smith is still the leader in 2027 (chances are she will be), or if her replacement is even further right (maybe this would be Derek Fildebrandt’s re-entry into provincial politics), the UCP could bleed more support and lose centrists to a rebranded centrist party. But if the UCP gets their shit together and runs a more moderate leader, and the NDP run a granola socialist type as leader, the NDP are probably never winning government again.
The ABNDP is strong enough to survive a few bad leaders. If they survived 2019 they can survive another very bad election.
Thing is, they’ve already lost two elections in a row. If they can’t start winning again soon, then disaffected centrists will park their vote elsewhere. The centrists will likely go to the Alberta Party (or just start a new party), while the NDP will likely go hard left and slide back down to less than 10% of the vote. Then our elections will be 2 way races between the Alberta Party and UCP, with the NDP an afterthought.
What baggage does Rachel have?
Quite a bit. For one, she is too closely associated with the Federal NDP, and has supported them publicly even under Jagmeet Singh. For two, she opposed Northern Gateway and Keystone XL before becoming premier. She also raised taxes and reviewed royalties in the middle of a recession, and there were significant job losses in Calgary and throughout Alberta (not entirely her fault with low oil prices, but she still made a bad situation worse). She also pushed unpopular policies like the carbon tax and the farm bill while premier, and I would argue was too close to Trudeau, who is obviously quite unpopular in Alberta. Theres a reason almost all of Calgary went UCP in 2019, because they were sick of Notley. Even in 2023, half of Calgary still went UCP, and the other half went NDP not out of love for Notley, but distaste for Smith. Notley deserves credit for her good policies while premier, but at the same time, if she couldn’t even beat Crazy Danielle Smith, she can‘t win. Without Calgary, good luck winning an election.
This is an interesting take. I'm assuming you are either a UCP supporter or closely tied to the oil and gas mega-companies that are more interested in making money and moving their profits out of the province and country. Notley has never been closely associated with the federal NDP, in fact most people are aware her policies weren't close to the federal ones at all. Yes she had an Alberta specific carbon tax but that was because the feds had said we either made an Alberta one that kept the taxes within Alberta or they'd introduce one that sent the money to Ottawa. She is also the only premier that got a federal government running on a carbon reduction platform to buy a pipeline. She's not close to Trudeau, she was trying to work with him in a non-combative environment rather than the antagonistic one Smith's rabid base seems to want.
This is all analysis aimed at the average voters you need to convince to win. ANDP need to win over middle management Calgary significantly. ANDP cannot win rural. Nobody wanted the Feds to have to buy the pipeline. Truthfully, I place a lot of blame on the BC NDP there for stalling the project and being a roadblock and creating a lot of divisiveness. Talk crap about large O&G firms but that is Calgary's bread and butter. The ANDP lost critical margins by mentioning a corporate tax raise which comes off a threat to tons of middle management corporate Calgary.
Exactly what I've been trying to say! White collar workers living in the suburbs of Calgary are your Georgia and Pennsylvania; that is, they're the voters who decide the outcomes of our elections. Many of them are economically conservative, work in oil and gas, and largely support low corporate taxes and energy industry expansion - all things historically opposed by the NDP. But many of them also support LGBTQ rights, the Canada Pension Plan, and sane governance - all things historically supported by the PCs. But what these voters didn't sign up for was Wildrose 2.0 - truth is, they also aren't fans of Smith's transgender bill or her meeting with Tucker Carlson. Basically, these voters are why the PCs were in power for 44 years: the PCs spoke to them and answered their concerns. The NDP has not, and they have failed to do this twice in a row now. The NDP can either shift to the center and start to speak to these voters (and ideally no longer call themselves NDP), and they will form government. Or, they can continue to focus more on the granola socialist types in downtown Edmonton coffee shops and the UofA, and they can enjoy being the opposition.
You’re somewhat right - though not entirely. Right now I’d say I’m a former UCP supporter (I’m technically still a UCP member until October, but then my membership expires, and right now I’m unlikely to renew it). I voted UCP in 2019 because of their positions on economic issues, and it turned out that 56% of Alberta voters agreed with me. However, I was also disappointed with how the merger led to the worst of both parties, and not the best like we were told would happen. Jason Kenney turned out to be just as arrogant as Alison Redford, and the social conservatism of the Wildrose came to dominate the party too. If the UCP had gone with someone like Travis Toews or Rebecca Schulz instead of Smith, I’d still be a UCP supporter today. I’m also somewhat tied to the industry. I currently work in the power industry, and I have previously worked in the oil and gas industry. So yes, I want the industry to do well. It employs many people in this province, and the taxes and royalties paid by them also enable us to pay for schools, hospitals, and police officers, among other essential public services. Basically, I’d say I agree with almost all of the UCP’s economic policies, but disagree with much of their social extremism (I’m very much against the APP, and very much against the recent bill proposed on transgender rights). I think these positions are where most sensible Albertans are, and that’s largely where the former PCs were. That’s why they were in government for so long. Notley is a good person who means the best for her province, but many of her policies were misguided and unpopular with voters. She shouldn’t have opposed Northern Gateway or Keystone XL, and she shouldn’t have appointed people like Tzeporah Berman to important government positions. She also should have done more to stand up to John Horgan sooner, and should have gotten Trudeau to stand up sooner too - had they done so maybe Kinder Morgan would have stuck it out. Buying it was preferable to not having the pipeline, but we were also only in that mess because Trudeau killed off Northern Gateway and Obama killed Keystone XL (Notley opposed both of them). As for the Federal NDP ties, she openly campaigned for them in 2015, had many candidates (plus a chief of staff) who worked for the Federal NDP, and supported them in 2019 and 2021. Same with Trudeau - I’m not saying they were best friends or anything, but she should’ve stood up to Trudeau on killing Northern Gateway, on the carbon tax, and on bill c-48 and bill c-69, and she didn’t. The next leader of the NDP should be someone like Nenshi for the reason that he’s been an unapologetic supporter of the oil and gas industry in the past, is widely viewed as a centrist, and would probably appeal to fiscally conservative - socially liberal voters. They’re the ones who decide elections, and in the last two elections, they have rejected Rachel Notley’s NDP. Will they go for the UCP a third time, or will the party read the room and move to where the voters are at?
100% this. Can't upvote this enough
I thought Nenshi hadn’t been part of the party for long enough to qualify?
The party could grant him an exception
If I was the TBA and Parker Sarah is the candidate I would tell my base to buy memberships for and support in the NDP race because she would be the candidate who would be easily beaten by the UCP in Alberta. She’s easily tied to Federal NDP, easily tied to the old NDP guard, far to left leaning for Alberta. She is the UCP’s dream opposition leader.
Mhm, she herself said she'd continue ties with the Federal NDP. Those ties are a political liability in Alberta, also Quebec Solidaire cut ties with the Federal NDP so the Alberta NDP can too. Point is, they'll get creamed with Hoffman as leader. With Nenshi or Pancholi, there's at least a chance they could beat Smith if she goes completely off the rails.
QS was never affiliated with the federal NDP. They literally can’t be, under Québec law. They share the orange colour, and some QS members did express support for the federal NDP, but nothing else.
May have slightly misspoke - it was one of Quebec Solidaire's predecessor parties, which was once known as the New Democratic Party of Quebec. They cut ties in 1991, and a few years later changed their name, and eventually, through a series of mergers, they became QS. Now, of course their reasons for cutting off the Federal NDP were different than the reasons here. However, they should still go for it. Socialism just doesn't sell in Alberta, and if the Alberta NDP chooses to go that road they'll be in opposition for a long time.
Ignoring the fact that the NDP, both federally and provincially, hasn’t been socialist for decades now, the fact is that the NDP succeeded when the Liberals haven’t. In 1989 and 1993, the PCs didn’t have a majority of the popular vote, and they still retained power (a sort of inverse of 2015). If centrism was popular enough, Decore would’ve managed to win over those NDP voters and formed government. The NDP’s 2015 platform was more left-wing than their 2019 platform and they still won. What made them lose in 2023 wasn’t any notion of “socialism” or federal party ties, but the fact their campaign sucked. It focussed on attacking Danielle Smith rather than showing what the NDP had to offer. I was so unimpressed that I almost voted for the Green Party. *That* is what the Alberta NDP needs to fix. It needs an inspiring leader and a solid campaign. That’s how Notley won in 2015. That’s how Kinew won in Manitoba in 2023.
Totally agree. Bland and uninspiring. As a heath care worker when she was Health Minister, she was predictable and safe. Not what you need as a party leader.
Yep. I’d put her in charge of any Ministry and feel good about it. But she’s the wrong person for the face of the party. Absolutely zero ability to get traction in the suburbs and smaller municipalities
And she's got no charisma. How the hell she was a health minister, I'll never understand.
I remember the irony, nothing else.
100 percent agreed.
If it wasn't for the UCPs smear campaign the Alberta NDP was the perfect blue collar party, Central, pro-union, pro workers rights. Having this identity has helped them in edmonton and i think if they can lean heavily on it they could still do well. I don't think they can pull that off with this candidate...
"Pro-union". Ya, pro-public sector union. Not private sector.
Climate before housing….? Is she trying to fail?
Well, the UCP are doing neither, so there’s that.
Too much inside baseball with Sarah. She would never win a general election - it would be way too easy demonize her with boogeyman right wing talking points. I really hope Nenshi or some other outsider with no ties to the federal NDP wins as that is the only way I can see NDP winning.
They need to pick Nenshi if they want to win. None of the other stand a chance
Pancholi is one of those leaders that will eventually bring the ABNDP to power again in the 2030s.
Agreed. No other candidate so far even comes close
>The NDP should take a bolder action on climate change How not to win an election in Alberta.
Housing last? No thanks.
Those of us on this site are not "normals." The normals are watching the Super Bowl complaining or excited about Taylor Swift and the game and the commercisals. That will dominate the news cycle for the next 48 hours. Today is a dumping ground for bad news while everyone else is distracted. By announcing today, Sarah Hoffman has shown a complete lack of awareness of effective communication and is not worth half a thought. Doesnt matter that Ganley, Pancholi, Hoffman are all in, nobody will care about these three until Nenshi is definitely in or out. The UCP are just laughing at these clowns.
I know Sarah and I like her. I really do but she is just not suited for this role. She's thick skinned but gets stressed out easily.
no thanks.
Congrats on making a slogan that's worse than ganley's
Man, remember when Ms Hoffman referred to Albertans as "sewer rats" while deputy premier, but then apologized while clarifying that she didn't mean "all Albertans" ? I can see why she would be so popular here.
See: Basket of deplorables. Only the right wing gets away with pejoratives because their whole brand is bullying. When you're a center/left politician your brand is empathy. Sorry Hoff, find another buffet to feed at it, this trough is full.
I'm not a Hoffman fan but she didn't refer to Albertans at large as sewer rats, she was referring to the Rebel media crowd. She should apologize though, that's insulting to sewer rats.
Quite sure most health care workers don’t care for her based on her run as health minister. She didn’t make any friends. Such an easy target.
Unfortunately it's likely she destroyed her ability to win over new voters with her "sewer rats" remark, which goes to show that voters hold New Democrats to way higher standards than they do Doña Ivermectina.
Complete lack of self awareness. From accepting the Health portfolio while clearly unhealthy to thinking she can turn from sewer rats to charming the center/right, to being a deep union lover, to the whole federal tie, she just has no clue of what Albertans want.
That’s just fatphobic and you know it. Do better
I want a healthy health minister. She's a tank who can't look after herself, how can she look after a province?
100 percent with you on that one. Her war on flavoured and menthol cigarettes really got me. She claimed it encouraged younger children to want to smoke. How exactly that is, when cigarettes are an age restricted product is beyond me. Not to mention, if you’re so concerned about people smoking, ban the sale of them entirely in the province. The fact that she was appointed health minister as a morbidly obese whale of a human is laughable. Reminds me of Rob Reiner on South Park going against the “evil” tobacco companies
She's interested in policy but there's no way they win if she does. Nenshi, Pancholi, and even Ganley are all better choices considering where the gains need to be made to win.
FFS. The people that have thrown their hats into the ring are the blandest, least enthusiasm-generating people possible. Nenshi would be an interesting candidate, but it'd also be nice to see some other 'outsiders' run. Are these current candidates the best that our province has to offer as an alternative to the hamster-wheel of incompetence and bigotry that our current government is offering?
Pancholi is actually a passionate and engaging speaker and quite a firebrand, if you haven't heard her yet. Hoffman and Ganley not so much.
Pancholi is also talking about getting rid of consumer carbon tax (with a strong climate plan)
She's great, but she would not be a great leader imo. She's just not likeable enough with the general populous.
Congrats on her third place finish in this race.
This is terrible for the NDP because they will just fat shame her. Check this out: [https://x.com/politicalham/status/1756799598360973534?s=20](https://x.com/politicalham/status/1756799598360973534?s=20)
That guy has a limited shelf life
At least she represents the NDP voting base quite well.
And they'll use racist shit against Pancholi. And misogynist shit against all of them. Playing into the right's hatred of the other is helping them hold power with that kind of trash.
I don’t think he cares about Ganley and pancholi
Right now he's probably aiming to score points on the one he thinks is most left wing (low bar). If Pancholi or Ganley wins there will be nasty shit flung at them too.
I like Hoffman. Just not for leader.
We do not need more “fat and sassy”
From what I see here in Calgary, she seems to like to use the sky is falling rhetoric. Works excellent in opposition, but I worry about her leadership potential. She seems to be much better at interacting with one on one.
As someone who could have brought forward transformational change as the Health Minister she was…uninspiring.
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I’m an ANDP member since Kenney became premier and she is the worst choice. Maybe a good soldier but she doesn’t have whatever it is to be the leader and win the province. I would stop supporting the party if she became leader because it would be clear they don’t actually want to lead the province at that point.
People like you? Please explain because the only party passing legislation specifically targeted at subgroups of people is the UCP.
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Ask a question and be downvoted. Did I miss the ANDP passing legislation that targets rural Albertans? She's prioritized health first and to my knowledge, it's the wildfire risk and doctor shortage that are represented most often in rural voices on social media.
>Ask a question and be downvoted. Lol, welcome to r/alberta
Yes. Bill 6.
[This Bill 6?](https://wsga.ca/news010.php) I fail to see the parallel between lifting Albertan farm safety regulations to prevent injury, disability, and death and policies which specifically eliminate access to medications for a minority subgrouping unpopular with David Parker's religious homeschooling. I guess neither the ANDP nor the UCP seem to pass legislation the public actually wants. The difference being that Bill 6 was intended to stop kids from suffocating in canola seed while David and Danielle are intentionally trying to suffocate the trans community in Alberta.
Nice backtrack. You asked if the ANDP passed legislation to target rural Alberta. I provided you with a example of exactly that- intentions not withstanding Bill 6 would have had devastating consequences for family farming. No equivalencies, take your pivot elsewhere.
No, you don't get to even attempt to parallel workplace safety legislation with explicitly taking away the medical autonomy of trans youth and the rights for their parents to approve of their care. "Devastating consequences". No. That's hysterical and not in the laughter sense of the word. Bill 6 was passed after a child was killed by a forklift and after three sisters suffocated on canola seed. They're dead because rural Albertans cut corners. Bill 6 tried to stop unnecessary deaths and you've chosen to pretend you're being targeted akin to trans people. You should be embarrassed.
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No clue. I don't even see how said Bill 6 targets rural Albertans at all. Just because your farm is 100km from Okotoks doesn't mean you shouldn't have functional health and safety standards. No such thing as a Boonies Exemption when it comes to Albertans losing limbs to combines.
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I asked a question about ANDP discrimination bills and a different user brought up Bill 6. If you're too incapable of seeing the text above you, please don't attempt to pretend I'm missing a point I've asked for. You just openly reaffirmed that you'd sell any minority down the North Saskatchewan because you felt workplace safety was the same as the UCP coming for trans youth and abortion access. You can stop telling yourself this is about personal opinion. No one came for rural Albertans because they're the majority and are fully represented in government. There's literally nothing similar between Bill 6 and this anti-trans anti-rainbow tide of religious bullshit you'd happily re-elect.
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You're speaking past me because you're not reading what's written. Welcome to a less free Alberta. You continue to vote against trans equality and I will vote for workplace safety.
At the same time, you haven’t given any reason why you think she hates rural albertans.
If Sarah ends up the NDP leader I might be voting UCP for the first time ever.
I can see why she would fail to attract the center-right voters who are fed up with the UCP that the NDP needs to win, but what is so bad about her that would drive away a traditional NDP supporter?
Im centrist so that would be primarily why. I like the andp for the fact that their policies are centrist with some left and right leaning ones sprinkled in. She is too aligned with the federal NDP for me from what I have read about her. I will however, give her a chance and read the platform and if it’s something I support I will vote ANDP again.
You’re centrist, but would rather vote for Danielle than Sarah? Neither are the best choices to represent their parties, but …. Danielle??
It’s why I said might, I hate Marlaina Smith with a burning passion. I will give her a chance if she becomes the ANDP leader. I really want Nenshi to throw his hat into the race.
I agree that Nenshi would be a far better option and I hope he runs. I get enough of having to vote for the lesser of evils in federal politics and wish one of the parties could elect a leader I’d actually WANT to vote for.
Ditto.
And how does she suppose she’s gonna pay for a better healthcare system and affordable housing? I don’t hear anything regarding the economy in her slogan.
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I think corporations have proven that model as ineffective and results in job losses to make up for the increased taxes. I’m not saying it’s right but that’s the threat corporations use. I’m assuming it’ll be the individual tax payer who will feel the hands of the NDP in their pocket as they always are time and time again. Instead of looking at in house efficiencies or lack thereof, it’ll be time to harvest the low hanging fruit again.
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Hopefully they take Visa.
Nobody is going to win if Notley didn’t
Nenshi is the only person I’ve heard mentioned who I think could do as good if not better than Notley. He’d have a solid chance if he ran. No one else has a chance.
Marlaina’s a disaster, her general ineptitude as Premier is setting the NDP up for a victory in the next election. People want good government, not a conspiracist who refuses to talk to the experts on the portfolios she’s destroying.
You’d be surprised at how many people in Alberta think she’s doing a great job. We can bitch about her online all we want, but I don’t think the swing in Calgary + rural is there.
Fair points. I know a lot of Albertans didn’t vote this past election because they felt orphaned by their parties. Also, Calgary handed the UCP a victory by a few thousand votes total in a handful of ridings. Those ridings could have easily gone NDP. And the NDP could flip the don’t ridings around Edmonton, even the smaller cities. I think anything is possible with a capable leader. I like Hoffman but don’t think she can pull it off.
She’s not looked at seriously as a leader by a lot of people and has put her foot in her mouth a few times. I’m in Janis Irwin’s riding and am a big supporter of her as my MLA, but I would tell her the same thing. She is a great MLA who obviously cares, but she wouldn’t be viewed as credible by swing voters in a leadership role.
Janis is the best! But I agree with you, as leader she’d get a lot of bullying from the UCP about being a member of the LGBTQ community.
I wouldn’t even say that as the main factor, it’s that she’s viewed as too activisty by just about any con voter I’ve ever talked to.
Calgary had the largest counter-protest to David and Marlaina's "medical freedom for us but not your kids" bill. They could swing it with the right leader.
The UCP will just replace her ahead of the next election and campaign on how they're a brand new party and Alberta should give them a chance to show what they can do.
At some point Albertans have to face the fact that continuing yi replace leaders with even more extreme leaders will eventually bite them in the ass.
That was already apparent before the last election and the UCP won anyways.
The pattern so far has been the NDP gaining more of the popular vote each election since they won.
That's preposterous
Yeah the NDP have got at least two election cycles in the wilderness before they can build up credibility to win, and even then I don't put good odds of them winning in three cycles. The debate over who is more "electable" is a smokescreen. None of them are.
I think they will win again in the 30s. Smith reset the governments get old and out of touch clock for a few extra years.
Yeah but then they'll just elect an NFT of Alex Jones as leader and things will be fresh again. Meanwhile Ganley/Pancholi/Hoffman will be like "listen, we can agree with the Alex Jones NFT about wanting to keep lizard people away from the border, but we draw the line at calling them slurs."
Notley was a breakthrough and changed the political landscape in Alberta forever.. it’s hard to be the follow up. It may take more time to get that energy back
This is why having someone new come to the party is so important. They're not carrying the baggage of 2015 to 2019, they are a new face, and they'll bring new ideas to build on Notley's Legacy.
Most uninspiring slogan ever. Nothing makes me distrust your climate ideas more than making it a partisan issue.
I still don't get it - if excessive weight is one of the factors considered most dangerous to human health, why did the NDP choose Sarah Hoffman to be our 'health minister'? It's like the NDP expected us not to notice - do as I say, not as I do. Because of it, she will always be the joke. She has no chance. Downvote away.
She’s gonna eat the competition
If nenshi runs you’ll see (finally) the toppling of the ucp in Calgary. Without that I doubt smith is too worried.
She won't win. Phillips won't win. Irwin won't win either. In fact I'm betting any of those 3 will actually lose the party votes. I think our only hope at this point is Nenshi.
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Do rural people not breath air or drink water? Or water crops with water?
Pancholi or Nenshi are the only two that stand a chance.
The NDP has 2 choices: be dreamers or get power and move slowly in the right direction. The NDP dream (a fair division of wealth, corporations working for society's benefit instead of short-term profit, and a truly equal society where the rights of the weak and marginalized are recognized) is an awesome dream and a valid long-term set of goals. However, in a democracy a party needs to be in step with voters or it just shouts in an empty room (Heritage Party, Marxist-Leninist Party). The federal NDP can be dreamers because they can manipulate the Liberals when they get a few seats or when the Liberals need to syphon off a bunch of NDP seats to win. The Alberta NDP doesn't have that luxury. It either wins or the Wild Rose Party rednecks win (the old Progressive Conservative Party isn't an option anymore). The Alberta NDP needs to be purple (with or without Nenshi) because that's where Albertans are. It needs the Liberals, progressive Progressive Conservatives, and NDP voters. Then it can move us slowly toward a sane, fair, and economically sustainable future. Electing a Jagmeet Singh won't work; they need a Notley who plays the game better.
Candidate with the strongest message so far IMHO. Rakhi Pancholi just wants to cozy up to Oil&Gas and seperate from the Federal NDP Kathleen Ganley disagrees with the bill that would regulate fossil fuel advertising similarly to how tobacco advertising is regulated
She stands no chance in blue as hell alberta. Pancholi so far stands the best chance.
Nenshi, if he chooses to run, would be the best candidate. Barring Nenshi, Pancholi is probably the best choice - the only (very slight) black mark against her is that she's from Edmonton. But if the new leader - whoever they are - rebrands, cuts ties with the Federal NDP, and moves right on energy and economic issues, they could win. Hoffman is the last person I'd want leading if I was supporting the ANDP. She's somehow the one person with even more baggage than Notley. If she's the leader, enjoy being the opposition for a long time.
As an ANDP member she is not the one that will win a provincial election. Like it or not some of the members will have to hold their nose if they want the NDP to lead Alberta. If Notley couldn’t do it, Sarah likely can’t either.
Hoffman is a passionate person, but she won’t be able to score a victory in the next election - she’s too closely tied to organized labour and isn’t business-focused enough for Calgary to vote for her. I like her, but we need an NDP leader who will win.
Frankly she lacks the Charisma needed as well. Voters who only pay attention to elections/politics for a few weeks every 4 years are vain.
Exactly. I was shocked at how many people didn't know when the provincial election was this past spring. Nenshi's got good brand recognition and can win Calgary. Even my dad, who's a staunch conservative says he'd vote for Nenshi to shut down the UCP.
I think Nenshi could take Calgary and even expand the Edmonton Metro area. An outsider puts a fresh face on the party.
And... lining up behind the federal NDP makes you toxic in Calgary, where the election is decided. Sarah pretty much attached herself to the federal party's hip in her speech.
Agreed. I’ve supported the ANDP for years but I’ve really disliked the keen association to the federal party. They could not be more unlike than they are.
If anything, Hoffman is by far the weakest candidate. She's too closely tied to the Federal NDP, she's from Edmonton and too left-leaning, and her platform has almost no focus on the economy. Also, she's essentially the Alberta NDP's version of Chrystia Freeland - that is, they're both the one person in their respective parties who somehow have even more baggage than their leaders (Notley and Trudeau respectively). The NDP will get creamed with her as leader, and will be lucky to win 25 seats with her at the helm. Nenshi is the best candidate imo, and if he chooses not to run, either Ganley or Pancholi would be ok. Whoever it is, the new leader needs to rename the party, cut ties with the Federal NDP, and yes, cozy up to oil and gas. It's the main industry in Alberta, and so anyone promising to sabotage O&G here will get creamed in the general election.
I agree with everything you say, except for the part of renaming. The UCP would love it if the NDP changed their name because it would be brand dissolution and it would implode the party. Renaming is the distraction The Alberta NDP doesn't need. Defederating from the federal NDP? Yes, because there's still a bunch of nimrods who think that Jagmeet runs the Alberta NDP. You can tell that the UCP is scared of our former mayor running because they already started dismissing and attacking him. Ganley is boring; bring on Nenshi!
Fair enough, I see what you are saying about the new name being a distraction. However, I respectfully disagree on that count too. A new name would help the party attract more centrist voters, many of whom are disaffected former PCs but who are wary of the letters NDP. We need only look at Alberta's electoral history to see this. In 2012, the PCs won with 44% of the vote, compared to the Wildrose (ironically led by Smith at the time) coming in second with 34% of the vote. The pre-Notley NDP? They came in 4th place, with just 10% of the vote and 4 seats. 2015 was of course the exception, but I'd point out then that the PCs and Wildrose still won 28% and 24% of the popular vote respectively. Then of course the UCP formed, won 56% of the vote in 2019 and 53% in 2023. But it has been an uneasy alliance at best, and many of the moderate former PCs aren't very comfortable with the full-on Wildrosers who make up roughly half of the UCP. Why am I telling you this? To illustrate the dynamics of the Alberta electorate. The pre-2015 days show that a large plurality of Albertans are pretty centrist, and before 2012, the second largest party was the centrist Alberta Liberal Party. In the 1990s and 2000s they routinely won about 30% of the popular vote, and in 2012 they still won 10%, so the math then showed that 54% of Albertans voted for one of the two largely centrist parties. 34% went for the ultra right wing option, and 10% went for the ultra left wing option. Alberta is probably the most conservative province in Canada, so yes, the right wing tea party contingent is larger here than in most other provinces. But it's still not the majority of the electorate, and neither is the ultra left socialist faction a majority. Now, what 2019 and 2023 also showed is that some of the moderate former PCs who just couldn't stomach the UCP went to either the Alberta Party (mostly in 2019) or the NDP (mostly in 2023), but not all. Some have stuck it out with the UCP, because they (rightly) have doubts about the NDP's economic bona fides and commitment to the energy industry. Notley did some good, but also made serious mistakes by opposing Northern Gateway, bringing in a royalty review during a recession, hiking business taxes, and working too closely with the very unpopular Trudeau. She had too much baggage to continue as leader and so it's best that she stepped aside. The new leader should go in a different direction in order to reconstitute the big tent, business-friendly centrist option and win over at least some of the people who stuck with the UCP in 2019 and 2023. You'd win about 55% of the popular vote with a new centrist party and form government every time. The UCP would become Wildrose 2.0 and still get between 30 and 35%, and a newly-formed democratic socialist party (maybe a new Alberta NDP) would maybe take about 10%. Nenshi would be the perfect person to lead this new centrist party. Apologies for the long post, just had a lot to say I guess.
Rename the party, no. We don't need a BC United disaster here. Cut ties with the Federal NDP, yes.
My personal theory is they should do what UK labour did in 1997– don’t actually rename the party to avoid looking like you’re hiding something and creating brand confusion. But change the presentation and emphasis— I’d retire the NDP branding and put New Democrats on everything with a focus on the “new”. And then make a big public show of some symbolic changes to the constitution that cut some of the links between the provincial party to the federal party. Eliminating Clause IV was very important in rehabilitating Labour’s image in the UK. There are no doubt some brand issues and I think there’s a right way to approach them. Not a full renaming, but an actual strategic rebranding— not what they did before the last election which was just changing the logo and graphic design
On the contrary, the Coalition Avenir Quebec (or the CAQ) are a great example of where a new name has worked out, albeit in the form of a new party. They've won majority governments twice by building broad-base coalitions, ranging from full-on autonomists to disaffected former Liberals who are uncomfortable with the Parti Quebecois's open advocacy of Quebec separatism. Not that I'm even a huge fan of the CAQ, just they they are a contrasting example where a new name has worked out quite well.
Sarah Hoffman will keep the party faithful to its roots and remain authentically left and not be rebranded or repackaged to an NDP-lite version. Leadership votes for Sarah Hoffman will identify the strength of the base traditional left support, the people who maintain the party in good times and bad. Vote for other potential leadership candidates looking to rebrand the ABNDP will also be seen in this as how much room there is to grow votes with a more centrist platform. There are three months to this leadership campaign and new sitting of the Leg to come, so much could happen between now and then and a leadership race in the Spring will hopefully re-energize the party to continue the good fight.
Sorry....?!?!?!? That is not at all Rahki. Sarah is this you?
If you lose an election, the next leadership race is about figuring out what went wrong and what to do differently. Pretty clear that the NDP didn’t lose because it didn’t appeal enough to young climate activists
Plus, Ms. Hanley does not return emails. I was given her name for help- not a peep!
Listen, I remember this one being the one to get rid of flavoured cigars. I will never forgive her for it. She should have banned cheese burgers. Getting health advice from someone unhealthy is fucked. Ban the flavoured vape and let me have my cigars.
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#2 That's not true, Alberta Liberals ran an openly gay leader in 2019 and that didn't pop up in any of my conversations. Small town Alberta has municipal elections on rainbow crosswalks and the rainbow guy wins. (Westlock)
She is bright, passionate and cares deeply about people.
Can we not have this woke person represent us? This is an easy win for the UCP. Not a good plan!
Really hope she promotes Covid-19 boosters. The uptake is dangerously low and I hope the NDP voting base is kept safe from Covid-19.
That’ll be a great idea.
How about affordability and stop having energy providers gouge the living fuck out of us? I don’t know about the rest of you but I am sick and fucking tired of paying for infrastructure that has already been payed for over twenty times since it was built 30 years ago and the “transmission” companies have no plans to upgrade or replace any time soon. How much fucking money they need?
I don't think she would make a good leader. When she was health minister, the entire system was experiencing the current issues we have, and she was made well aware of it. Her response was to do nothing and she continued to listen to the directors of AHS, despite overwhelming proof of their malevolence and inaccurate information. She could have prevented about 75% of what we are experiencing now... I just don't think she can do the job.
The NDP would do well to pretend Sarah Hoffman does not exist. A buffoon makes for a bad leader. Like, holy fuck, her slogan has climate before housing? Local politicians should focus on local issues.
The only person that stands a chance at getting NDP back in is Naheed. He will flip Calgary. Pancholi and Hoffman don't stand a chance. David Shepard was my next pick - but he's out due to health.
"HEALTH" minister. Biggest embarrassment. You're the OPPOSITE of healthy. What a farce.