WESTLOCK — Rachel Notley is leaving behind a legacy of progressive change, one that has been felt across the province and here in the north.
The former premier announced Tuesday Jan. 16, she is stepping down as Alberta’s NDP leader, but will stay on until the next leader is chosen. The party will hold a provincial council meeting in Red Deer Jan. 27.
Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock NDP candidate in the 2023 provincial election, Landen Tischer, said Notley was “inspirational” as a leader and left a lasting impact in the province.
“Rachel changed the landscape of politics in Alberta for a lot of people,” said Tischer. “For me, I realized that I didn’t have to join a Conservative party to progress and make change in Alberta.”
Notley became the NDP leader in 2014 and led the party to an upset electoral victory in 2015, ending 44 years of Progressive Conservative rule in the province.
During her time as premier, Notley expanded affordable childcare, was the first to introduce $15 minimum wage in the country, addressed climate change issues by eliminating coal-fired electricity and significantly reducing emissions, and cut child poverty in half.
While many NDP supporters across the province were not surprised at the news of Notley’s decision to step down, they are sharing words of appreciation for the work she did as leader and the progressive path she created during her 10 years at the party’s helm.
Tischer spoke on the legacy Notley leaves behind and what it means for Albertans, including those in the region and noted how the party grew from “a four-member party stuck in the inner-city” to where they are now, since the 2015 election.
“There’s a history of left-of-centre politics in Alberta and in rural Alberta,” he said. “That is really exciting to me because I believe that we can continue on that path and open up, even just winning over some of our small towns … when Rachel took (the election in) 2015, then we started seeing 40 per cent wins in our rural ridings and that was really exciting.”
Tischer said he received 25.7 per cent of the vote in the riding in the 2023 election and pointed out how support for the party has grown under Notley, especially in the north.
“One in four people in our riding will vote NDP. That really changes the conversation from it being just (about) a third place party and Rachel has done that,” he said. “ … so people who never really thought about NDP before were considering it (in our area) because of Rachel.”
Tischer applauded Notley’s role in creating a strong New Democratic Party for Albertans and said the next leader will have some big shoes to fill. He said he would like to see a leader that can speak to issues outside the city, expand the party to small towns and wants to see “more inroads made into ridings like ours.”
“I'll stand behind a leader who has the qualities of integrity, honesty and reliability that NDP leaders like Rachel Notley are known for,” said Tischer. “I think that somebody who can inspire people to get engaged in politics, somebody who can speak to people where they’re at and someone who leads … to keep (Alberta) moving in a positive direction.”
