and for NAD n 62,000 on Saturday former Calgary mayor nahad nensi became the new leader of the Alberta NDP the Globes Kelly cryderman was at the announcement in downtown Calgary it was packed I’d say there’s 500 people there there was a sense even before the announcement that everybody knew what was going to happen as soon as we got the results oh my goodness it was clear that he had won by a country mile the mdp has been writing a huge wave of growth in the province in part because of nchi where the Alberta NDP is from where it was just 10 years ago is a much much different place even being in a ballroom in Calgary I was thinking about how establishment that was but Victory is the easy part and nchi has his work cut out for him he’ll have to try and Unite the party under a common identity and decide whether or not to sever ties with the federal NDP and then of course there’s Alberta Premier Danielle Smith nensi and the United conservative party leader will likely Clash over politics and their Visions for the province so today Kelly explains what’s ahead for Alberta’s new NDP leader I’m Cheryl southernland and this is the deciel from the glob in mail [Music] hi Kelly thanks for being here today great to be here Cheryl so Kelly on Saturday NAD neni became the new Alberta NDP leader can you just explain what were the results like did he win by a lot he won by a lot uh he won a resounding Victory you know and it and it’s not only the percentage basis it’s the actual absolute numbers so he received almost 63,000 votes and that’s 86% support party MERS yeah it is it is huge and and I don’t know this so please send me your cards or letters if I’m wrong but he says he believes that’s the most any provincial leader has ever received in absolute votes in any provincial leadership race he might be right you know we’re we’re talking about a lot smaller numbers say Daniel Smith won leadership of the United conservative party in 2022 with just over 42,000 votes for instance the other candidates and the other NDP leadership races we talking about 2 3 4,000 votes being the bar right so this is a huge number and the NDP made a big point on Saturday over the weekend when these results were announced that a lot of the people voting for nahad n had prior ties to the Albert NDP party and and that might be true partially but I think it is also undeniable that he has brought in new people to the party as well his is uh running in the leadership race prompted people to buy a membership and vote we’ll get into the membership numbers a little bit later but I want to kind of stick on what happened uh on Saturday were the results a surprise or were they expected that nahad n would kind of run away with this so in the days before the announcement on the leadership race I was getting a very high degree of Confidence from his organization and that suggested to me that they were pretty sure that they had it there was some question of him winning on the first ballot because it was a ranked ballot but there wasn’t much question that he was going to win there was two other very strong candidates who um mounted very strong campaigns Kathleen Ganley and Sarah Hoffman our former cabinet ministers our stalwarts of the party and jod callaho Stonehouse who was a new MLA who spoke very strongly on water issues in Alberta and Indigenous issues I have no doubt that they will play a major role um in our colleague Alanta Smith interviewed nahad n on Sunday and he talked about giving each of them a pen symbolizing what he says is his intention to collaboratively write the next chapter of the party’s history Kelly could you remind us who is nahad neni and why is he so popular so um nahad nchi is the son of immigrants uh his family moved to Canada from Tanzania he was born in Toronto but his family moved to Alberta when he was still a toddler he had kind of an amazing education he went to the University of Calgary where his uh University mate was Daniel Smith and a bunch of other political um then he went to Harvard then he worked for McKenzie in company but at some point just before he turned 30 he decided to come back to Calgary and he worked for nonprofits he taught at Mount Royal and then got involved in Municipal politics he served as Calgary’s mayor from 2010 to 2021 three terms he was hugely popular when he was voted in in 2010 you you think about that time it was a much different time in politics Barack Obama was the US president there was kind of this rise of progressive politics and nahad neni was a leading force in Canada on that not unlike Premier Daniel Smith he’s a great communicator uh you can see him thinking and answering the question he’s is great on his feet and there is substance to what he says well and as you mentioned he was Calgary’s mayor and and I would say a very popular mayor in Calgary um what were his policies like when he was the mayor of Calgary you know if you’re going to point to one thing in a way it’s difficult if it was kind of like the trains ran on time like Municipal Services were delivered well he was famous for handling the floods in 2013 he communicated so well during that time there was concern about the water Supply then and and and what would happen to hundreds of homes that were destroyed and 80,000 people displaced and he was famous for his handling of that he was famous for um having a decent relationship with his Council colleagues but he also stuck his foot in his mouth a few times you know he he is Saucy to a certain degree and will give a GLI comment even during this Alberta NDP race he called the UCP the monkeys on on the other side which ruffled some feathers as you know it’s a concern when we use this kind of language but he doubled down and said actually I should have been stronger and he was describing their behavior in the legislature n already has political experience at the municipal level as as we’re talking about now but not so much at the provincial level so what kind of challenges does that create for him I think it’s a big challenge I think you know he knows the world of Municipal politics very well but Municipal politics in Alberta has never been party-driven he’s never had to be the head of a caucus he’s never had to make decisions on policy regarding health care and education and fights with Ottawa over energy and climate policy he will have to make those tough decisions and we talked about how it’s not a surprise that he did win this race but it wasn’t necessarily an easy race either so what were some of the criticisms that he faced heading into voting it wasn’t an easy race but I wouldn’t put it up as a particularly difficult race in a list of leadership races it was mostly ndpers being nice to one another and agreeing with one another now Sarah Hoffman who is is a former Health Minister she was very tough on nahad N she over issues in his time as mayor where he did not give the support to unions or to minimum wage that she would like to see or to affordable housing she did take him to task on some of those issues of course Rachel Nutley was the leader of the Alberta NDP for 10 years and that must also cast a pretty long Shadow for neni so how will nensi navigate building his own political brand outside of her Legacy Rachel notley remains hugely popular in Alberta when she won in 2015 the conservatives were split in Alberta and that helped her win that election but she ALS Al is a great communicator she also was very good at connecting with albertans I’ve often said that Daniel Smith and Rachel notley are both political leaders who I see where random strangers come up to them with their problems and they’ll both listen they’re there to listen uh they have that retail politics gift and I think Rachel notley got a lot of Praise this past weekend and deservedly so she took a party that you know was permanently in opposition and made it a party that was considered a viable alternative for government in a lot of ways and I think he has to build on that he has to build on the idea that the NDP is not just an opposition party it’s not just a one-term government I think another very interesting question is where nahed nensi decides to run he is not in the legislature right now a very prominent Alberta NDP member announced her resignation as of July Shannon Phillips she had been a cabinet minister she had been a pivotal part of the party she’s leaving politics her riding is in lethridge there was some talk of nahed nensi running in leth um to me it doesn’t make any sense everybody knows he’s Calgary he also has an elderly mother who lives with him who he takes care of so that is part of his world as well he also doesn’t seem to be in a rush to get in the legislature he talked about the gift of the next 3 years being able to sit in cafes or in homes and talk to albertans and talk to them about issues that doesn’t sound to me like a guy who’s in a rush to get in the legislature I think he will wait for an opportune time for a seat somewhere around Calgary does it present an a problem for him that he doesn’t have a seat or writing yet it does and it doesn’t of course he will be the opposition leader he needs to be able to function in the legislature he needs to be able to to challenge the government there he needs to become very skilled in legislation and the like but at this point he doesn’t have to be there right there are advantages to a political leader not being in the house in that they don’t have to spend time there they can spend more time stumping for lack of a better word they can be out with people they can be organizing there will come a point where it’ll be an issue there will be important legislation that the UCP is putting forward and the leader of the NDP will not be in the house to speak to it that will become an issue and that’s why it’s more likely than not between now and the next election he will seek a seat we’ll be right back let’s talk more broadly about this election because there was a lot of optimism around this race and that’s partly because the NDP saw a massive boost in membership numbers leading up to the election do we know why and then can you talk about how big of a boost this was so at the end of last year at the end of 2023 I believe the NDP had something like 16,000 members the Albert NDP and for this leadership vote they had more than 85,000 members most provintial political parties would dream about this kind of Engagement there are obvious L albertans who are very unhappy with the UCP and who decided to join the NDP because of that but there was excitement about NAD n entering the race he is a political star and uh he up the game for the Albert NDP and so how did the growth actually help n and winning well all those people actually showed up and voted which is also unusual he got around 86% of the vote there was also around 86% turnout which is also very high turnout the fact that the turnout is as high as it is speaks to a high level of Engagement too and the question is are they able to leverage that and are they able to leverage that for three and a half years because we’re now not expecting an election in Alberta until the fall of 2027 one of the underlying themes of this leadership election is the ndp’s identity moving forward and how it will look with a new leader Kelly for people who aren’t familiar can you describe what traditionally makes an Alberta new democrat a new democrat there’s things like minimum wage and workers rights and um I would say a focus on the environment a focus on minority communities that I think exists across the board where I think Alberta n DP members differ and you could see this especially once Rachel notley took office is when it comes to climate and energy policy and that has to do exactly with what Alberta’s whole economy is focused on and the NDP par is in Canada are different from the liberal and conservative parties in that when you join a provincial party you automatically become a member of the federal party okay so nchi has talked about the possibility of severing Tides with the federal NDP why would it be in the provincial party’s interest to cut the connection with the federal NDP because in most parts of Alberta the federal NDP is popular any provincial candidate can tell you about their signs or the comments being uh we don’t want anything to do with a Trudeau Singh Alliance in Alberta the Alberta of NDP is viewed by many people as a different entity but if there’s any confusion people like nahad nchi they don’t want that people will vote for the NDP provincially who wouldn’t dream of doing it federally I think that’s their concern that they are a different entity and NAD neni has asked what do we get from that link and what do we get from being attached to a political organization where we have a lot of policy disagreements on major things well let’s ask that question because why would members choose to keep the connection is there something there it’s it’s a question of history and tradition that is the problem he will have in dealing with the 38 member caucus that where there are a lot of people who feel that kinship with the federal party despite the the policy differences but there’s also this new vein that he leads absolutely that is about being Centrist is about being a viable alternative in Alberta is about winning elections and and pragmatism and I think there will be conflicts going forward and you mentioned that this match up between Premier Danielle Smith and nahad nchi will be a very interesting one actually quite exciting one so can you kind of get into that like what can we expect to see with this matchup it will be one for the ages they went to the University of Calgary together they hung around in the same nerdy political circles they were friends somewhere out there there’s a picture of them together and now they both know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so well that will make for incredible debates they’re both incredible debaters and communicators there will be a fight on policy too and that will go to those provincial issues that every province has like health and education there will be big differences there NAD n is particularly critical of the UCP on education and that is going to come to light in a big way but health is going to be huge the policy on transgender Youth and trans athletes that’s going to be a big policy difference Renewables that’s going to be a big difference I also think nahad NCI is going to start to go after Daniel Smith on Patron AG appointments that’s going to be a big issue it is going to be such a big matchup because they are both highly skilled highly capable politicians who are polarizing and have a huge fan base and it’s just going to be fascinating we talked a bit about the growth in membership of the NDP it was it was huge and I just wonder um does that give the NDP a bit of traction heading into 2027 and on the flip side does does that kind of make the UCP a bit nervous that is a really good question because the debate about whether not head nchi will be great for the UCP or bad for the UCP the jury still out what I heard at the beginning is they were happy to take him on they’re happy to have that debate but as they saw the numbers and the members of support that he picked up they grew increasingly concerned and I think Saturday’s vote and the number of votes that he got the number of people he was actually able to prompt to vote that is a concern for a lot of UCP organizers and they will throw everything they have at him as will the NDP at the UCP and I think the NDP which tends to come out swinging against every single thing the UCP does I think they will have to get better at picking their battles and choosing when to really fight the UCP and when to when to take a quieter route just lastly Kelly When will we know when nchi has made his his Mark like what are you looking out for of course I’m looking to 2027 and that election that’s the ultimate test and everything that comes between now and then is really a bit of noise it will only be that day and whether he is able to do something historic on that voting day and put the NDP in government again and disprove the conservatives that just said the Alberta NDP winning government in 2015 was a fluke Kelly it’s been great talk to you about this thanks again for coming on the show thanks so much Cheryl that’s it for today I’m Cheryl southernland our intern Kelsey arnet produced this episode our producers are meline white and Rachel leev McLaughlin David Crosby edits a show Adrien Chung is our senior producer and Matt frer is our managing editor thanks so much for listening for
Over the weekend, the Alberta NDP elected former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi to lead the party into the 2027 provincial election. With membership numbers at an all-time high, the future looks bright for the provincial party. But Nenshi will face many challenges before meeting Danielle Smith in the next election – including trying to unite the party while considering whether to sever ties with the federal NDP.
Kelly Cryderman is a columnist and reporter with The Globe. She joins the show to break down what’s ahead for the provincial party and what conflicts lie ahead with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
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