Potential NDP leadership hopefuls say appealing to rural Albertans a top priority for party

With rules around timelines, cost and membership now set, Albertans will soon know who is vying to replace Rachel Notley as leader of the provincial NDP.

Potential candidates who spoke to CTV News on Tuesday said issues surrounding health care and the long-term viability of the economy will be in focus during campaigns.

Delivering that message outside the major cities is something one political strategist says NDP leadership hopefuls should prioritize.

"In the general election, that's going to be more important than in the leadership election: Can they build bridges outside the city? Can they get support in the doughnut around Edmonton, in those suburban communities outside of Calgary, and then make whatever progress they can in rural communities and in areas like Lethbridge Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Fort McMurray Grande Prairie, in those urban areas as well, see if they can generate some more visibility and support there?" Tom Vernon, strategic communications consultant with Crestview Strategy, told CTV News Edmonton.

"You're always going to want to focus on areas of strength ... but then they have to have an eye to who can broaden the appeal outside these major centres. That's going to be the important question that this party needs to focus on if they want to get elected three years from now."

The leadership race begins Monday. Voting is slated to start May 22 and run until June 22, when the new leader is expected to be announced.

Dates and rules were set by 300 party delegates in Red Deer during a meeting over the weekend.

NDP MLAs Sarah Hoffman, Kathleen Ganley and Raki Pancholi all say the party needs to work on reaching and appealing to more people outside urban centres.

"I think we saw from the fact that we won every seat in Edmonton, the majority in Calgary -- the popular vote in Calgary -- that when you show up, people show up for you, too," Hoffman, the MLA for Edmonton Glenora who resigned her position as deputy NDP leader on the weekend presumably so she can soon announce she'll run to replace Notley, told CTV News Edmonton. "We spent a lot of time in Calgary, I think we have an opportunity to spend a lot of time in other places around the province. I think the leader needs to be everywhere. I think often rural Alberta feels that they're forgotten by the legislature."

Ganley, the MLA for Calgary-Mountain View and energy critic who served as justice minister from 2015-19 while the NDP held power, said the party has "a real opportunity to include more Albertans" in the upcoming race, while Edmonton- MLA Pancholi says it needs to do "more to connect with people to make sure that they know that the values that they hold dear are reflected in the things that we're offering to Albertans."

"We want to make sure that we're connected in those communities outside of the major cities as well because those folks care about many of the same issues that we do," Pancholi told CTV News Edmonton.

Those issues include the state of health care in the province, education and the long-term vision for Alberta's economy.

"My top priority is talking to people about the economy, and how it's supposed to work for people," Ganley said.

"I've had a lot of conversations with people throughout this province. I think we have a government right now that is telling us that this is the economy working at its best self. I don't think that's true ... I think we need to talk about how that economy needs to work for us."

Hoffman, who along with Ganley says she's been asked to put her name forward to run as leader, says many Albertans "are really forward thinking ... and care a lot about one another," something that speaks to her social-democratic roots.

"I believe that when we help each other out, we help everyone out and that everyone deserves to have a chance to have great health care, great education and a safe place to live," said Hoffman, who grew up in the northern Alberta hamlet of Kinuso, located between High Prairie and Slave Lake. "Those are some of the values that have guided me."

Beyond addressing issues in health care and education, Pancholi says the new leader needs to "offer hope and optimism" for the future.

"Albertans are pretty eager to hear about the things we can do and are tired of hearing about ... the things we can't and won't do in terms of making sure that our renewables sector, for example, is strong and thriving as it should be," she said.

"I think Albertans are really exhausted and tired of that negative approach. We're Alberta. We get things done. We're a place of opportunity and hope and they want to see an approach to these critical issues that reflects that."

Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi said on Tuesday that he has been approached by many Albertans asking him to run for the Alberta NDP leadership, telling CTV News Edmonton in a statement that "I'm happy to listen to what people have to say and their ideas for how I might be able to contribute to a better Alberta."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski