Notley accepts Edmonton-Strathcona nomination, rallies NDP volunteers ahead of election

Rachel Notley overlooks the crowd at the Productivity and Innovation Centre Atrium at NAIT on Saturday, March 11, 2023 (Source: Rachel Notley/Twitter).

After recently celebrating her 15th anniversary of serving in the Alberta Legislature, Rachel Notley accepted the NDP nomination to run again in Edmonton-Strathcona.

Since 2008, Notley has successfully been elected to represent the central Edmonton seat.

On Saturday, at a constituency nomination meeting, she made it official for the upcoming general election in May, pledging to continue leading the New Democrats with a platform focused on building a stong future for all Albertans.

"In 2015, we showed Alberta that there was another way to do things, and after 40 years, we started governing differently," Notley said.

"We didn't pit climate change against pipelines," she added. "We focused on addressing both issues."

"In the depths of an energy crash that robbed the Alberta treasury of billions and billions and billions of dollars, we did not make families pay for the price of that… Instead, we raised them up."

Notley recognized that after her party's election loss in 2019, Albertans "made a different choice" and said the NDP "had some work to do."

"It was a tough loss," she recalled. "I will be very honest, there was a bit of time when I wondered whether it maybe was time for someone else to do the job."

The turning point, Notley explained, was in summer 2019 when, after passing Bill 8, the United Conservative Party caucus took a photo splashing in the fountains on the legislature grounds.

"As if they were the cast of Friends," the Opposition leader said. "That is when we lit a fire, they lit a fire in me."

Rachel Notley compares a UCP caucus photo to the television show "Friends" introduction (CTV News Edmonton/Galen McDougall).

Notley called that legislation "Bill Hate," as it rolled back privacy protections for school children to join gay straight alliances (GSAs) without parental notification — clubs that build inclusivity and prevent bullying, especially for LGBTQ2S+ kids.

• Student privacy protected: Privacy commissioner weighs in on GSA debate

"Since that day, I have been so honoured to stand up for Albertans alongside an amazing, strong, capable, thoughtful, kind and talented team," she added. "I believe in a better Alberta."

For this election campaign, Notley said the NDP will focus on building a future-proof economy, reducing the oil price rollercoaster's impact on provincial coffers through diversification and investing in schools and healthcare.

"[In 2015], we said hard-working people deserve better, and against a chorus of naysayers, we did what was right, and Alberta became the first province in Canada and the first jurisdiction in North America to pay its lowest wage workers $15 an hour," Notley said.

"Every single working person deserves fair pay and fair benefits," she added. "Now is the time for better healthcare now is the time for better education, now is the time for better jobs."

After the speech, Notley told reporters the party plans to have a headquarters in Calgary to support outreach efforts there and across southern Alberta.

"We have an amazing group of new candidates," she said. "We are going to be working with them to make sure they build strong relationships."

While the party has 18 other incumbents in Edmonton, Notley said she will not presuppose the provincial capital's support.

"We are not taking Edmonton for granted. We know that Edmontonians deserve to have representation."