Western Standard - Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley Resigns

00:00:00.000 Good morning everyone. We're gathered today on the traditional territory of Treaty 6 and I also

00:00:15.120 would like to acknowledge the Métis people of Alberta who share a very deep connection to this

00:00:20.080 land. Thank you all for coming out today. I know that our media notice was you know a little vague

00:00:26.480 But I'm very excited that you've come out nonetheless to hear me talk about my nine-point plan to have you all visit albertisfuture.ca.

00:00:38.680 Okay, fair to say that there is also another issue that I'd like to address through all of you to Albertans today.

00:00:46.920 There's been a great deal of speculation since the election as to my future.

00:00:52.220 While politics to the south of us would suggest I have at least 20 years left in my political career,

00:00:58.220 I think the advisability of that's probably a bit debatable. More to the point, having considered

00:01:03.820 what I believe to be the best interests of our party, our caucus, as well as my own preferences,

00:01:09.660 I'm here today to announce that I will not be leading Alberta's NDP into the next election.

00:01:16.140 I have informed both the senior officers of Alberta's NDP as well as my caucus and staff

00:01:23.540 that upon the selection of a new leader, I will be stepping down from that role.

00:01:29.580 This October will be 10 years since I was first given the honour of leaving our party.

00:01:36.820 At the time, we were the fourth party in the legislature with a massive caucus consisting

00:01:41.960 of four MLAs. Less than seven months later, we had a caucus of 54 MLAs and Alberta's first

00:01:50.440 NDP government. While many of those folks, and indeed myself included, never expected

00:01:57.220 to be elected, let alone finding themselves in a government cabinet, we all scrambled quickly

00:02:05.520 to live up to the immense privilege and responsibility the people of Alberta bestowed

00:02:10.660 upon us now we didn't get everything right but we governed with integrity an ambitious agenda

00:02:19.780 and an earnest desire to make life better for albertans and while this isn't the place to go

00:02:25.460 down into a super deep policy rabbit hole i will highlight just a few of the things that make me

00:02:32.580 proud about my time as premier we approved and built the calgary cancer center a decision that

00:02:39.380 was at least a decade overdue we stood up for the rights of working people improving their access

00:02:46.420 to unions increasing their time off protecting their safety in the workplace and we were the

00:02:52.340 first jurisdiction in north america to raise the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour making a real

00:02:59.540 difference in the life of alberta's working poor and tens of thousands of young people and their

00:03:05.540 families we secured alberta's first pipeline to tidewater in over 50 years ensuring that the

00:03:12.660 return to albertans for the sale of the resources that we all own is permanently increased we

00:03:20.900 eliminated coal-fired electricity in alberta thereby increasing the health of countless

00:03:26.020 citizens and at the same time kick-starting our renewable energy industry to be the fastest

00:03:31.940 growing on the continent, all while significantly reducing our emissions in one fell swoop.

00:03:39.220 And finally, in the midst of a recession caused by the international collapse and the price

00:03:43.740 of oil, and seriously, folks, I did not cause that, we cut child poverty in half.

00:03:51.840 But as I said, we didn't get it all right, and Albertans told us so in April of 2019.

00:03:58.060 And I thought about leaving then, and there are many reasons that I did not.

00:04:02.840 But the biggest is probably this.

00:04:05.740 Too many people were declaring that the Alberta MVP was done, and more importantly, that Alberta

00:04:10.900 was destined to revert back to being a one-party conservative state.

00:04:16.020 And I knew that wasn't true, and I also knew that it would be awful for Albertans if they

00:04:21.320 came to believe that it was.

00:04:24.560 Four years later, last spring, we came so close to earning the right to lead Alberta again.

00:04:31.920 We received the highest percentage of the vote that the Alberta NDP ever has.

00:04:36.160 We won all of Edmonton, we won the majority of seats in Calgary, we increased our vote throughout

00:04:41.760 the province and we elected the largest official opposition in the history of this province.

00:04:48.240 An opposition that is very, very ready by the way to take over the reins of government.

00:04:54.560 But it wasn't enough, and that's why it's now time for me to leave.

00:04:59.560 But if there is any one accomplishment that I can leave behind,

00:05:04.560 it's that we are not a one-party province where Albertans have no real choice about how their province is to be run.

00:05:12.560 Albertans do not ever have to feel that elections and their opinions do not matter.

00:05:18.560 It was that way when I started. It's not that way anymore.

00:05:23.560 Not only do I leave Albertans with that electoral choice, I also am so proud to leave them with a caucus that is filled with expert, dedicated, diverse people supported by the hardest working and most skilled political staff in the country.

00:05:36.220 Our NDP team will not stop fighting to make life better for all Albertans.

00:05:42.920 We will fight to protect and improve our health care, to stand up for our children's right

00:05:47.680 to a world-class education, to fix the housing crisis, to keep Albertans CPP safe, and to

00:05:53.220 confront the reality of climate change.

00:05:56.840 Now, roughly 10 years ago today, I started talking to my kids about how they'd feel if

00:06:02.080 I decided to run for the leadership of Alberta's NDP.

00:06:06.160 Roughly 15 years ago today, 12 years today, 10 years ago today, I listened to my husband tell me

00:06:12.080 that he thought I should run for the leadership of Alberta's NDP. In both cases, my family got

00:06:18.720 quite a bit more than they'd bargained for. It's been a crazy ride, but I couldn't have done it

00:06:24.560 without them it was I was raised by both my my father and my mother to believe

00:06:49.940 that public services is it's something that you should strive for throughout

00:07:03.560 your life I wish they could have been here to see some of what we've all been

00:07:08.600 able to accomplish together either way it wouldn't have happened for me without

00:07:16.400 the examples that they both set demonstrating daily the value of hard work

00:07:29.280 compassion for neighbors the duty of compassion for neighbors and the importance of social

00:07:35.840 democratic convictions and to all the volunteers the activists the donors the canvassers the past

00:07:44.240 and current and future in alberta's ndp thank you there would be no success without you you are the

00:07:52.800 strength and the foundation of our movement and i will be forever humbled by your selfless

00:07:59.040 dedication to our province short of having raising and of course regularly debating with my family

00:08:06.160 the opportunity to serve this party in this province has been the honor of my life over

00:08:12.080 the last decade Albertans have given me a tremendous opportunity to serve in this role and

00:08:16.240 I'm so grateful. The people of our province are bold, friendly, open, caring and adventurous.

00:08:23.040 I've learned so much from them. The land we share is the most beautiful and also sometimes the

00:08:28.480 coldest place on earth. I also want to thank the people of Edmonton Strathcona who have supported

00:08:34.080 me since 2008. We all live in and part of a fabulous community and I'm so proud to call it home.

00:08:41.680 thank you to all the albertans i met along the way those who advised me who supported me

00:08:47.920 who disagreed with me and yes even campaigned against me we all love this province i love this

00:08:55.200 province and i know that our best days are still ahead of us thank you and i'm happy to take that

00:09:02.400 no one or two questions thank you just a reminder to those on zoom it's the raise hand function

00:09:07.840 uh star nine to get into the question queue please state your name and outlet when you

00:09:14.240 have a question we'll start with questions in the room and i know there's a lot of folks here so

00:09:18.320 one question one follow-up from the cbc um so you've been saying for a long time that this is

00:09:27.200 you know you can consider in your future when did you make this decision and what was the deciding

00:09:31.760 well i think it makes sense for any leader after an election to take stock and make a decision

00:09:39.680 about what's best for them and also the party that they lead depending on the outcome of an

00:09:44.480 election and so i said that i would do that after the election at the end of may and i spent some

00:09:50.800 time giving that genuine thought over the course of the summer i can't say exactly when it was that

00:09:56.160 i decided but i will say it wasn't yesterday uh there's no question that part of what drove my

00:10:01.360 decisions around timing was the desire to to lead our caucus through uh their first session to to

00:10:09.120 ensure that there was stability as uh 19 of of the most credible and and talented new mlas that this

00:10:17.920 legislature has ever seen um had to chance to get their feet wet and and get used to the process so

00:10:24.080 So that's why we've gone through that process now, and that's why I'm making the announcement now.

00:10:31.360 Of course, this is going to spark a leadership race, and those are double-edged swords.

00:10:37.960 They can generate a lot of interest in the party, but they can also produce the visitors.

00:10:43.340 So what advice would you have for people who are buying to a place to you?

00:10:47.500 Well, I would say to them that the leadership race that is to follow,

00:10:53.240 is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the strength of our party,

00:11:01.200 the strength of our convictions, and the talent of our caucus,

00:11:05.460 as well as all those who call themselves members of the party.

00:11:10.100 You know, healthy debate is fine.

00:11:12.760 It's good.

00:11:13.540 It's renewing.

00:11:14.540 And it's good for the party.

00:11:17.360 The key is what I would say to everybody is to respect the membership.

00:11:23.240 and and to talk about the forward offer uh to the people of this province

00:11:30.200 hi Brianna Kirsten Smith with global Edmonton um you spoke a little bit about the diversity

00:11:35.080 of caucus i wonder if you can step back and sort of recognize at this point

00:11:39.400 your leadership in creating that and also if you can take us inside that room when you did announce

00:11:44.200 and what the reaction was from them well i mean i'm of course very proud uh to have such a diverse

00:11:50.120 caucus we were very proud to run um you know not only a gender balanced uh slate and and of course

00:11:57.400 to to uh secure many firsts in alberta electoral history even in the last election um in terms of

00:12:05.960 the number of new canadians uh the the number of of different uh um um ethnic and multicultural

00:12:13.560 groups who are who are represented in our caucus who had never been elected to the legislature

00:12:18.120 before and that was something that we were very very intentional about because to me the folks

00:12:24.440 who are elected who who sit in that building there on behalf of all albertans need to reflect

00:12:31.000 the people that they represent if we're going to do a good job for folks and so i was very proud

00:12:35.640 about that um today we had a very brief meeting um and uh you know i will say i probably didn't

00:12:42.760 hold it together quite as well as i just did this time um because we have an amazing team but um

00:12:50.200 you know i think folks uh did know that that it was coming even if they maybe didn't know it was

00:12:55.800 coming today i i am surprised by how close we got to this announcement without everybody knowing

00:13:01.640 about it that was frankly the one of the biggest political feats i've seen in the last decade but

00:13:07.240 anyway obviously early with this announcement today but can you speak a little bit to what

00:13:13.080 you hope your legacy is and how you think maybe especially your dad would have reacted to your

00:13:18.920 time and as the longest serving in LA ever well I mean there truly are a lot of policy issues

00:13:25.320 most of which of course happened during our time in government but even a few of which happened

00:13:30.440 in our time as opposition um that i'm proud of but but as i've said probably the the singular

00:13:36.840 most important issue from which all others flow is the fact that alberta is not a one-party province

00:13:43.960 uh or a two-party provinces with two different shades of conservative we are now a province

00:13:49.640 were progressive um uh forward-looking um uh diverse albertans can can uh see uh and pursue

00:14:00.120 their political aspirations and their their public policy goals not with a view to having other

00:14:06.360 people just hear them but with a view to winning government and seeing those policies uh turned

00:14:13.560 into real action by their government and that's not something we've seen in this uh province for

00:14:20.120 almost a century and so i i'm very proud that that's the position that we're in and i am very

00:14:25.960 confident that that is the position that will continue because as i've said um our party's

00:14:31.720 never been stronger than we are right now hi it's lisa johnson from the edmonton journal uh thanks

00:14:38.600 for taking our questions i'm not going to ask you for an endorsement of a new leader because i

00:14:42.840 I suspect you're going to stay clear of that.

00:14:45.660 But I want to ask generally what direction you think the party should go.

00:14:49.860 And you've been the face of this party for a long time.

00:14:53.200 You've steered it, some have said, in the last election, a little bit closer to centre.

00:14:58.060 You gained a lot of ground in Calgary, obviously, not enough to win the election, but you gained ground,

00:15:03.360 some have said, by steering a little to the centre.

00:15:06.040 Some members of your party would probably argue that it needs to be more progressive and push more to the left.

00:15:12.360 What direction do you want to see the NDP going in?

00:15:15.480 Well, I would say that in many respects, the frame that many people often try to impose on this, you know, are we going left?

00:15:24.000 Are we going center?

00:15:25.180 You know, where are we there?

00:15:26.700 It's maybe not the best way to look at it.

00:15:30.220 To me, it's about are we listening to all Albertans?

00:15:33.740 Are we representing the hopes and aspirations of the greatest number of Albertans?

00:15:40.020 Are we doing it in a way that is respectful to our values?

00:15:48.680 And so in terms of, you know, next steps for the party, this is why this leadership race will be very exciting.

00:15:56.020 And at the end of the day, the membership will be who makes the decision.

00:16:00.900 And I respect that.

00:16:02.460 So I feel that I look forward to the healthy conversations that I know are going to come.

00:16:08.720 Thanks.

00:16:09.200 um i also want to ask you about a more detailed question we're going to see a leadership rate we

00:16:13.760 haven't seen any details or decisions from the party yet how would you like to see that leadership

00:16:18.880 race play out what kind of length do you want it is ideal to you to see a fair race what kind of

00:16:25.600 rules should be imposed in terms of who can purchase a membership and vote in that race

00:16:30.720 today for example uh what kind of parameters do you want to see so that that race is fair and

00:16:36.320 and doesn't get sabotaged by perhaps somebody from outside of the park.

00:16:42.980 So, you know, listen, this is a matter that will be robustly discussed by our Provincial Council.

00:16:51.680 They are who have the authority to make those decisions.

00:16:55.840 And so it really does come to the party, the party executive,

00:17:01.280 and then the Provincial Council to make decisions around many of the matters that you've just identified.

00:17:05.460 I think, obviously, what everybody will want to see is that we have a transparent process

00:17:12.220 that has the trust and integrity of the people who are involved in it.

00:17:18.480 But ultimately, the way you secure that is you respect the process, which is that Provincial

00:17:23.140 Council will make that decision.

00:17:25.140 Hi, Rachel.

00:17:26.140 It's Michelle Belfontaine from CBC.

00:17:30.700 You certainly don't control the timing of the leadership race, of course the party does.

00:17:34.340 What is your intention once a new leader is chosen?

00:17:37.060 Do you tend to stay on as MLA until the end of your term?

00:17:40.700 I have no current plans to step down.

00:17:44.640 But what I will say is right now what's directly in front of me is the task of leading the caucus through the next section of the legislature.

00:17:52.800 And then doing everything I can to support the new leader when he or she is chosen or when they are chosen.

00:18:00.360 And so that's my focus right now.

00:18:03.540 The thing about politics is that the daily planning or the planning cycle, the life planning cycle is about seven days long. So, I feel like that's where I'm at now. I've actually extended it past that seven days. So, yay me.

00:18:16.840 So, basically, you're saying you haven't made a decision yet?

00:18:20.840 Yes.

00:18:21.840 Okay.

00:18:22.840 And I'm also curious, I mean, obviously, you could talk to your family about your decision.

00:18:26.840 Did you have to talk to any of your predecessors in the role as NDP leader, like Brian Mason

00:18:31.840 or Raj Panu, about going forward?

00:18:34.840 Well, you know, I think I spoke with a range of folks about sort of next steps and, you

00:18:42.840 know, over the course of some time.

00:18:45.840 no one in particular that I that I would identify but certainly have talked to

00:18:50.120 people who have been in the party for a very long time and people who have been

00:18:53.520 in the party for a short time and and you know friends family obviously and and

00:19:00.080 caucus members and all the things and so but honestly at the end of the day it

00:19:06.080 was a decision that that I made myself it's it's one of those things that

00:19:10.680 that ultimately you decide in a pretty quiet place.

00:19:17.360 So you are still leader until the next month's chosen.

00:19:20.040 Any unfinished business here in the party

00:19:23.100 or in the legislature that you want to take care of?

00:19:26.020 Well, of course, we're very, very concerned

00:19:28.900 about the fact that the UCP is continuing

00:19:32.860 to drive forward with this ridiculous plan

00:19:35.780 to gamble Albertans' pensions with respect to the CPP

00:19:40.280 and taking that away from them.

00:19:42.660 So we will continue to fight that very hard.

00:19:45.280 As you know, there's been a wide ranging conversation

00:19:48.600 about the houselessness crisis here in Edmonton

00:19:53.600 and in Calgary and all across this province.

00:19:55.560 And we will continue to push hard

00:19:58.720 for real accountability on that issue.

00:20:00.740 I have been dismayed by the level of misinformation

00:20:04.840 coming from the provincial government,

00:20:06.220 combined with the lack of accountability

00:20:08.860 respect to the crisis that we have. And then of course we know that there is a big conversation

00:20:15.580 to have around our domestic energy production consumption. We saw a crisis this weekend that

00:20:24.540 quite frankly in my view came from this provincial government's clear decision in 2019 to stop

00:20:33.900 efforts to uh address a problem that everybody knew was coming and to stick their head in the

00:20:39.580 sand and to do nothing and and now we're in a greater crisis situation so i suspect that that

00:20:45.260 will also feature prominently in the conversations over the next few months and to go back to that

00:20:51.260 question of whether you'll stay your full term i'm wondering what actors are going into that are

00:20:56.220 expecting offers to pour in now that you've made it official? Are you looking at what your family wants?

00:21:02.700 How the transition goes on in the new year? What will accurate that decision on how long to

00:21:08.460 go back? Yeah just I you know it's hard to say just just a lot of things you know it's it's

00:21:14.700 there's a lot of things and um uh you know um too many to list right now I suspect but

00:21:22.380 But I'll let you know if I figure it out.

00:21:26.380 Shailene Skalsky with CTV News.

00:21:27.940 Thank you for taking my question.

00:21:29.320 You talked a little bit about encouraging healthy debate

00:21:31.620 and the need for those conversations going forward in the leadership race.

00:21:34.820 I guess what advice would you have for candidates

00:21:36.740 to ensure that healthy debate is safe and to avoid division?

00:21:41.100 Well, you know, listen, debate is a function of a leadership race.

00:21:45.720 And so it comes down to ensuring that while there's important conversations to have, that as much as possible that you think about a go forward basis and you think about ensuring that the caucus and the party comes together more united than ever at the end of the conversation.

00:22:05.800 And so folks will have to make their judgment about, you know, how they engage within that context.

00:22:14.580 But I do expect that most candidates will actually operate with a view to achieving those goals,

00:22:23.380 ensuring that we're more united than ever at the end of this, while at the same time having a good, healthy conversation about important issues to members of Alberta's NDP.

00:22:34.460 And I'm sure the last half year, seven or so months, has been full of a lot of reflection for you.

00:22:38.680 I guess talking a little bit about the last election, I guess what lessons were learned?

00:22:41.780 What went wrong?

00:22:42.940 I guess what has that reflection looked like for you?

00:22:45.780 Well, you know, it's a bit of a tough one.

00:22:48.040 And I think very possibly when I have a little bit more time on my hands, which is not a thing that I've noticed yet.

00:22:53.420 But when if that happens, I may well get into my own sort of analysis of what could have happened differently or better.

00:23:01.740 it's hard not to you know as a leader think oh was there another phone call I could have made

00:23:07.280 another door I could have knocked on but at the end of the day I'm choosing now to focus on what

00:23:13.280 we did achieve through that election and as I've said before we didn't win government but in terms

00:23:21.500 of our capacity to contest the next election we are as a party stronger on every single front than

00:23:29.740 we ever have been before. And I don't just mean our incredibly capable caucus, but also

00:23:35.800 just our relationships with Albertans all across the province, our understanding of

00:23:42.200 where our support is and where we need to grow it, our fiscal stability as well as the

00:23:47.620 enthusiasm of our members. So I feel that there were some good things that were achieved

00:23:53.560 in that election and I'm proud of that.

00:23:56.500 10 years in the top job, what are you going to miss the most?

00:24:01.500 You know, interesting question.

00:24:05.500 Yeah, these kinds of mornings with this kind of turnout from the media,

00:24:14.500 because let me tell you, that happened every day.

00:24:17.500 No, I mean, listen, it's an exciting job.

00:24:21.500 It's, you know, it's remarkably meaningful.

00:24:25.500 the fact that every day it's such a privilege to be in a position to make positive change

00:24:31.300 and maybe you don't get exactly what you want every day in fact what I learned in government

00:24:35.680 that you know for every one decision you look forward to making you had to first

00:24:42.720 swim through nine other ones that other people dumped on your plate

00:24:46.340 but nonetheless it's a privilege to be able to move forward on the kinds of things that

00:24:53.920 matter to you very much and so that agency and that opportunity is something

00:25:00.940 that very few people get and I and I feel deeply blessed I think it is fair to

00:25:23.000 say that one of the key takeaways from today is that my family will be

00:25:28.400 relatively happier to be less in the public eye including taking questions

00:25:34.340 but so I'm going to speak for them today probably the last time they'll ever let

00:25:38.180 me do

00:25:45.760 one thing you've been big about of course MLA is going to happen with that in the future but

00:25:50.120 But one thing you're still being relatively big on is, do you have any interest in any other venues, political venues, like federal politics?

00:25:58.120 Does that interest you moving into the federal review?

00:26:02.120 Absolutely not. I have no intention to pursue a federal role in in elected politics.

00:26:10.120 So are you leading politics then altogether? If you stay on as an amelie, that has a finite term to it.

00:26:15.120 Are you just leading politics?

00:26:17.120 I am not interested in pursuing federal politics at this time, and that is the answer to that question, because I noticed some people had that question, and that is the answer to that question.

00:26:28.140 And sorry, federal politics, do you come back in provincial politics at some level then?

00:26:32.020 No, Graham, I'm, you know, I think I've done a good amount of time. And so I think, as

00:26:44.700 I say, my focus is on leading the caucus through this session, and supporting the new leader

00:26:51.180 as as that person believes is best.

00:26:54.620 Thanks, Graham. And I'm just gonna go to the patient folks on the phone.

00:27:00.140 Over the first caller. Thanks, Matt.

00:27:04.140 Jason Marcusoff.

00:27:08.140 Hi, Ms. Notley. My first question

00:27:12.140 is, we saw the video

00:27:16.140 of social media video by Kathleen Kanley, what they expect to be one of the leadership candidates.

00:27:20.140 I see you've been hearing rumors about teams organizing,

00:27:24.140 gathering. Was there any pressure on your timing of this decision

00:27:28.140 that uh the candidates were getting restless and wanted to get this going uh you know not really

00:27:35.580 listen when when you uh answer the question about your future by saying i'm thinking about it uh it

00:27:42.460 is only natural that folks are going to start thinking about uh how their future plays into

00:27:48.220 that answer and uh so uh you know i've been pretty comfortable uh with the uh the level of conversation

00:27:55.740 going on uh it's healthy um and uh and and so i'm pretty comfortable with with uh where we're at and

00:28:03.900 and and where folks who might be stepping up uh in the future are at second question i i appreciate

00:28:12.460 this tradition that uh an outgoing leader would stay neutral during the uh leadership race um

00:28:18.860 But, of course, your husband, Lou, is quite active at Politico, was before you were in elective office.

00:28:27.240 Given the perception that there might be, if the leader's husband is actively campaigning,

00:28:34.060 are there any limits or have you had any discussions with Lou about whether he can or cannot do any organizing for a leadership candidate?

00:28:42.520 Oh, you know, it's so much fun to have those conversations where you tell your spouse what they can do.

00:28:46.220 i'm sure you've had them and uh it's it's really fun um anyway my uh i i believe that uh you know

00:28:53.580 in the interest of ensuring uh the most uh balanced and objective of processes uh everyone in my

00:29:00.380 family is is going to um vote in the leadership race but uh do so on the basis of a secret ballot

00:29:08.140 thanks jason we'll go to our next caller emily please state your name and outlet

00:29:11.420 hi thanks Emily Mertz global news can you hear me okay you sure can yep okay yeah I was just

00:29:20.240 wondering if there's something about serving in politics maybe even as leader or as premier that

00:29:25.040 you'd like Albertans to know about well I mean I think as I say that's it's a really good question

00:29:32.480 you know even when I first got involved in politics people had a tendency to to dismiss

00:29:39.020 politicians as you know being perhaps a bit self-interested and you know uh having prior

00:29:44.860 to going into politics having been a lawyer i have this this um uh history of choosing professions

00:29:51.420 that that people love to you know uh look down their nose at but i i will say this that and i

00:29:59.740 you know sort of reference referenced it in my remarks i i grew up uh being told that that

00:30:05.740 politics could be very noble and i think it should be and i think that

00:30:16.540 you know certainly i've tried my best uh to to maintain that not everyone would agree that that

00:30:22.060 i've succeeded but i do think it is um important to understand that there's sacrifice in it

00:30:29.980 and and that um uh and to give most folks even those who don't agree with you the benefit of

00:30:37.260 the doubt um public service is is a challenge but it is also incredibly rewarding and i don't mean

00:30:44.300 rewarding in terms of the old school oh yeah now i have contacts but rewarding in terms of making

00:30:49.580 the kind of change that that you care about and so uh you know i grew up believing that that service

00:30:56.540 serving your community is is a noble choice and i still believe that and um uh i think it's uh

00:31:03.980 important that people who are thinking about getting involved in politics uh know that it's

00:31:09.020 okay to believe that and and do believe that because uh we're nowhere if we don't have people

00:31:15.180 who care about serving within our democracy you have a follow-up by the way i do and um rachel

00:31:22.940 led so well into it actually um what are your feelings about the state of politics right now and

00:31:28.700 partisanship divisiveness are are you hopeful can we be hopeful you know i mean listen i i think

00:31:35.420 that uh you know politics it ebbs and flows and and i think it's fair to say that here in alberta

00:31:41.820 in canada and honestly across much of the world uh people have uh been confronting challenges that

00:31:48.620 that are um uh pretty unprecedented and and and pretty hard and and so we've seen um uh that

00:31:59.340 uh reflected in terms of how people approach politics and and the nature of our debate um

00:32:05.660 and so uh i hope that uh we're soon in a place where people uh move from asking

00:32:15.900 what do i get from this and back to that place where they say what cool thing can we do together

00:32:21.660 for tomorrow and i think that politics moves back and forth from from the questions people

00:32:27.420 ask themselves and uh but but i think we're at our best when we talk about what cool things can

00:32:33.260 we do together to make things better for tomorrow thanks evilly we'll go to our next caller carrie

00:32:38.540 your line should be open hi i just want to follow up a little bit on ground if you could be a little

00:32:44.620 it's more clear are you done with elected politics for good well i think the key thing is this i i

00:32:51.580 have no intention of running federally uh and i believe i am done uh election politics uh for

00:32:58.460 good subject to what i've said which is that i've made no decisions about uh how long i will stay

00:33:05.580 in my position as the mla for edmonton strathcona it's a beautiful community it's a very wonderful

00:33:10.860 lovely place to represent um and uh and of course as i've said i intend to serve out uh

00:33:17.900 my time as leader leading the caucus through the next session and doing whatever i can uh to support

00:33:23.260 the leader who is selected by the members of our party is there is there a chance then that you

00:33:29.580 might run um in the next election as an mla uh there is certainly a chance and there's a chance 1.00

00:33:37.340 that i might not okay and in the next election where do you think the party would be best

00:33:43.420 positioned to win should it be coming at this more from the left the center the right where

00:33:49.820 you've been both a winner and a loser on provincial state what do you think the party

00:33:55.020 needs to do next time i i think that uh we need to continue talking to albertans and listening

00:34:01.340 to albertans and and hearing from them about what their priorities are i think we've made

00:34:05.900 great progress in that area and i think that through this leadership race uh the folks who

00:34:10.940 who come forward will have that conversation uh about what they see is best for alberta as well

00:34:17.820 as best for the party to convince albertans to cast their their their their ballot for us and

00:34:23.180 i think that that is a conversation that is best had by the folks that are looking to lead the party

00:34:28.860 forward.

00:34:29.860 Thanks, Carrie.

00:34:30.860 We'll just do one more question in the room.

00:34:35.860 What would you say to Albertans today?

00:34:40.860 Most of what I've already said.

00:34:41.860 I would just say again, thank you so much for the privilege to serve.

00:34:46.860 It's been wonderful.

00:34:48.860 I'm sorry, Michelle?

00:34:49.860 Yeah.

00:34:50.860 Hi.

00:34:51.860 I just wanted to be a little more clear about what Lou's intentions are.

00:34:56.860 Is he going to be managing a campaign?

00:34:59.180 No.

00:34:59.860 None whatsoever?

00:35:00.660 No.

00:35:01.360 Okay, thank you.

00:35:02.160 Yeah.

00:35:03.160 So one more question for me.

00:35:04.660 Do you or any member of your family still have a Notley crew?

00:35:07.660 Do you have one?

00:35:11.660 Yeah, they're so beaten up, you know.

00:35:13.660 We have, as I say, we have to probably do another run of those.

00:35:18.660 Okay, I think we are pretty good.

00:35:21.360 Yep, thanks everyone for coming out.

00:35:22.660 We appreciate it.

00:35:23.660 Thank you so much.

00:35:24.660 That concludes our press conference for today.

00:35:26.660 All right

Western Standard - January 17, 2024

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley Resigns

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