Naheed Nenshi wants to reshape the NDP’s role in Alberta

Naheed Nenshi gets a lot of applause from Alberta NDP audiences these days. However, when he called United Conservative Party MLAs the ”monkeys on the other side” at a leadership debate earlier this month, there were murmurs and grumbling. Mr. Nenshi’s quip about decorum during question period in the legislature was too ugly to be many New Democrats’ cup of tea.

He is likely the main reason the Alberta NDP has more than 85,000 members across the province now instead of the approximately 16,000 the party had at the end of 2023. In March, party heavyweight Rakhi Pancholi dropped out of the leadership race to endorse Mr. Nenshi,his ability to expand the party. Labour leader Gil McGowan, too, dropped out this month , leaving four candidates in the race.

In a development that would have been seen as unlikely even a year ago, current Leader Rachel Notley’s Edmonton-Strathcona riding – long the heartland of the party – is in the same realm for membership sales as Calgary-Glenmore. The latter riding, where the NDP’s Nagwan Al-Guneid won by 48 votes in the 2023 election, has been a conservative bastion for most of its history.

And the race is about far more than mainstream media headlines. Both Ms. Ganley and Edmonton candidate Sarah Hoffman – the latter a former health minister – have detailed answers for policy questions, and are door-knockers extraordinaire. Candidate Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse is laser-focused on water issues.

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