Rachel Notley will remain as Alberta NDP leader — for now

Rachel Notley is making no sudden moves when considering her future as leader of the Alberta NDP.

In her first public appearance two weeks after the NDP were defeated in the May 29 election, Notley said she will take time to consider her future as the party's leader. She said there's no timeline for making that decision.

"In this particular election, we didn't quite get to our goal, and instead we only got to about 70 per cent of our goal," Notley said at a news conference outside the Queen Elizabeth II building in Edmonton on Tuesday.

"I've been at this for too long. And people in our party and our movement have been at this for too long. And not a one of us is going to pack up and go home."

NDP members first chose Notley as party leader in 2014. She became premier in 2015 when right-leaning voters split their support among the former Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties.

She was defeated in 2019 after Jason Kenney led a movement to consolidate those parties under the United Conservative Party banner.

Although she served as Opposition leader for four years, hoping to best the Danielle Smith-led UCP, Notley fell short on May 29, when the NDP won 38 of the legislature's 87 seats.

NDP candidates will participate in a debriefing process during the next few months to reflect on the campaign, she said.

Campaign review should be methodical, strategist says

When reporters asked where she and the party fell short, Notley instead pointed to the NDP increasing its vote share from previous years and its caucus now being poised to form the largest Opposition in the legislature's history.

"Obviously a complete success would have been had we won," she said. "But we made up a tremendous amount of ground."

Notley stood by the NDP's decision to campaign on a corporate tax increase to 11 per cent from the current eight per cent.

Although the NDP had also planned to eliminate small business taxes, the UCP slammed the idea, alleging it could drive corporate investment out of Alberta.

Leah Ward, vice-president of Wellington Advocacy, who previously worked for the NDP caucus, said she's unsurprised to see Notley bide her time. She says consistency is important right now, as the caucus brings 19 first-time MLAs to the legislature.

The NDP's next leadership review is scheduled for 2024, and Notley likely has that date in mind as she contemplates her next steps, Ward said.

"I don't think there's anyone chasing her out the door," she said.

The party should avoid jumping to conclusions about why they didn't win the 2023 election, Ward said, and should rely on data, such as how successful they were at focusing attention and resources in places that made a difference to the outcome. The party should also seek feedback from voters about what messages they liked, and didn't, she says.

The NDP sent a survey to members on Tuesday, asking questions such as, which policies resonated most with them, and how positive any volunteer experiences were.

Notley says her focus now is to push Smith and the UCP to govern from the centre.

Notley says she'll press Smith's government to take urgent action to improve health-care, demand the government hire thousands more teachers, and insist it take more steps to address affordability, such as capping auto insurance rates.

Abortion access

At Tuesday's news conference, Notley also raised the alarm about Smith's appointment of Adriana LaGrange as health minister, pointing to her record of funding freezes as education minister.

In Ottawa, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in French it was concerning to see Smith choose a health minister who has a record of volunteering with anti-abortion organizations.

Smith said last week she would make no legal changes affecting access to abortions.

Notley said Tuesday the true test is the accessibility of services.

"I am deeply concerned that we are going to have real barriers, functional barriers, put up with respect to women's access to reproductive choice," Notley said.

LaGrange's press secretary, Scott Johnston, said in an email, "we will not be making any changes to reproductive rights or a women's right to choose."

Cutting wait times for ambulances, emergency rooms and surgeries is the priority, he said.