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Published May 3, 2024 • Last updated 1 hour ago • Reading time 3 minutes
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Alberta NDP supporters watch Rachel Notley's concession speech at the NDP Watch Party at the Palace Theater in downtown Calgary on Monday, May 29, 2023.Photo by Jim Wells/Postmedia
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On June 22, Alberta NDP members will learn who will succeed Rachel Notley, Alberta's only NDP leader and premier.
To be clear, we will not be adding another Rachel to our party. I can't thank her enough for her transition from her position in the third party to her current mainstay in the two-party system. Her accomplishments in our movement are second to none.
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But members need to remember that we are not choosing the next Rachel Notley. We are trying to find the next leader who can bring the Alberta NDP back to the governing side of Parliament.
Our party is full of diverse opinions on what to look for in a new leader, but here are three things I look for when deciding how to vote.
Party growth: It's no secret that the Conservatives have a strong base of support in Alberta, and Rachel always says, “Alberta's progressives will have to work three times as hard to win.” This is the reason. But what happens when that narrative changes?
In the 2023 state election, 40.5% of voters did not vote. Now, it is unrealistic to suggest that all of these non-voters are people who can join the Alberta NDP in the next election. But this is a significant portion of the population that both parties will be working hard to attract in 2027.
The next party leader needs to come up with a plan for how to get more people into the NDP tent in Alberta. They need new supporters to not just ask them to “lend me their vote” but to meaningfully find ways to bring sustainable growth to our movement. This means that when the 2027 elections approach, we need to expand our base so that we are on par with the UCP and are not playing catch-up from day one.
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A Vision to Vote: In both the 2019 and 2023 local elections, our party repeated the same mistakes that cost us at the voting booth. We have spent significant resources, time and effort telling Albertans why they should not vote for the UCP under Jason Kenney and Daniel Smith. Criticism and debate are natural during elections, but ultimately people are more interested in what you are doing to make their lives better.
When asking someone for a vote, “not that person” is not enough.
If the next leader wants to have any hope of becoming prime minister in 2027, this is one of the most important things they need to plan for. If the UCP does or says something worthy of criticism, by all means condemn it. But it is no longer an effective pillar of campaign strategy.
The next leader needs to show Albertans how they intend to change things and give them an incentive, not a reason, to vote against the UCP.
Supporting rural areas: Finally, whoever leads our party for the next election will need to change the way we work with rural candidates and constituency associations. While there is a path to electoral victory in Edmonton and Calgary alone, the 2023 election proved that it is an extremely inefficient and difficult way to form a government. We need to increase the support provided for horse riding outside of our two largest cities.
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While the UCP's base is supported primarily in votes outside of Edmonton and Calgary, the Alberta NDP needs to develop a new strategy to support its riding, which includes small and medium-sized urban centers. Enabling local candidates to campaign on local issues, while also providing support to constituency associations that help them maintain an electoral presence between elections, will be a priority between now and 2027. becomes very important between
Final Thoughts: There is no silver bullet that will bring the Alberta NDP back to power in 2027, but working on these three things will give our party a solid foundation. His last two attempts to win elections in 2027 will not be successful. I hope the new leadership understands this.
Aaron Singleton is the president of the Edmonton Whitemud Constituency Association of the Alberta NDP and served as campaign manager for federal NDP candidates in the 2011 federal election.
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